Robert Bobb is not working out for DPS

**kraig** · May-19-10, 08:49 AM

The deficit has gone up and test scores have gone down.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...te=fullarticle

**Johnlodge** · May-19-10, 08:55 AM

Originally Posted by kraig

The deficit has gone up and test scores have gone down.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...te=fullarticle

But isn't the money at least being spent on education instead of paying people who don't actually work there, and buying rooms full of stuff the kids never see? That should probably be taken into account as well. Test scores alone probably need a little more time to be decisive.

**daddeeo** · May-19-10, 09:27 AM

How can you expect one man in such a short time to overcome 40 plus years
of incompetence and corruption in the DPS?

I think he's headed in the right direction against overwhelming odds.

**English** · May-19-10, 09:27 AM

This is not surprising. We're seeing the same results from others who do not have any teaching or administrative experience and purport to be "reformers", such as Michelle Rhee in DC and the current SecEd Arne Duncan's tenure in Chicago. The general public supports people like these because they're tough talkers and public education is abysmal in urban areas, but when you look at actual numbers [[test scores and the budget), their walk does NOT reflect the tough game they talk.

The fact is that outside of specific schools that can screen their population through test scores, behavioral metrics, or location in a relatively stable neighborhood, NONE of these reformers have done much better than those of us who quietly finished traditional teacher certification and began to put in the long years of learning how to teach, then put in more long years through training and internships to become administrators, counselors, researchers, policy wonks in education, and superintendents. When you look at some of these resumes of the "reformers" that turn the general public on so much, they are THIN on the ground.

The first thing that I learned as a whiz kid novice teacher was that I was NOT teaching a subject until I first learned how to reach kids. Reaching urban kids and convincing them that what you have is worth learning was tricky enough at an urban magnet school. It's even more difficult at a neighborhood school where you must be a social worker and surrogate parent before you even get to the teaching.

I have some ideas for reform, but they don't involve barebones financing of schools and Pavlovian direct instruction. We know what works, and we have the research on what works. The problem is that there is no political will for real reform, just flagellating urban teachers, urban administrators, and *especially* urban kids.

**kraig** · May-19-10, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

But isn't the money at least being spent on education instead of paying people who don't actually work there, and buying rooms full of stuff the kids never see? That should probably be taken into account as well. Test scores alone probably need a little more time to be decisive.

Bobb's not living up to the plan that he introduced himself. He's paying a lot on No Bid Contracts, largely to former employers and colleagues, who don't actually work there either. The deficit isn't increasing due to text books and school supplies, that's for sure.

**JBMcB** · May-19-10, 11:05 AM

I thought I read somewhere that the deficit had shot up because DPS accounting wasn't correct, and a re-audit had caught a bunch of debts not accounted for.

**DetBill** · May-19-10, 11:10 AM

If you took Bobb totally out of the equation in the last two years and it was status quo,
God help everyone as to where we would be now. The level of incredible incompetence and corruption in that system is staggering.

**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?

**65memories** · May-19-10, 11:32 AM

The fact is that outside of specific schools that can screen their population through test scores, behavioral metrics, or location in a relatively stable neighborhood, NONE of these reformers have done much better than those of us who quietly finished traditional teacher certification and began to put in the long years of learning how to teach, then put in more long years through training and internships to become administrators, counselors, researchers, policy wonks in education, and superintendents. When you look at some of these resumes of the "reformers" that turn the general public on so much, they are THIN on the ground.

As is usually the case, English has a better grasp of the problems facing urban education than most of our current leaders/reformers, including Robert Bobb. Bobb has done a great job combating fraud in DPS [[I know for a fact that millions of dollars slated for improvement to Mumford High School via bond money in the 90's never got there...somebody else got that money), but Bobb's knowledge of what works in urban education is suspect. He has transferred or dismissed many educators who were indeed making a difference. As I sat in on some of the school closing appeals, it was clear that Bobb had no real idea what was happening in some schools before he made them get on their knees and beg to remain open.

**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

**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.

**unclefrank** · May-19-10, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by kraig

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.

Yep! That's going to happen in Detroit, or Michigan in General. The Federal Government should take away our Statehood and make us a territory. Even the Feds can't screw us up any more that what we have done to ourselves.

**wolverine** · May-19-10, 06:33 PM

It's not the schools, it's the parents. The parents are responsible for improving their kid's test scores. The schools can assist somewhat, but they can only do so much with so little. What, is a teacher going to stay after school with 30 something kids?

Robert Bobb can fix the money problems. The test scores are already decided.....and Detroiters seem to be relatively complacent with them being low, so I suppose there is no other problem to look at here.

**barnesfoto** · May-19-10, 06:54 PM

This guy has a tough job, and deserves some credit for trying to salvage a ship that has been on a disastrous course for decades, but now he is proposing building megaschools, which have a proven track record of failure.

Most school districts are moving towards smaller schools [[for example in Los Angeles, large schools have been broken up into small learning communities, each with their own educational goals)...Yet this man is trying to go backwards. One of his planned megaschools would be on the campuses of Western HS and Earhart Middle School, and involves acquiring homes in the Hubbard Farms neighborhood and demolishing them.

So, in a city filled with vacant land and buildings, he wants to force out another block of homeowners [[and homeowners in a historic district to boot) to build a gigantic school based on a failed educational model.

Hopefully, he's gone soon.

**mwilbert** · May-19-10, 07:48 PM

The DPS system has many problems. Bobb was brought in to deal with the horrendous financial position, but when it turned out he was the only grown-up around, he started sucking up additional roles. Maybe he was too willing to do that, but it is hard to fault him for trying to fill that gap. I don't think he knows much about running schools, but then no one knows all that much about running a successful public school system with a poor, urban student population.

As I have said before, I don't think there is a good reason for the DPS to exist, but if it is going to exist it should be run by someone with some plausible background in actually providing education to students. That excludes both Bobb and, as far as I can tell, the rest of the DPS administration.

**trstar** · May-19-10, 08:55 PM

Bobb is a fianace person. He should stick to the finances of the district. He is not qualified to make academic decisions. His choice of bringing in new academic consultants with failing track records elsewhere is foolhardy. The current board, or previous board, fumbled their chance at running the district by hiring Calloway. She was CLEARLY not qualified to run the district. The state allowed the thieves in the temple with the Engler takeover.