Role of Community Influencers & Using Fiscal Solvency cont…
expensive high school built in the nation, at $127 million dollars. For the fan fare of a new building, many voices in the
community were doubtful that these State plans for tax dollars were what education is about. Even then a May 5, 2002
Michigan Daily article quotes Cass alum Agnes Aleobua, an LSA junior’s concern that new buildings were not the only
things which improve education. "Improvement in the resources, like having enough teachers and having enough chalk in
classrooms, goes hand in hand with improving the physical resources of Cass Tech high school," she said.
According to a 2006, article by Chastity Pratt-Dawsey called, “Pricey new Cass Tech already Needs Fixes”, The new building
opened with problems requiring yet more remodeling.
As I stated at a recent community meeting:
Now 16 years later, Governor Engler sits on the Board of K12 Inc., a national, for profit, online
charter school and the fabric of Detroit’s neighborhoods, have been ruined. We are still
waiting on the new teachers, toilet paper, books and basic supplies. The $1.5 billion was spent
under Engler’s authority by his agent, Ken Burnley, now deceased. Before Burnley was done,
the district had to borrow $210 million at a whopping 50% finance charge, resulting in the
closure of schools and firing of thousands of Detroiters from good jobs and a drop in
enrollment of 44,000 students! It only took six years of wild spending like Swarovski crystal
chandeliers and marble floors for a $40 million dollar renovation of a build