About

Detroit’s education system is in crisis. The Detroit Public School District (DPS) consistently falls
at the bottom in academic progress among America’s large urban districts. It has the worst high
school graduation rate in the country at 25 percent, is operating under an emergency financial
manager, and has a shortage of everything ranging from mandated tutoring services to toilet
paper.

New Orleans’ education system was in a comparable state before Hurricane Katrina slammed
into the Gulf Coast region in August 2005. However, in the aftermath of the storm, New Orleans
became a laboratory for change by necessity. School leaders began to consider anew the
direction of the city’s low-performing public school system, and to take action to improve it. The
district was divided into three districts consisting of charter schools, recovered district schools,
and city run schools. The state has also created a voucher system that pays for nearly 900
students to attend private and parochial schools.

Rebuilding Detroit’s Schools: A Tale of Two Cities takes a look at current educational challenges in Detroit and reform strategies being used in New Orleans. Michigan Radio reporters Jennifer Guerra and Sarah Hulett have spent weeks looking at the two school systems and talking with students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and experts.

Hear the reports from both Detroit and New Orleans on the air during Morning Edition and All Things Considered the weeks of May 17 and 24.

Please send questions or concerns regarding this project to twocities@umich.edu.

Reporters

Jennifer Guerra After graduating from the University of Michigan, Jennifer headed to New York for a life in the theatre. Two years later, she traded in her tap shoes for a pair of headphones and a digital recorder, and began her career in public radio. While in New York, Jennifer earned her Master’s in Broadcast Journalism from Fordham University, was an award-winning producer for WFUV-FM, wrote music reviews, perfected her bocce skills, and traveled as much as her public radio budget would allow. In 2005, she made her way back to the Midwest to join Michigan Radio as an arts producer and local host of Weekend Edition. Jennifer now works as a reporter at the station specializing in coverage of arts and culture.

Sarah Hulett Sarah Hulett joined Michigan Radio’s news department in March 2006 as its Detroit reporter. Sarah considers Detroit to be a perfect laboratory for great radio stories, because of its energy, its struggles, and its unique place in America’s industrial and cultural landscape. Before coming to Michigan Radio, Sarah spent five years as state Capitol correspondent for Michigan Public Radio.

This website was created by Nick Meador.