DPS board continues fight against state bailout plan

(WJBK) - The current school board for Detroit Public Schools is not going out without a fight.

During one of their final meetings Wednesday afternoon, the members continued in their efforts to lay out the reasons why they feel the current bailout plan won't work for DPS and demanding lawmakers in Lansing to let them speak.

"What they've done before is ignore our plea to at least be heard and have our day in court, so that the emergency manager's recommendations would go in automatically and our objections would not be recorded for the record, and particularly the state record," said DPS School Board President Lamar Lemon.

One point Lemon made was the 18 percent interest in the current plan that is set to be signed into law by the governor.

"Could you imagine having a credit card with 18 percent?" he said. "Those who have bad credit know about it."

They also took some jabs at the state's emergency loan board, saying the board never gave them a say when it came to recommendations.

"What the loan board has done is refuse to hear our alternatives," said DPS School Board member Ida Short. "They've done it by doing different things. They say we got the request in late. They say they don't accept it. They say we don't present it in a presentable way. We ask what is the presentable way; they don't respond."

Technically the members here have little-to-no power in their final week, but that's not stopping their agenda.

"We have the power of being a citizen, a disenfranchise citizen, that this legislation overturned a vote of the people," Lemon said.

The transitional manager for DPS, Judge Steven Rhodes, was not available to comment on the board's actions.

FOX 2 also made a call to Lansing to get a response from the state's emergency loan board, but have not yet heard back.

On Thursday, the board said it plans to take the next step in filing an injunction. After this week, some of members plan to run for a seat on the new school board later this year.