"Detroit had seen its test scores plummet, along with its population, trends that continue. The district today enrolls 84,875 students, down more than half from a decade ago. A national reading test last May showed that Detroit was the worst-performing larger, inner-city district in the country.
Mr. Bobb claimed a mandate to overhaul both finances and academics. He launched campaigns to stabilize enrollment—which determines state funding—in hopes of slowing the exodus to suburbs and charter schools. He also conducted hundreds of audits, laid off teachers, privatized services such as busing and custodial work and closed 59 schools.
In his interview with the Journal, he said that without his budget cuts, the district's annual deficit—now at $327 million, up from $218 million in 2009—would have grown to more than $500 million. The schools have a $1.025 billion annual budget."
Mr. Bobb has encountered strong opposition from the board of education and the teacher's union.
