In 1999, the Detroit Public School system had a positive fund balance of $246,300,000 according to a ten-year summary in their 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (pages 91-92). That was the same year that the DPS was taken over by the State of Michigan under Republican John Engler. The school district was placed under the control of an Emergency Financial […]

A conversation with the co-founder of Lady Parts Justice on feminism, grassroots activism and using humor to drive serious change. In the run-up to V to Shining V 2015, I’m re-posting this interview from 2014, updated with details about this year’s events. Lizz Winstead is a woman with a mission. If you’re lucky enough to talk with her one-on-one, there’s […]

Make some noise, make some change and have a rockin’ good time with Lady Parts Justice! It probably comes as no surprise that women’s rights are under attack, unless you’ve been living like an inhabitant of the Dark Ages, which America’s anti-women politicians clearly are. Women have always had to fight for their rights, and they always will unless people […]

Saturday morning 20-year old transgender woman Amber Monroe was found dead in her apartment in Detroit, a victim of an apparent shooting. Details are sketchy at the moment but, according to transgender rights activist Julisa Abad, this was not the first time Monroe had been the victim of a shooting. Monroe was a student at Wayne State University but had […]

Earlier this month, in an exclusive report here at Eclectablog, I reported that teachers in the Education Achievement Authority (EAA) were not receiving Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) payments as promised. The “District for Wayward Schools” had received millions of dollars in TIF grants from the federal government – $11.5 million over three years – to give teachers financial incentives for […]

I have two items of interest regarding Gov. Snyder’s failed experiment on Detroit students known as the Education Achievement Authority. The first is (not exclusive) news about EAA teacher Tiffani Eaton who was fired from her job for breaking up a fight using a broom handle last year. Once details of the event came out, including video, the public hue […]

Earlier this week, President Obama issued a proclamation regarding National Teacher Appreciation Week which runs from May 3rd through May 9th. In his proclamation, he wrote: “On National Teacher Appreciation Day and during National Teacher Appreciation Week, we honor America’s outstanding teachers and the vital role they play in the lives of our children and the success of our country. […]

On Monday of this week U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer Mitchell Quinn shot and killed 20-year old Detroiter Terrance Kellom. The killing took place during a raid conducted by a multi-jurisdictional task force with Detroit police called the Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team to serve an arrest warrant on Kellom who had violated his parole. The warrant was issued after […]

This post has been updated below. Last month, Governor Snyder announced that he was forming a 31-person coalition to present alternatives for education reform in Detroit. The coalition, called the Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren, is a made up of representatives from public schools, the school reform community (many who are actively working to undermine traditional public schools), […]

It’s mid-morning on Monday, December 29, 2014. The air is crisp and clear and the light is shining through a slight morning frost/haze as the sun will surely burn it off and present the day. I’m in Downtown Detroit, just off I-75 on East Larned a block behind Jefferson. It’s 26 degrees and the almost empty field in front of […]

The price tag for the attorneys and associated staff that are handling Detroit’s bankruptcy is expected to hit at least $200 million. However, some terrific reporting by WXYZ in Detroit is turning up some scandalous things. The law firms who are running the show are ringing up incredibly large tabs for things like receiving emails, reviewing press coverage, and one is even paid to take a chauffeured car in from another state. …