Governor Rick Snyder says the 15 Detroit schools being run by the state Educational Achievement Authority are already showing signs of improvement.
As we hear from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta, he also says the state does not need a new law to put more struggling schools into the authority.
Legislation that would expand the scope of the authority is stalled in the state Senate. Some lawmakers say they don’t like the idea of giving the state more power to take over schools. But Governor Snyder says that’s already settled.
“People believe the legislation was required to add schools to the EEA, but that’s never been true,” he says. “Schools can be added to the EEA anytime.”
Snyder says the state superintendent can put a struggling school from anywhere in Michigan into the authority – but there are no plans to do so right now. He says the legislation would merely set a clearer process for how the state’s lowest-performing schools would be put into the authority and how they would exit.
