BETs "Heart of the City: Detroit Crisis" (Detroit Public Schools) (Burton: 2009)

[teejuris]

On Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 9:30 p.m., Black Entertainment Television (BET) aired its documentary series, "Heart of the City: Detroit Crisis", discussing the crisis the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) system is currently facing re: high school drop-out rates, loss of economic viablity within the City of Detroit which has led to high unemployment rates and an increase in criminal activity-socioeconomic issues/factors that have affected the school system, mismanagement/mishandling of educational funds, inadequate security in schools, peer pressure, lack of or inadequate support systems, imbalanced home lives, etc. Chris Webber, a native Detroiter and former member of the NBA and U-M's "Fab Five", hosted and narrated the documentary.

The documentary was pretty informative about and did a decent job of featuring the issues facing the district and possible solutions to rectifying at least a decade of poor management of the DPS. It wonderfully featured a young man that delved into the world of illegal activity, was a victim of peer pressure, dropped out of high school and experienced other adversities, but ended up getting himself together, graduating high school and getting a scholarship to and attending college-the testimony of many young people in inner cities across the country. They endure some of the most trying of circumstances, but overcome them, succeed and shine in various arenas.

What the documentary did not feature or cover was the top-performing schools in the DPS, such as Cass Technical High School, Renaissance High School, Bates Academy and Burton International School of Excellence. Other DPS schools offer Honors and college preparatory curriculums as well. There are very bright students in the DPS that master challenging curriculums, participate in community outreach and extra-curricular activities, graduate, attend university and graduate schools and are successful professionals today. These students and programs can't be ignored and should be celebrated and featured just as the negative elements and conditions of the DPS are covered.

I respect and appreciate well-balanced documentaries that represent the whole vs. overwhelming cancerous parts. I'm excited to see individuals, with the common goal of educating, nurturing and mentoring inner city students and preparing them for post-secondary educational opportunities; dedicated persons that are taking a sincere interest in the the redemption and/or salvation of the DPS. People that truly love and want the best for inner city youths.

I'm interested to hear/read others' impressions, opinions and perceptions of the documentary...

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by teejuris

On Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 9:30 p.m., Black Entertainment Television (BET) aired its documentary series, "Heart of the City: Detroit Crisis", discussing the crisis the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) system is currently facing re: high school drop-out rates, loss of economic viablity within the City of Detroit which has led to high unemployment rates and an increase in criminal activity-socioeconomic issues/factors that have affected the school system, mismanagement/mishandling of educational funds, inadequate security in schools, peer pressure, lack of or inadequate support systems, imbalanced home lives, etc. Chris Webber, a native Detroiter and former member of the NBA and U-M's "Fab Five", hosted and narrated the documentary.

The documentary was pretty informative about and did a decent job of featuring the issues facing the district and possible solutions to rectifying at least a decade of poor management of the DPS. It wonderfully featured a young man that delved into the world of illegal activity, was a victim of peer pressure, dropped out of high school and experienced other adversities, but ended up getting himself together, graduating high school and getting a scholarship to and attending college-the testimony of many young people in inner cities across the country. They endure some of the most trying of circumstances, but overcome them, succeed and shine in various arenas.

What the documentary did not feature or cover was the top-performing schools in the DPS, such as Cass Technical High School, Renaissance High School, Bates Academy and Burton International School of Excellence. Other DPS schools offer Honors and college preparatory curriculums as well. There are very bright students in the DPS that master challenging curriculums, participate in community outreach and extra-curricular activities, graduate, attend university and graduate schools and are successful professionals today. These students and programs can't be ignored and should be celebrated and featured just as the negative elements and conditions of the DPS are covered.

I respect and appreciate well-balanced documentaries that represent the whole vs. overwhelming cancerous parts. I'm excited to see individuals, with the common goal of educating, nurturing and mentoring inner city students and preparing them for post-secondary educational opportunities; dedicated persons that are taking a sincere interest in the the redemption and/or salvation of the DPS. People that truly love and want the best for inner city youths.

I'm interested to hear/read others' impressions, opinions and perceptions of the documentary...

I agree with this, as there are probably people that live in the Detroit metro area that don't realize that these school exist in DPS. I think that they get overshadowed so much by the other things going on in the school district, that people hardly take notice. This is the case in many urban school districts as well. For instance, Buffalo has one of the best public HS's in the country in City Honors, as well as some other high quality HS's like Hutchinson Central Tech and DiVinci, among a few others, but people in that area paint a broad brush in regards to the whole school district there.

[zthatzmanz28]

Chris Webber went to Detroit Schools?

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Chris Webber went to Detroit Schools?

Nope, but it is the city he loves eventhough he went to Country Day. I wonder what part of the D he is from?

[teejuris]

Chris Webber grew up on the West Side of Detroit. He attended Detroit Country Day, a private school notorious for NCAA/NBA recruitment.

BTW: Detroit Country Day School (DCDS) is located, in part, in Bloomfield Hills and Beverly Hills, MI; not the City of Detroit.

[zthatzmanz28]

Just seems strange that people who DID NOT go to DPS are now trying to sell the DPS experience to those who have been there and left.

If it wasn't good enough for Webber, why would someone want to send their kid(s) there?

Detroit Country Day is at Lasher and 13 Mile...

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Nope, but it is the city he loves eventhough he went to Country Day. I wonder what part of the D he is from?

Where does he live today? Boston Edison? PAlmer Woods?

Sherwood?

[teejuris]

People can send their kids to private schools if they so choose. That doesn't mean they're saying all of the public schools in the area are horrible. Chris Webber wanted to play professional basketball. So, I'm sure his parents sent him to Detroit Country Day so he would have a better chance of being recruited into the NCAA. I believe Chris Webber now lives in Atlanta, but his family still resides in Detroit.

Also, I know a lot of Christian parents that send their kids to Christian private schools because they don't want their children to be taught homosexuality is biological and/or be academically exposed to the promotion of the same-sex marriage issue. That's not to say they believe all the DPS schools are sub-standard. As a matter of fact, students attending the top-performing DPS schools score higher on state-mandated standardized tests than their suburban counterparts. That fact is under-reported.

[Dreadlockd]

His mother taught at Mumford High School on the West Side.