LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s governor has signed a $617 million bailout and restructuring plan for Detroit’s school district.
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed the legislation Tuesday. It comes two years after he shepherded a package of bills through the Legislature to help end the city’s bankruptcy.
The financially strained Detroit Public Schools has been managed by the state for seven years. During that time, the district has continued to face plummeting enrollment, deficits and recent teacher sick-outs. The district now has roughly 46,000 students.
Under the laws, the district will be split on July 1 and control of the new district will be returned to a school board to be elected in November. A commission of state appointees will oversee that district’s finances, similar to how it now reviews the city’s budgeting.
