Detroit Teachers Go on Strike, Delaying Start of School Year

Detroit’s teachers went on strike Tuesday, wiping out the first day of class for 172,000 students and thwarting one of the nation’s most ambitious attempts to overhaul a troubled school system.

The 7,200 teachers walked out in defiance of Michigan law, one day after rejecting a 10-day extension of their old contract. It is one of the nation’s biggest teacher strikes in years.

The teachers are unhappy with proposals for a longer school day, merit pay and other reforms proposed by the district’s new chief executive. He took the place of the superintendent after the Legislature voted in March to replace Detroit’s elected school board with one appointed by the mayor. Similar takeovers have occurred in Chicago and Cleveland.

After taking over a district beset by mismanagement and chronically low test scores, attendance and graduation rates, the chief executive, David Adamany, promised changes.

He told parents and students that when school resumed after summer vacation, they would find schools had undergone $80 million worth of renovations, and new incentives to learning would be in place.

The union, however, objected to proposals to crack down on teacher absenteeism and to extend the school day by roughly 2 1/2 hours, to 8 1/2 hours, and the school year by 10 days, to 191 days.

In addition, the district is offering up to $3,000 a year in merit pay to teachers with good attendance, three years of satisfactory performance, advanced course work and national certification.