State Lists Worst Schools

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Many of the schools on Michigan’s newest bottom 5% list are in Detroit and will not be closed by the state until 2019 at the earliest because of how the laws enacting a financial bailout of the district were written. Governor Rick Snyder’s administration on Thursday made public the lowest-performing schools across the state. 58 of the 116 open schools are in Detroit’s district or will be folded back into the district when a state-created turnaround entity dissolves next year. A Snyder spokeswoman says the state will not force the closure of Detroit schools for at least three years because of the legislation that created a new debt-free district. Also Thursday, Michigan’s School Reform Office released seven schools from “priority” status after students improved their test results. Among those is Decatur High School.

Included among the state’s worst performers is Benton Harbor High School. The now-closed Dream Academy is also included, as are the Benton Harbor International Academy at Hull, the STEAM Academy at MLK, and the Benton Harbor Charter School Academy. The list reflects 2015 data.