Detroit Educators Rise Up Amid Layoffs
by Han Langsdorf
A tearful conversation in the hallway: “They’re making us decide by Friday. I don’t know where I will go.” Powerful words from a student: “If we are the future, then why are you firing the people that help the future?”
Grief, disbelief, but above all else, fury and righteous rage have gripped the Detroit education community these past few months. Surrounded by our allies and a handful of union members and parents who stayed to watch the final blow, union members listened as the school board voted 6–1 on June 13 to pass the budget as if they were reading off a list of medication side effects.
Months had been leading up to this moment. Detroit Public Schools Community District announced back in April that it would be laying off hundreds of support staff for the 2023–24 school year. The jobs targeted included paraprofessionals, attendance agents, building substitutes, college transition advisors, school culture facilitators, noon hour aides, and deans of culture. Those primarily affected were Black women. Many workers received pink slips on Easter Sunday.
Superintendent Vitti stressed that most workers were either taking buyouts or moving to different positions in the district. He ignored the fact that now lots of work students need will no longer be done at all.
Hundreds of layoffs during an educator shortage — it sounded ludicrous. Faced with this brutal, impossible proposal, rank and file members from both the Detroit Federation of Paraprofessionals and the Detroit Federation of Teachers brought our rage to the board meetings. The more hopeful moments were April and May’s board meetings, full of rank-and-file energy; forcing union leadership to support our rally at the May board meeting; winning back our Attendance Agents (40 jobs); the solidarity between the different unions in the district and our refusal to let them pit us against each other. (They threatened no raises for teachers, whose contract expires soon, if layoffs didn’t occur; we swiftly called them out on that lie.)
The moments of darkness were slideshows full of suspicious numbers that went by too fast; confusion about what was happening; fear and pain over the loss of our coworkers; frustration with union leadership for not doing enough and providing scarcely any information. Something that should’ve been national news and strike-worthy became one more bullet point in a long history of capitalist strangulation of Detroit Public Schools and the bereavement of Black youth.
But still, even knowing our slim chances, we showed up. We made public comments at the board meetings — but we weren’t really speaking to the board. We were speaking to and affirming each other. In a sick capitalist world that lies and tells us “there is not enough,” we assured each other “yes there is!”
One thing is clear — they fear us. They fear our voices, they fear our power, they fear people’s ability to speak the truth. The past few months have been a rollercoaster of highs and lows — mostly lows. But we rank-and-file punched well above our weight. We took back much more than the ruling class had wanted to give. We got away with it while disorganized — what could we win if we actually were organized? If the union truly was for the people, by the people.
We look to unions like the Chicago Teachers and the Graduate Employees (GEO) at U of M for inspiration and a glimpse of what is possible. We rank-and-file aren’t going anywhere and we WILL take our union back. We WILL unite with the parents here in this city who care so deeply for their children. For decades, parents and rank-and-file educators have fought to take back what’s ours. This young unionist is honored to stand alongside them and no longer fears failure — but instead fears what would happen if we gave in to apathy. The fight is worth it.
“I just got one question to ask you. Ain’t ya’ll tired? Ain’t ya’ll tired of all the mess nobody sitting up there can solve and we have to come out like we’re doing today to let them know that we are really in charge. … until we get it in their head that we pay the money, that it’s our school, it’s our students, and it’s our money — that’s power.” — Mama Moore, parent and activist
Han Langsdorf is a substitute teacher in Detroit.
The Detroit Socialist is produced and run by members of Detroit DSA’s Newspaper Collective. Interested in becoming a member of Detroit DSA? Go to metrodetroitdsa.com/join to become a member. Send a copy of the dues receipt to: membership@metrodetroitdsa.com in order to get plugged in to our activities!
