Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb will defend his pay and efforts to control academics at Detroit Public Schools in a flurry of hearings in Wayne Circuit Court today.
The district’s school board, the civil rights group By Any Means Necessary and a coalition of teachers who oppose charter schools filed suit against Bobb, claiming the $145,000 in extra income he receives on top of his $280,000 base pay is a conflict of interest and should not be allowed. Bobb, appointed by the governor, wants a judge to toss out the case, arguing the groups who filed suit lack legal standing and the contract is not a violation of ethics rules.
Also today, the school board’s case versus Bobb over academic control will head back to the courtroom, following an appeals court decision earlier this month to toss out an injunction that halted Bobb’s academic and school closures plans. Before that hearing, the Detroit Federation of Teachers is to argue before the judge why it should intervene in the case.
Under his one-year contract extension approved in March by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the state superintendent of schools, Bobb receives $56,000 from the Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation. The Broad Foundation paid Bobb $28,000 last year.
The sources of the remaining $89,000 in this year’s contract were not identified. But the W.K. Kellogg Foundation said this week it’s chipping in $39,000 to retain Bobb in Detroit, compared to $56,000 it gave him last year. It is unclear who else is paying the remaining $50,000. The governor’s office has yet to release the names of the other donors.
The Broad and Kellogg foundations have said they believe in Bobb’s leadership and want to support him financially so he can continue to reform Detroit’s schools.
“Mr. Bobb is creating some momentum for change there,” said Anthony Berkley, Kellogg’s deputy director, education and learning. “He understands the challenges, and he’s making progress on them.”
The investment is part of Kellogg’s overall commitment to education in Detroit, amounting to $10 million since 1991, he said.
The attorney who filed suit against Bobb argues his acceptance of money from groups that openly support charter schools amounts to “legalized bribery.”
“It means his loyalty is to private foundations that have a definite agenda for public education,” attorney George Washington said. “… They get to pay the public official who makes the decisions as to whether schools are privatized or not. And that’s legalized bribery.”
Washington points to the citywide academic plan, Excellent Schools Detroit, supported by the Kellogg Foundation and Bobb, that calls, in part, for opening 70 new schools within a decade. Though not limited to charter schools, many of the new schools are expected to be charter school academies.
“The coalition may disagree with his (Bobb’s) policy decisions, but they don’t have any standing to challenge his employment with the state,” said Joy Yearout, spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s office, representing Bobb.
Bobb doesn’t have a contract with philanthropic organizations, Yearout said, it’s with the state of Michigan.
Source:The Detroit News/ Marisa Schultz
