Teachers In Detroit Using Twitter To Document Disturbing Photos of Their Toxic Schools [Photo]

Public school teachers in the city of Detroit, Michigan, have resorted to using social media to tell the rest of the world how bad the facilities in their schools have become over the years.

This latest story comes after residents in another city in the state also used social media to inform the world of their plight. Residents of Flint, Michigan, took to social media to vent their anger on city authorities for deceiving them about the safeness of running water in the city.

The city’s water has been contaminated with lead, but residents alleged that city authorities deliberately put them in the dark. As a result, the residents were forced to use the unsafe running water. It is said the city’s water became contaminated with lead after a change in supplier in 2014.

Using the Twitter handle @teachDetroit, the teachers reported that Detroit Public Schools (DPS) are in a bad state and are even exposing students to all kinds of diseases.

Classroom @Cody DPS #supportDPSteachers @DreaMcCoy @DetroitEducator @PedroniTom @ktwomeyMEd pic.twitter.com/mDg19aLHjG

— Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 13, 2016

It is said classrooms are filled with buckets catching toilet water, and water is constantly leaking through the ceiling. And as students are learning, they are also breathing in black mold.

The teachers said since the state took over the schools, facilities in public schools have continued to deteriorate, and authorities have turned a blind eye to it.

Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder is said to be aware of the situation, but has done nothing to resolve it. In the city of Flint, where the city’s running water has been contaminated with lead, residents also accused Snyder of doing nothing to help, and demanded that he resign as governor of the state.

You might think this is an abandoned school but no. This is our normal. @DreaMcCoy pic.twitter.com/A5BPdsCYUS

— Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 13, 2016

Usuncut.com reports that one Darnell Earley, who acted as an emergency manager, supervising the changes in Flint’s water system, is currently in charge of DPS.

A kindergarten teacher, Nancy Muerhoff, is said to have quit her job due to the poor nature of the facilities at the Carleton Elementary School. According to reports, water from the toilets above her classroom has been leaking through the ceiling for over three years. In addition, her classroom is also said to be connected to a dilapidated greenhouse that has not been cleaned for years now. Muerhoff said her classroom has a distinct odor, and it gives her frequent headaches.

Bullet hole 1 of 3 in a classroom at Osborn. #supportDPSteachers @DreaMcCoy pic.twitter.com/LeC8QmbxQN

— Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 13, 2016

The door to the greenhouse does not have a doorknob, insulation, or a lock.  She was therefore forced to put bags in the doorknob hole, to keep squirrels from getting into the classroom and destroying things.

“I have told the building manager, he says, ‘Oh we have to get a contractor.’ The contractor never comes out,” Muerhoff told the local media after quitting her job.

Poor kids. They deserve better. #SupportDPSTeachers pic.twitter.com/VjW4tmmhVl

— Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 13, 2016

Tracy Russell, a former DPS student who now works as a teacher in one of the districts, said “The children of Flint were poisoned to save a dime. So, you know, it just begs the question … we can do better. The sick-out says enough is enough.” Russell also has three children attending DPS.

I could post pictures like this all day from DPS schools. #supportDPSteachers pic.twitter.com/hoQ6qKFrG9

— Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 14, 2016

In response to the teachers’ Twitter campaign, the mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan decided to tour the schools. During his tour, Duggan witnessed kids wearing coats in the classroom as well as a dead mouse lying in a trap right out in the open. He described what he saw throughout the tour as “deeply disturbing.”

A bathroom for small children. DPS @ktwomeyMEd pic.twitter.com/tEaYoXD3qt

— Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 13, 2016

“No child in Flint should have to drink lead in water and no child in Detroit should have to learn under such conditions.” David Hecker, the president of the American Federation of Teacher-Michigan, told Duggan after he had accompanied him on the tour.

According to statistics, since the state took over public schools some seven years ago, test scores are running low, and teachers are quitting their jobs at an unprecedented rate. This has created a huge deficit in the teacher-student ratio.

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