DETROIT (AP) – Detroit schools are expected to reopen Wednesday after teachers who had called out sick for two days received assurances from the financially struggling district that they would continue to be paid.
But while the teachers are returning to work, their union is sparring with lawmakers over a $500 million plan to restructure the district and its debt.
A House panel on Tuesday advanced the measure, which was intended to ease teachers’ fears that they might not get their paychecks if the district runs out of money. But the union blasted the legislation that would also forbid existing labor agreements from transferring to the new district and restrict collective bargaining over work schedules and school calendars.
Terrence Martin, executive vice president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said teachers are “truly outraged” by the proposal. He said the measures heading to the full House “feel like and look like anti-teacher bills” and differ radically from legislation approved in March by the Senate that he described as “workable.”
“(It’s) very discouraging to our membership,” Martin said. “We’ll continue to fight.”