Election: Detroit’s next mayor could influence education in the city

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Detroit residents who haven’t already voted will head to the polls on Tuesday to help decide who the city’s next mayor will be.

The election — featuring candidates Solomon Kinloch, a pastor, and Mary Sheffield, city council president — has been largely focused around issues related to neighborhood revitalization, safety, poverty, and housing instability.

All of those issues affect the city’s public schools, and each of the candidates say they intend to play a role by partnering with schools to ensure children have a quality education.

What that role looks like remains to be seen. But low academic achievement, high rates of chronic absenteeism, and the myriad effects of poverty on student learning are key challenges in Detroit.

Here’s what you need to know about the election.

What can Detroit’s next mayor do?

Unlike in some other big cities, Detroit’s mayor doesn’t have any control over or say in education issues. But the mayor can still have some influence.

For instance, students miss school at alarming rates in the city, and it’s not just because they want to blow off the classroom.

More than half of the students in the Detroit Public Schools Community District attend school outside their neighborhood, and challenges getting to and from school often lead to absences.

The Detroit Partnership for Education Equity and Research has reported that a third of families in Detroit don’t own a car, and 30% of families don’t have a fixed way to get their children to school.

Meanwhile, high school students largely take city-run transportation to get to school, and Chalkbeat has often heard from teens that buses don’t always arrive on time or pass them by when they’re waiting at the bus stop.

While the mayor can’t equip all Detroit residents with vehicles or require students to attend their neighborhood school, they can address issues with the transportation system. The topic came up earlier this month when Sheffield and Kinloch met for a televised debate.

Sheffield vowed to provide “more coordinated transportation to reduce absenteeism and get our students back in school,” while also noting that the city needs to improve transportation wait times. Kinloch said that in order to improve transportation, the city needs to ensure it is offering competitive pay to transit workers, has reliable vehicles, and has trained mechanics.

What Detroiters told us they want from the next mayor

Chalkbeat asked Detroit residents to tell us what they would like to see the next mayor do to address education issues in the city.

Some common themes emerged. Residents said they welcome the mayor playing a role in education issues, though several made it clear schools should continue to be independently operated. They told us they want to see Sheffield or Kinloch address issues such as safety, transportation, poor attendance, lack of stable housing, and lack of student engagement.

One reader told us that the mayor needs to play a role because she or he “has a direct impact” on some of the biggest challenges facing schools in the city.

Sharon Kelso, a Detroit district parent and education advocate, said safety, lack of student engagement, and lack of accountability of school staff are major factors affecting student learning.

“There is currently too much failure with blame being placed on students and parents,” Kelso said.

The next mayor, she said, can promote parental involvement by holding town hall meetings to hear parent concerns. They can also hold town hall meetings and conferences to hear from students. Kelso said the mayor can work with DPSCD and charter school leaders to address transportation and safety issues.

Sheffield and Kinloch’s views on education

Kinloch has said he will create a cabinet-level position that would partner with DPSCD “to make sure that we’re removing the social ills that keep the children from showing up in class in a productive way, not to just to survive, but to thrive.” He said on his website that the cabinet member would work with school administrators, educators, parents, and students “to coordinate city services that support student success.”

Sheffield, in a response to a Chalkbeat Detroit survey, said she would “commit significant resources” toward improving conditions that affect education that the city oversees. Sheffield, during the debate, said she would partner with DPSCD and charter schools on a consistent basis to “ensure that we have robust after-school programming within a two mile radius of every school, focusing in on literacy,” as well as addressing the social deterrents that affect students and families.

How to vote in Tuesday’s Detroit election

Detroit residents aren’t just voting for a new mayor. They also will be electing city council members, city clerk, board of police commissioners, and the community advisory council.

For information about how to vote early, BridgeDetroit has a handy guide here. A reminder that if you’re voting in person on Nov. 4, the polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

Want to read more?

Chalkbeat wrote in July about why some advocates see education as a key issue in the mayoral race. After the primary, we broke down how the top two contenders would address education issues, specifically chronic absenteeism. And we had all the details about what the candidates said about education at a televised debate.

For more information on the candidates, check out coverage from our partners at BridgeDetroit.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.