The year 2017 was a huge one for education in Detroit and Michigan.

After years of being controlled by the state or state-appointed emergency managers, Detroit’s newly elected school board went to work. Its members wasted no time in naming a new superintendent, Dr. Nikolai Vitti.

Thirty-eight of the state’s lowest-performing schools started the year under threat of closure. Under intense political pressure, the state backed off and began crafting agreements that required the schools to improve. (One charter school was closed by its authorizer.) Today, almost half of district schools are in such partnership agreements.

What would you like to see for Detroit students next year? We asked nine local leaders what they thought:

“To do more to increase education equity in the state of Michigan. And to play a greater part in addressing those inequities and making sure all students in Michigan get the education they deserve.” -Jeffrey Robinson, principal of Paul Robeson Malcolm X Academy

 

“I would love to see a dedication by parents in underserved populations to really embrace the concept of reading to their children every day for 10, 15 minutes.” -Carolyn Bellinson, co-founder of Brilliant Detroit

Read the full article by Amanda Rahn and Julie Topping about Detroit education from Chalkbeat