Tear Down This Wall

"Am I optimistic that they can avoid it . . . ? I am not." That's what retired judge Ray Graves said this week when asked whether Detroit Public Schools, which he is advising, would be forced into bankruptcy. Facing violence, a shrinking student body, and graduating just one out of every four students who enter the ninth grade on time, the city's schools have been stumbling for years. Now they face a seemingly insurmountable deficit and are expected to file for bankruptcy protection at about the time that students should be settling down in a new school year.
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