Robert Bobb is not working out for DPS

**rjlj** · May-19-10, 11:25 AM

You can't attract new students without investment. He is making investments now that are meant to pay off in the future.
No one has given this guy a chance. He has been up against a wall since day one. He has produced more results in a year than any DPS board has done in the past 25 years. Is it that rare in the Detroit Public School System to see someone who has the children's best interest at heart and want to join them? Or is the goal to keep status quo toward failure with only the interests of the adults as the focus?

**kraig** · May-19-10, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by rjlj

You can't attract new students without investment. He is making investments now that are meant to pay off in the future.
No one has given this guy a chance. He has been up against a wall since day one. He has produced more results in a year than any DPS board has done in the past 25 years. Is it that rare in the Detroit Public School System to see someone who has the children's best interest at heart and want to join them? Or is the goal to keep status quo toward failure with only the interests of the adults as the focus?

What results has he produced? Name some.

**R8RBOB** · May-19-10, 12:25 PM

I admit that I am not a academic wiz but I think I know a thing or two about numbers and for anyone to say that Robert Bobb is working out is over the top. If DPS was a business and Robert Bobb was brought on board to manage the money, he would simply shut down operations that are not profitable and cut personnel to get the company back in the black.

DPS is not a profit-generated business. It is non-profit and its survival is based on tax dollars coming in. Bobb could treat DPS like a profit-driven entity and call for the immediate closure of schools. Let's say 50% of the schools in the city and when those schools closed, the jobs goes with them. The deficit will decrease and DPS could probably balance a budget.

Bobb have worked out, in fact he brought to light the decades of theft by those who claimed they were for the kids. I never expected Bobb to come in and poof money is falling from the sky, schools are actually places of learning not babysitting centers for the unfortunate. Just like Barack Obama can't clean the dirt left behind by Bush in a year, Bobb was not going to be able to turn the ship around in a year, but he was going to start the effort. Give him that.

**jbd441** · May-19-10, 12:49 PM

I think it's funny how the School Board is suing to get financial control back from Bobb. I wonder if any of this would have been overcovered if it wasn't for Bobb. Maybe the school board should be replaced also.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in..._to_uncov.html

**maxx** · June-03-10, 06:41 AM

Originally Posted by jbd441

I think it's funny how the School Board is suing to get financial control back from Bobb. I wonder if any of this would have been overcovered if it wasn't for Bobb. Maybe the school board should be replaced also.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in..._to_uncov.html

Maybe they've got something to hide.

**johnsmith** · May-19-10, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by kraig

What results has he produced? Name some.

Johnlodge already pointed out 2 very important ones.

**kraig** · May-19-10, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by johnsmith

Johnlodge already pointed out 2 very important ones.

And I responded to that. He's doing much of the same things.

**Johnlodge** · May-19-10, 01:06 PM

It's just amazing that people would not give this guy a chance without trying to shuffle him right out of here, yet sat idly by for years and years and years while corruption in the status quo funneled countless dollars away from the children. The entire school board should have been run out of town with pitchforks and torches when Bobb brought this stuff to light, instead, people want to run him out of town. Good luck, children of DPS.

And I don't think English's credentials qualify her to run a school district either, even if her rhetoric sounds peachy. Where was the talk of reform for years and years and years while money was being wasted on ghost employees on the payroll and rooms full of computers rotting away without even being hooked up once? Instead, people get upset they won't pay to keep open a bunch of 1/4 to 1/2 empty school buildings who are losing enrollment every year.

Give this guy a few years, then you can assess if his plan is working or not. Right now, you're just throwing grapes.

**R8RBOB** · May-19-10, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

and rooms full of computers rotting away without even being hooked up once?

Funny you mention computers. When I was a contractor for DPS back in 2005, I was doing inventory on DPS computers and schools I would visit would have a storage room stacked with New Dell desktops still in the box. Season 4 of The Wire had a scene when Prez was looking for board games in the storage room discovered new books and computers not being used much like the computers at DPS.

**kraig** · May-19-10, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

It's just amazing that people would not give this guy a chance without trying to shuffle him right out of here, yet sat idly by for years and years and years while corruption in the status quo funneled countless dollars away from the children. The entire school board should have been run out of town with pitchforks and torches when Bobb brought this stuff to light, instead, people want to run him out of town. Good luck, children of DPS.

And I don't think English's credentials qualify her to run a school district either, even if her rhetoric sounds peachy. Where was the talk of reform for years and years and years while money was being wasted on ghost employees on the payroll and rooms full of computers rotting away without even being hooked up once? Instead, people get upset they won't pay to keep open a bunch of 1/4 to 1/2 empty school buildings who are losing enrollment every year.

Give this guy a few years, then you can assess if his plan is working or not. Right now, you're just throwing grapes.

This is from the article.

"Last year, Bobb cut spending to get the deficit to $218.9 million, and then submitted a 2009-10 budget that projected the district deficit would not grow, but have a $17-million surplus. But by October, that budget was overspent by $20 million. The deficit has ballooned since then; next year's budget is expected to start off with a $332-million deficit, according to the monthly report."

So, not only will there not be a $17 million dollar surplus, but, there's going to be a $332 million dollar deficit. That's a swing of negative $349 million. Now, would any of you that are praising Bobb so tough, accept this from Anthony Adams? I know I wouldn't. Does the DPS school board need to go? Yes. Does Robert Bobb need to take his ass with them? Hell yes.

Whether it's an F- or an F+, it's still a failing grade.

**English** · May-19-10, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

And I don't think English's credentials qualify her to run a school district either, even if her rhetoric sounds peachy.

Hey, you can't offend me. I'm not trying to run a school district. I'm still a novice in this field. A decade in the classroom and no administrative experience does not a superintendent or a CEO make. The difference between me and Bobb is that I'm not audacious enough to try. Neither he nor I are qualified for the job. But there are plenty of people who are qualified, and who could do a better job simply because they have experience in school reform.

Where was the talk of reform for years and years and years while money was being wasted on ghost employees on the payroll and rooms full of computers rotting away without even being hooked up once? Instead, people get upset they won't pay to keep open a bunch of 1/4 to 1/2 empty school buildings who are losing enrollment every year.

People have not only been talking about reform for years, but there have been people who are working hard to change the status quo. Perhaps not at the superintendent level, not at the schools center building, but there are PLENTY of excellent administrators and teachers who have gotten results in Detroit and across the nation. It is because of those men and women that I am able to type to you today.

The reason why we don't have more good people at the top is the same reason why only a certain type of person seeks to be a school CEO, mayor, or the president of the United States. How many politicians do you think have altruistic motives that eclipse their egos and pride? How many school board members are looking to step into a higher political office? Those who are humble and hardworking do not choose to be elevated, but to work hard behind the scenes to influence change where they are.

There is nothing at all about being in the spotlight that appeals to me. I admire the [[few) good people in politics who manage to help people, but I do not think that a high-profile position is the best place for anyone who wants to be a change agent.

Give this guy a few years, then you can assess if his plan is working or not.

His contract is up next year. With a new governor, I am sure he'll be moving on to something else.

Right now, you're just throwing grapes.

No. I eat my grapes. I am throwing some common sense. Anyone who's a good person with decent motives in the district would say the same thing. Most would be far more eloquent than I am at doing so.

**unclefrank** · May-19-10, 05:50 PM

Right, lets just give contol back to the local crooks. See how that works out.

**kraig** · May-19-10, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by unclefrank

Right, lets just give contol back to the local crooks. See how that works out.

Or, and this is appropriate since we're talking about education, we can do our homework before the election and not give control to any crooks. Whether they're local or from out of town.

**Roq** · May-20-10, 04:25 AM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

It's just amazing that people would not give this guy a chance without trying to shuffle him right out of here, yet sat idly by for years and years and years while corruption in the status quo funneled countless dollars away from the children. The entire school board should have been run out of town with pitchforks and torches when Bobb brought this stuff to light, instead, people want to run him out of town. Good luck, children of DPS.

And I don't think English's credentials qualify her to run a school district either, even if her rhetoric sounds peachy. Where was the talk of reform for years and years and years while money was being wasted on ghost employees on the payroll and rooms full of computers rotting away without even being hooked up once? Instead, people get upset they won't pay to keep open a bunch of 1/4 to 1/2 empty school buildings who are losing enrollment every year.

Give this guy a few years, then you can assess if his plan is working or not. Right now, you're just throwing grapes.

** [golf clap] **

Based on the fact those complete fuckwits such as Reverend Murray hate him with such venom and are suing him at every turn, he is doing something right.