Detroit Schools on the Brink of Educational Transformation with $94.4 Million Literacy Settlement Plan

Detroit’s school district is in the final stages of planning how to allocate $94.4 million received from a literacy lawsuit settlement. Superintendent Nikolai Vitti shared the details of the proposed plan with the school board’s finance committee last Friday. The plan, which is in line with recommendations from a task force that sought community input, will be discussed further at a school board retreat on April 15. The roots of this financial windfall trace back to a lawsuit settled in 2020, originally filed in 2016, which highlighted a critical failure on the state’s part to provide adequate education to Detroit’s students over an extended period of nearly two decades of state control. In the wake of this settlement, Vitti and his team have been hard at work, charting out a path that aims to not just meet but exceed educational standards at various levels. “Our goal is to accelerate … and to outperform city charter, county average, state average,” Vitti emphatically stated, signaling a bold vision for Detroit’s educational future. Central to the district’s plan is a significant boost in academic interventionists, particularly for students in grades K-4. These specialists, who offer tailored one-on-one or small group support, are seen...