DPS New EMF (More)

Detroit Free Press Editorial

Here’s hoping DPS has finally found its savior

   As Detroit’s chief financial officer, Jack Martin made few waves. Martin was often seen alongside Detroit Mayor Dave Bing at news conferences or at the Detroit City Council table, seemingly focused on the task at hand: righting Detroit’s financial ship.

   Now, Martin has been named emergency manager of Detroit Public Schools, the third to serve in this role since 2009. Under emergency managers Robert Bobb, a former city manager, and retired auto executive Roy Roberts, the district’s financial situation has improved — its deficit has shrunk from about $250 million to roughly $82 million. But the district still faces serious problems. And Martin has a big job.

   For this kind of work, Martin’s résumé is impeccable: a certified public accountant, he also served as CFO for the U.S. Department of Education. Martin has been CFO of Detroit since last year, when the city signed a consent agreement with the state intended to stave off the kind of financial crisis that would merit the appointment of an emergency manager.

   That’s not how it worked out. Gov. Rick Snyder appointed an EM for the city in March, and it’s widely expected that the city will file for municipal bankruptcy protection later this summer. If it’s true that Martin didn’t make any obvious errors as CFO, it’s also true that neither he nor the rest of Bing’s team did much to turn the city from its headlong rush to insolvency.

   Brought in under the aegis of the consent agreement, Martin and Detroit Program Manager Kriss Andrews (another position created in the agreement) were meant to be a powerful team, empowered to take actions elected officials couldn’t.

   These broad powers were used just once: to impose contract employment terms (in other words, concessions) on some Detroit labor unions; those concessions were never fully implemented. Nor was Martin able to implement the kind of changes that were key to mapping the city’s financial problems and developing a strategy to stanch the bleeding.

   Martin said on Monday that he stands by his record, noting that under his watch, the City of Detroit cut its budget by $300 million and increased revenue by $50 million.

   Martin is not the first accomplished official whose expertise and experience has run aground on the depths of Detroit’s financial problems and entrenched bureaucracy. But Martin will encounter many of the same cultural and financial challenges at DPS.

   We’re hopeful that Martin’s educational finance expertise, coupled with the expanded powers of an emergency manager, will be used to greater effect in his new role. The district is at a different point in its financial crisis: DPS’ budget has been cut, schools have been closed. By 2016, its deficit should be erased. What’s needed in the district is an able steward, not a slash-and-burn revolutionary.

   But the needs of the district’s students are no less urgent. While test scores have inched up, to some degree that’s because of the creation of the Educational Achievement Authority, to which the city’s worst-performing schools now belong. Detroit students need — Detroit students deserve — a quality education. Without a financially stable district, that won’t be possible.

Jack Martin