November 22, 2004

Detroit city residents voted this November to change the way the Detroit Public School Board is chosen. They decided to return to an elected board, which it had lost when the state took over the district in 1999. Then Governor John Engler and the state legislature led a takeover of the schools because of low test scores, high dropout rates, and financial mismanagement.

The 2005 city election will include the first school board election in more than five years. The vote takes away Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's responsibility to select board members. However, the mayor could back a slate of candidates for the school board as was done in cities like St. Louis and Toledo. Kilpatrick is also up for re-election in 2005.

The decision on school board governance came in the form of Proposal E on the ballot. A "yes" vote would have created an elected board that shared power with the mayor — who would have appointed a strong chief executive. Those who voted "no" favored a return to a fully empowered and elected board. Proposal E failed by a 2-1 margin. Kilpatrick supported Proposal E saying it was crucial to get an educator to lead without a micromanaging board. The mayor wanted to select the board and be involved in the selection of the superintendent. Both sides of Proposition E agreed that the key to improving the struggling school district was improving the governance, and the mayor is committed to a quality education for every child.