Creating a Portfolio Management District in Detroit: Contested State Intervention and Regime Change

• In Event: Issues for Local Education Governance

Abstract

A national movement to shift central administration in large urban districts from directly managing schools to a model in which it oversees a diverse portfolio of schools has gained traction in recent years. Advocates see portfolio management as a promising response to the problems of traditionally governed urban districts. Implementation, however, requires a reconfiguration of governance and political power in schools. This paper examines the political processes and power shifts unfolding in Detroit as a coalition of reformers have sought to implement a PMM despite entrenched opposition from the district’s elected board and employee unions. Detroit Public Schools’ dire financial position prompted state intervention, and a new state law assigns all board and administration authority to a state-appointed emergency manager.

Authors

• David D. Arsen, Michigan State University

• Mary L. Mason, Michigan State University