Parents blame teachers, teachers blame city officials and city officials blame…Shepard Smith?
Community leaders from Detroit are incensed over a comment that Fox News’ Shepard Smith made in response to recent news that 69% of Detroit fourth-graders scored below basic math levels as did 77% of eigth-graders.
Here’s what Shep had to say:
To hear that 69 percent of the kids that took the test scored as if they just guessed on every one. And you’re talking about adequeate…adeqaute advancement, I don’t care. If my kid were in Detroit I’d try to burn the place down.
Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb responded by saying this:
Yesterday, Shep fired back:
Shep’s right. The real story is that the scores on the progress test “were the lowest in its 40-year history.”
As if that’s not bad enough, teachers are threatening to strike rather than accept a contract that would force them to give up $500 a month or $250 per paycheck to reinvest back into the school system. The money (if managed properly, which is a big “if”…this is Detroit we’re talking about) would be used to pay down the $219 million deficit and would supposedly be paid back to teachers upon retirement.
Parents led by Sharlonda Buckman, CEO of the Detroit Parent Network, are calling for civil lawsuits and jailling of anyone within the Detroit school system who is not doing their job to educate students. Their anger also extends to Mayor Dave Bing who failed to show up to the organization’s annual forum.