Dive Brief:
- Teachers at 94 Detroit schools participated in a "sickout" Monday, shutting down all but three of the city's schools over protests about summer pay funding.
- Detroit Public Schools emergency manager Judge Steven Rhodes told the union Saturday that barring additional legislative action, the district will run out of money to pay teachers after June 30, the Detroit Free Press reports.
- Teachers are calling for a forensic audit and a guarantee they will receive summer disbursements for the 2015-2016 school year.
Dive Insight:
Detroit schools have a long list of struggles plaguing the district, including a significant teacher shortage, overcrowding in the classroom and deteriorating physical conditions thanks to persistent budget shortfalls.
A massive federal corruption case also pointed to rampant fraud and abuse among some principals in the district, prompting the re-establishment of the Office of the Inspector General, which was eliminated last year.
This is the second time this year teachers have staged a major walkout, shutting down 94 schools in the district. The first time, protests arose over poor school conditions. In January, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder urged legislators to move "with great haste" to address the school's issues and avoid court intervention. Rhodes, who took the helm in a transitional capacity March 1 to try to balance the books and right the ship at DPS, is the fifth emergency manager the district has seen since the office was created in 2009.