"I'm confident that what we have put together is meaningful ... if I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t leave," Roberts said. "The deficit elimination plan says we’re going to get rid of the deficit at the end of the 2015-16 school year — and we’re on track for that — and get out of here and turn (DPS) back over to the local people to run it."

Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said he had expected Roberts to discuss Monday’s upcoming visit by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “When he said, ‘I’m stepping down,’ all of our mouths just dropped,” Johnson said. “I can’t say it’s a bad day. I can’t say it’s a good day, because we don’t know who’s coming next.” Roberts also told those gathered more shocking news: His initial instructions when he arrived in Detroit were to “blow up the district and dismantle it,” Johnson said. “He’s got nothing to lose by saying it now,” Johnson added. Roberts said he spent the first several months of his tenure convincing state officials the district was worth saving, according to board members. “Blow it up – those were his exact words,” Detroit School Board member Tawana Simpson confirmed. Board member Reverend David Murray echoed disbelief at Roberts’ statements. “He told us they wanted this district completely demolished,” Murray said. Roberts refused to do that, the board members said.

Roberts said something else, however, that shocked those who were present. He told them that his instructions when he took the job were to "blow up the district and dismantle it".Whoa.

It's one thing have your school district taken over by the state. It's entirely another to know that those taking it over had plans to destroy it. Roberts' honesty about this calls the entire Emergency Manager program in Michigan into question. Does Governor Snyder and his administration feel the same way about the cities they have taken over? Are Emergency Managers across Michigan being instructed to "blow up and dismantle" the municipalities over which they have complete and utter control? What other secret directives have been given? The secrecy with which the Snyder administration has operated in, much of which is only now coming to light, make these entirely valid questions.

As for the DPS, they aren't out of the woods yet. There haven't been any formal announcements about the DPS being out of their emergency so it seems likely another EM will be appointed.

You have to wonder what instructions that person will receive.

UPDATE: Roberts appears to be walking back his comments or at least ensuring that they weren't taken to mean that Governor Snyder was the one who "instructed" him to "blow up the district and dismantle it". The section blockquoted above from the Detroit Free Press article has been edited and now reads like this:



Roberts also told those gathered that when he arrived at DPS, he was told to “blow up” the district and dismantle it, Johnson said. “Blow it up — those were his exact words,” Detroit School Board member Tawanna Simpson confirmed. At a news conference today, Roberts said the governor never instructed him to dismantle DPS, but factions from Lansing to Detroit, from community members to educators, had wanted him to make wholesale changes in DPS and “blow it up,” figuratively speaking. “They had totally given up,” Roberts said. “But we can make it work.”

At the end of the day, I think we all know who the "factions" that Roberts speaks of are. They are the folks who have their hearts set on privatizing as much of Michigan's public school system as they possibly can. This includes a collection of Michigan Republican lawmakers and, very likely, the DeVos family or at least people aligned with them.

Also, there is a lot of news regarding Michigan schools this week and I encourage to you read these two pieces, one of which I put up this morning regarding "parent trigger" legislation (modeled on ALEC legislation, by the way.) The "parent trigger" would be applied only to Education Achievement Authority (EAA) schools which, by definition, are our lowest performing 5% schools. Currently only schools from Detroit are in the EAA but Republicans are working hard to expand it. The only thing holding it up right now is the fact that one of the Senators involved doesn't like the fact that the House put a 50-school cap on it.

Here are links to the two posts:

Why does Sen. Pavlov want even MORE schools in the Educ. Achievement Authority? Because it’s a cash cow?

and today's frightening piece:

Privatizing struggling schools: a cautionary tale of a corporate-backed, astroturf group strong-arming parents

Also, I don't discredit the successes the Roberts has had. However, the fact is, he has been lying on national television about his results and that raises BIG red flags for me. Read this:

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Roy Roberts boldly lies on national television about his “success”

UPDATE 2: I received this from DPS Emergency Manager Roy Roberts' office last evening around 5:45 p.m.:

