Mayor Duggan tours DPS schools, finds dead mouse in classroom

DETROIT (WJBK) - Tuesday was another day of no classes for 24 Detroit Public Schools after another sick-out. Teachers say they're sick of poor learning, safety, and health conditions.

While students and teachers were out, Mayor Mike Duggan was in, touring some of the schools to see the conditions for himself and he got a look at what some of your children are seeing.

"I saw a dead mouse in a classroom," Duggan said.

But it's not just mice. There are also complaints from teachers of mold problems and the Federation of Teachers are making it known.

"Looks like water on the floor. (With) drop ceilings, you see all the way out, the tiles are missing all over the place. There's ome kind of growth on the wall here," David Heckler, President American Federation of teachers Michigan, said.

Detroit Public Schools admits that there are maintenance issues but Executive Director of Communications Michelle Zdrodowski said they're doing what they can to fix them.

"There are schools that average on age of 47 years old. They have building issues, there's nobody denying that, but what I can say is when problems are reported, DPS investigates them and addresses them in as timely a manor as possible," Zdrodowski said.

That's not timely enough for Mayor Duggan. He got a look at three schools on Tuesday and has a message.

"Lansing has got to deal with this issue with some urgency," Duggan said.

Those comments aren't thinly veiled. They're directed at Governor Rick Snyder.

"Our goal is to get the Detroit Public School to be successful. I proposed a package that involves an investment of over $700 Million to improve education in Detroit. I'm not sure why they would protests against having a solution like that come to Detroit," Snyder said, referring to the teachers who called out sick again.

While this isn't a strike, Detroit Public Schools teachers know that strikes are illegal and say they've been pushed into a corner because of pay reductions, class-size, debt management and now the classroom itself.