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Time
Magazine
features
Robert
Bobb,
DPS and
its
students
for an
in-depth
story
called
“Cleanup
Artist”
 DETROIT
- Time
Magazine’s
upcoming
issue
features
the
initiatives
of
Detroit
Public
Schools’
Emergency
Financial
Manager
Robert
Bobb as
he tries
to
tackle
Detroit
Public
Schools’
finances
and
academic
problems.
The
story
also
features
a series
a
portraits
of DPS
students
from Ann
Arbor
Trail
Magnet
Middle
and Cody
High
schools
and
their
dreams
for the
future.
The
piece on
Bobb,
entitled
“Cleanup
Artist,”
is one
of the
first
in-depth
profile
stories
about
Detroit
leaders
for
Time’s
ongoing
series
called
Assignment
Detroit.
Time
Magazine
reporter
Steven
Gray
spent
time in
DPS
schools,
chronicled
Bobb as
he
traveled
to a
courtroom
and
delved
into the
initiatives
Bobb has
undertaken
to
reduce
the
district’s
massive
deficit
since
being
appointed
by Gov.
Jennifer
Granholm
last
year.
“Beyond
saving
money,
Bobb
sees his
mission
in
broader
terms:
to
improve
the
system's
miserable
academic
performance,”
Gray
wrote.
“Again,
the
situation
is dire.
Last
month
brought
news
that
more
than
three-quarters
of the
900
eighth-graders
who took
a
national
math
exam
scored
at
"below
basic"
levels.
In
October
2008,
some 57%
of
Detroit
third-
through
eighth-graders
essentially
failed a
state
writing
test.
Detroit's
graduation
rate is
58%.
‘The
system
is
academically
bankrupt.
This is
almost
academic
homicide,’
Bobb
says.”
“…Denial
was a
problem
too.
Shortly
before
Bobb
took
over,
Detroit's
school
board
okayed a
budget
that it
claimed
had an
$8
million
surplus.
Bobb's
assessment
showed a
budget
deficit
of
$303.5
million.
He's
since
reduced
the
deficit
… And in
what may
be his
most
inspired
move,
Bobb has
asked
some
2,600
volunteers
to
donate
360,000
hours to
helping
kids
read…”
The
story
and
photos
are
online
now.
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