The Michigan Legislature narrowly approved a $617 million bailout and restructuring of Detroit's debt-ridden school district, two years after the state spent less than a third of that amount to help the city government emerge from bankruptcy, The Associated Press reported today. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a main bill 19-18 late Wednesday, and the GOP-led House followed with a similar razor-thin 55-54 vote. Some Republicans joined all Democrats in opposition during an emotional debate that brought some lawmakers to tears. Snyder, who had warned legislators that insolvency would be disastrous for students and the state if the district ran short of money this summer, said that the measure is a "fresh start" and an "unprecedented investment for the education of Detroit's children." The financially and academically ailing 46,000-student Detroit Public Schools has been managed by the state for seven years, during which it has continued to face plummeting enrollment, deficits and, more recently, teacher sick-out protests. Under the bills, the district would be split in two and control would be returned to an elected school board. A commission of state appointees would oversee the district's finances, similar to how it now reviews the city's budgeting as part of a $195 million state rescue in 2014.
