This will be short and not sweet, otherwise I'd rant my way from borderline to full out hypertension.
Michigancitizen.com is reporting that "Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb says he will get an $80,000 raise." This raise will bring his annual spoils to $425,000.
Now, this stinks on more than one level. Not only is it coming at a time when Detroit teachers are being fired left and right, losing benefits and taking pay cuts, it's also not really clear who the hell is paying him and, therefore, for whom he's actually working! But, I'll let the Michigan Citizen explain:
Highly questionable is the fact that Bobb’s contract with the State of Michigan allows him to receive $145,000 of his salary from private companies. He gets $56,000 a year from the Broad Foundation — a right-wing, privatization advocate that was founded by a billionaire businessman and former Michigan Governor John Engler. This is the same Engler who engineered the first DPS takeover. It was the first DPS takeover that ran up the deficit that provided the excuse for the state to take over DPS the second time.
Bobb will also receive $89,000 from unidentified philanthropic organizations in addition to the $280,000 in public money.
I wouldn't characterize the Broad Foundation itself -- which was founded by Eli and Edythe Broad, not Engler, as far as I can tell -- the way the Michigan Citizen has (the Broads are major contributors to Democratic politicians and causes), but it is true that former Michigan Governor John Engler and Eli Broad co-founded The Broad Center for Superintendents, to "identify, train and support talented business, non-profit and government executives -- along with traditional education leaders -- to serve as superintendents in urban public school districts."
When this started in 2001, the Broads may have had the best of intentions, but it looks like it's gone astray, to say the least. The Broads have moved from Detroit to Los Angeles, and their interests are varied from stem cell research to fine art collecting as well as education, so maybe they've lost touch with what's going on in Detroit. The Michigan Citizen calls Bobb's funding "questionable." I think the Broads should be among those called upon on to answer.