DETROIT — Eighty-two percent of those surveyed in a recent
poll gave a negative rating to the quality of education in Detroit Public
Schools, while 54 percent said they would favor having the mayor be accountable
for the school system, and 28 percent said they would oppose mayoral oversight,
according to a poll commissioned by New Detroit and reported in the Detroit
Free Press.
The telephone survey of 600 likely Detroit voters was
conducted by the Washington-based Mellman Group in mid-May and has a margin of
error of four percentage points, according to the Free Press.
New Detroit and a community organization named Change for
Better Schools want the Detroit City Council to place an advisory question on
mayoral oversight of the city's schools on the November ballot, a move that the
council so far has declined to make, according to the Free Press.
"The poll is pretty strong in saying that we do need
change," Shirley Stancato, a member of Change for Better Schools and
president of New Detroit, told the Free Press.
The poll is the first scientific look at what voters think
of the debate, the Free Press reported. In other results, 61 percent of those
surveyed gave the school board an unfavorable rating and 64 percent gave Mayor
Dave Bing a favorable rating.
Tyrone Winfrey, Detroit Board of Education vice president,
questioned why Detroit has been singled out among Michigan school boards, The
Free Press said.
"A sole line of authority is not the clear
answer," Winfrey told the Free Press.
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Poll: Voters favor mayoral oversight of
Detroit Public Schools," July 25, 2010
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Detroit's Schools Are Going
Bankrupt, Too," Aug. 4, 2009