Detroit Schools request disaster funding from U.S. Education Department
A "special presidential emergency declaration" request was sent to the U.S. Department of Education from Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb.
Bobb wrote a letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan asking for this declaration so that the school district can receive emergency funding, according to the Detroit News.
Duncan has not commented on the unusual request, but during a recent speech said that “Detroit might be “ground zero” for education in the country.”
Any money given to schools will have strings attached. “We’re going to push a very hard reform agenda,” Duncan said.
On Tuesday, Detroit Public Schools financial manager Bobb said the district plans to close 29 schools beginning this fall to save the district $14 million annually beginning with the 2010-11 school year.
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