Registration Extended for Detroit College Promise

The deadline for seniors to apply for the Detroit College Promise scholarships to January 15, 2010.  There are currently over 475 Detroit Public School students registered online for this scholarship.

Registration takes only a few minutes.  For detailed instructions on how to register, click here.

The Detroit College Promise is providing an unlimited number of scholarships to seniors at Cody High School (18445 Cathedral) in 2010.  Each scholarship is good for $500 per year for up to four years.

The only requirements to qualify for the scholarship are being enrolled at Cody High School from December 1, 2008 through graduation and being a Detroit resident during this time.  More details about this scholarship are listed on their procedure page.

DPS: Worst Test Scores Ever

The Detroit Public Schools posted the worst scores on record in the most recent test of students in large central U.S. cities.  The test for urban districts is part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress test given to school districts nationwide.

Please allow me to repeat this so that it truly sinks in: the Detroit Public Schools posted worst scores on record.

This is nothing, if not frustrating.  Unfortunately, however, I have to admit that I was not surprised when I heard this news.

Over the years, I have heard teachers demand that they should receive some of the highest pay and benefits in the nation while insisting that they have absolutely no responsibility for how their students perform.

Over the years, I have heard parents talk about their children's school as if it were a daycare center rather than one of the most important places that they will ever enter.

Over the years, I have heard students talk about the Detroit Public Schools as if it were either a social event or simply a place to hide at.

The news that the Detroit Public Schools posted the worst test schools on record is frustrating, but not surprising.  The full magnitude of this can be summarized by a quote from Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council on Great City Schools, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of urban school districts.

There is no jurisdiction of any kind, at any level, at any time in the 30-year history of NAEP that has ever registered such low numbers.  They are barely above what one would expect simply by chance, as if the kids simply guessed at the answers.

The news that the Detroit Public Schools posted the worst test schools on record is frustrating, but not surprising.  For anyone who is interested in reading more about this story, it is available at Crain's Detroit Business.

Best Quote in Weeks

Sonny Eliot from WWJ-AM gave what has to be one of the funniest and most insightful quotes that I've heard in weeks.  As part of his regular weather report, he added:

It's 52 degrees in Three Rivers; that's the highest temperature in the state. Three Rivers--that's where they started a new business, making the front ends of horses. Then they ship them to the Detroit council chambers for final assembly.

I love that quote.  It seems totally appropriate.

40th for Detroit Strip Clubs

It's amazing what a blogger can learn about his or her own web site, simply by using Google Analytics.

For example, I discovered this morning that there are more than 1.2 million web sites out there that talk about strip clubs in Detroit - and that the Warrendale (Detroit) Blog ranks number 40 for the search term "Detroit strip clubs".

Really?

Number 40 out of 1.2 million?

I blogged several months ago about the efforts to curtail - or even eliminate - strip clubs from the Detroit city limits.  I argued then and continue to believe that this is a really stupid idea.

In my opinion, the only thing that needs to be done about the various problems associated with strip clubs in Detroit is to enforce the rules that have been in existence for decades.  Adding new rules - when the existing ones are largely ignored - simply will not do anything but drive out those who currently comply with the rules.

And somehow, this made my blog the 40th most popular with Google for the phrase "Detroit strip clubs".

Of course, the simple fact that I'm a pervert might have had something to do with it as well.

Candidate Forum this Wednesday

There will be a candidate forum this Wednesday, October 14, from 6 - 7:30 p.m. at the Edison Branch of the Detroit Public Library (18400 Joy Rd.).  It will feature candidates for the Detroit City Council as well as the School Board and the Charter Commission.  Everyone in the Warrendale neighborhood is invited to attend.

This event is sponsored by the Cody/Rouge block clubs.

Transit Candidates Forum

The TRU Detroit City Council Candidate's Forum is this evening, Thursday, October 1, at the Considine Recreation Center (8904 Woodward Ave.).  This forum will start at 6:30 p.m. and will focus on mass transit.  It is sponsored by Transit Riders United, which is a leading advocate for mass transit in Detroit.

For those not familiar with the Considine Recreation Center, it is on Woodward Ave.; approximately 3/4 of a mile north of W. Grand Blvd.  If anyone is interested in taking bus from the Warrendale neighborhood to this forum, which is oddly appropriate for a forum on mass transit, it will take approximately one hour to complete your trip.  I recommend the Crosstown bus to Woodward and then transferring to the Woodward bus to go north.

City Council Candidate Forum Tonight

All eighteen of the candidates for the Detroit City Council will appear at a forum this evening, starting at 6 p.m. This event will happen at the Greater Grace Temple (23500 W. Seven Mile), which is approximately four miles north of the Warrendale neighborhood.

The moderators for this event are Huel Perkins from Fox 2, Angelo Henderson from WCHB and Stephanie Davis from WWJ.

This forum will be streamed live on MyFoxDetroit.com.