You know things are bad when you don't have money for toilet paper. Not even the sandpaper variety common to public schools.
That's just how bad things are for the Detroit school district; letters are being sent to parents asking them to pack their kids' backpacks with TP.
Academy of the Americas administrators were also asking for light bulbs, trash bags, paper towel rolls. I understand the Detroit school system's finances are looking about as good as the economics of my own state government (proud New Yorker here) at the moment. I remember reading reports that cited a deficit as large as $400 million in a more than $1 billion budget. This story from the Detroit News puts the figures closer to a $140 million deficit.
The state stepped in last month to help, appointing an emergency manager to begin the long task of straightening out the district finances. Yes, last month, at a point so late in the game that one kindergarten through eight school is asking parents to buy their kids' toilet paper.
What does that say about a state's attitude towards education and toward the children? Not to mention the fact that parents are already PAYING for these things via their taxes. It hardly seems appropriate to ask them for more (although, yes, as a parent, I would probably pony up a few extra rolls of Charmin' to ensure my child's classroom didn't turn to leaves), especially in light of the economy. Come to think of it, it wouldn't seem appropriate in more flush times either. Public education has been widely accepted as a right in our country, and parents can be charged for their children's truancy.
Parents expect that when they send their children to school, they will receive a certain quality of care; a quality equal or greater than the minimum of childcare that social service agencies would require of a parent. Not providing children with toilet paper to clean themselves when they defecate is not providing an adequate level of care; I wouldn't call it a stretch to deem that child abuse.
What else could we cut from district spending before toilet paper? How about administrators' salaries? The recently fired superintendent was making $280,000 a year - a far cry from the salaries of the average citizen of Detroit.
Image: PopGadget
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