On Friday, Michiganders learned that state officials are preparing to shut down as many as 38 under-performing schools in Michigan. Twenty-five of those schools are in Detroit.
What, if anything, could keep the School Reform Office from closing the schools? And how should we, as a state, deal with schools that are turning out unprepared students?
Erin Einhorn of the newly-relaunched Chalkbeat Detroit joined Stateside to talk about what the future might hold for these under-performing schools.
The schools that are set to be closed are scattered across the state, most in urban areas like Pontiac, Detroit, Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo and Saginaw.
"There is a long history of research that shows test scores are very much affected by the economic backgrounds of the students who are taking the exams," Einhorn said.
But how did we get here?
Listen to the full interview above to hear how the 38 schools were chosen, how "unreasonable hardship reviews" could save some of the schools, and why lawsuits could be on the horizon.
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