Hard Fall

In a perverse way it is fitting to examine the remains of a Detroit high school whose mascot was a Prospector and whose most famous graduate recently ran for President of the United States. After all, prospectors explore in the name of advancement as evidenced by Detroit Southwestern graduate and former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson. My expedition of this lifeless Detroit corpse reveals a different reality - one about about unforgivable failure and the absence of optimism we expect schools to nurture. In recent months Detroit teachers have gained national attention in their fight to stand up for Detroit children stuck in a failing school system. Teachers have closed more than 60 Detroit schools for multiple days by collectively calling in sick as a form of civil disobedience. World-wide attention to the deplorable learning conditions has revealed gross inequity within Michigan schools. The educational injustices faced by Detroit children provides a compelling backdrop for a city that is trying to comeback from bankruptcy. These photographs of Detroit Southwestern High School were taken just three years after the school closed. As Detroit transitions into an uncertain future, a careful examination of educational failures in the city provides insight and understanding to what is at stake with the current education crisis. Detroit Southwestern High School fell prey to scrappers around the same time the City of Detroit filed for bankruptcy. Once the heart of the neighborhood, this high school school became a two-story symbol of failure in a broken city. The filthy soot of abandonment and the feculence of neglect covers the entire campus. Beyond the broken glass and empty door frames there are relics of life - grade scales on the wall, motivational posters about teamwork and notebooks with messy scribbling. Empty lockers and leaves dancing in dark hallways where boys and girls used to laugh and hold hands made me feel hollow. If we fail to stand up to the injustice of education inequality, more Detroit schools will become soulless shells serving as harbingers of a failed social contract. When the stench of failure hangs in the air, children facing tough odds do not respond to empty political speeches. Students are at a disadvantage when educational needs become an afterthought because the priorities demand we tackle health and safety issues first. Rodents, broken windows, mold, heating and cooling issues and unsafe playgrounds are proof to Detroit children that their needs have been forgotten by elected leaders. Worse yet, student success goes in the loss column when appointed officials balance budgets by trimming the "excess" - things like academic materials, improved technology, additional highly qualified teachers and adequate pay for professional educators. My aim is not to tell you who or what Detroit is or can be, but to invite you into a conversation about the role education will play in the future of the Motor City.