DETROIT (AP) — Robert Bobb has spent the past two years closing dozens of Detroit schools and firing principals in an effort to fix the failing district.
But the state-appointed financial manager still hasn't solved the problem for which he was hired: to erase a legacy budget deficit that now stands at $327 million.
Bobb is proposing several headline-grabbing ideas to wipe out the red ink, including shutting down so many buildings that some high schools could see more than 60 students per class.
He also favors placing 41 academically poor schools and their 16,000 students in the hands of charter operators. The teachers' union has vowed to fight it.
Another model seeks to take revenue and pay off the district's outstanding debt while doing away with the existing school system.
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