Obama reaffirms federal
support in visit to Flint
Teachers’
protests of
budget cuts
cause DPS
shut down
Obama met with
residents and local
leaders to discuss the
water crisis
By LYDIA MURRAY, LARA
MOEHLMAN and BRADLEY
WHIPPLE
Summer Managing News Editor,
Summer Editor-in-Chief, and Summer
Managing Editors
FLINT,
Mich.
—
Standing
before a crowd of more than 1,000
residents at Flint Northwestern
High
School
on
Wednesday
afternoon,
President
Barack
Obama reaffirmed federal support
for the Flint community in the
ongoing water crisis and eased
mounting tensions surrounding
the health of the city’s children and
the safety of its drinking water.
The president’s visit came in
response to a letter written by
8-year-old Flint resident Mari
Copeny, also known as “Little
Miss Flint,” for her work raising
awareness of her community’s
plight. Copeny requested to meet
Obama while she was visiting
Washington D.C. to attend a
congressional hearing on the water
crisis in April. Obama instead
answered her letter by announcing
last week that he would travel to
Flint to meet with city residents
and local and state leaders.
The Flint water crisis began
in April 2015 following the city’s
cost-saving switch from Detroit
city water to Flint River water. The
water from the Flint River had a
corrosive quality, which resulted
in lead erosion in the city’s pipe
system, tainting its water supply.
In the weeks and months following
the switch, residents reported
adverse health effects, but their
complaints were largely ignored by
local officials until Oct. 2015, when
the water was finally switched
back. Despite the switch, traces of
lead remains in the water due to
the Flint’s already corroded pipes.
In his remarks, Obama said the
people of Flint have a right to be
angry, blaming the water crisis on
poor decisions and neglect from
state and local officials.
“Even though the scope of
response looks sort of like what
we’re used to seeing after a natural
disaster, that’s not what this was,”
Obama said. “This was a man-
made disaster. This was avoidable.
This was preventable.”
Obama also implicitly rebuked
Governor
Rick
Snyder’s
(R)
administration, saying the crisis
represents a systematic problem
in
which
efforts
to
shrink
government undermine essential
environmental
protection
and
municipal services.
“It’s
a
mindset
that
says
environmental
rules
designed
to keep your water clean or your
air clean are optional, or not that
important,
or,
unnecessarily,
burden businesses or taxpayers,”
Obama said, charging that this
small-government
ideology
undercuts the common good in
favor of personal gain.
“And this kind of thinking —
MARINA ROSS/Daily
President Barack Obama speaks about the Flint Water Crisis at Flint Northwestern High School on Wednesday.
One-Hundred-TwenTy Five years OF ediTOrial FreedOm
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Ann Arbor, MI
Weekly Summer Edition
MichiganDaily.com
INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 114 | © 2016 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ...............................
ARTS ......................................
CLASSIFIEDS.........................
SUDOKU................................
SPORTS................................10
NEWS
2017 City Council
budget passes
Residents raised concerns
over new development
>> SEE PAGE 2
NEWS
SACUA discusses
new year agenda
Members plan to cover
mental health and tenure
>> SEE PAGE 2
OPINION
Privilege blooms
for Bloomberg
Former mayor of New
York City demonstrates
lack of compassion
>> SEE PAGE 4
ARTS
Aash Mehta talks
EDM career
University of Michigan
student reflects on success
in electronic music
>> SEE PAGE 5
SPORTS
Chatman
transfers
Men’s basketball player
Kam Chatman will transfer
>> SEE PAGE 8
inside
2
4
6
8
2
Sickouts over
underfunding force
closure of 94 school
districts in Detroit
By CAITLIN REEDY
Daily Staff Reporter
A sickout planned by the
Detroit Federation of Teachers in
the Detroit Public Schools system
closed 94 of 97 DPS schools on
Monday. The teachers organized
the sickout in protest of the
announcement that teachers will
not be paid past June 30 of this
year unless the state legislature
approves funding to the district.
Judge Steven Rhodes, DPS’s
state-appointed
emergency
manager, allegedly told the union
on Saturday the state’s current
budget does not allot nearly
enough
money
for
teachers’
salaries, summer school programs
and special education services.
The closure affected a majority
of
the
approximately
46,000
students enrolled in DPS.
The sickout follows a series
of similar protests last held in
January against thedilapidated
condition
of
many
school
buildings. Schools have reported
instances of rodents, cockroaches
and leaking ceilings in many
buildings due to the lack of
sufficient funding to address
building maintenace.
State Rep. Stephanie Chang
(D–Detroit) said she is cautiously
optimistic that her colleagues
will pass a bill to alleviate these
issues.
“DPS is in a financial crisis,
DETROIT
See OBAMA, Page 3
See DPS, Page 3