The Detroit Monitoring Commission was a court-ordered commission established in 1975 by Judge Robert Demascio to oversee the implementation of a desegregation plan for Detroit Public Schools following the Milliken v Bradley Supreme Court decision. The commission was made up of over 200 volunteers and staff from the community focused on improving schools. It aimed to successfully integrate schools and improve education quality through initiatives like bussing, conduct guidelines, and increased attendance, test scores, and community relations. While it achieved successes like new vocational centers, literacy gains, and stronger community ties, the commission also faced challenges around segregation levels and school cooperation that limited some of its goals.

1. THE DETROIT MONITORING COMMISSION
PEOPLE
ISSUES
PURPOSE COMMUNITY-RELATIONS
ACHIEVEMENTS
AUBREY CARR
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
The commission was made up of an executive board, a technical advisory
committee, support staff, 12 subcommittees for school improvements, and
over 200 volunteers who helped the commission. There were 22 executive
board members, all appointed by Judge Demascio.
The subcommittees focused on different aspects of school improvements
and how to carry them out. Over 75% of committee members were
African-American. The members and volunteers included local professors,
activists, lawyers, scholars, and field professionals.
The commission fell short in a few key areas. Mainly, in the effectiveness
of the bussing/pupil reassignment throughout Detroit. As well-intentioned
and as hard as they tried, they could not solve segregation in DPS through
inter-city bussing, because the overwhelming population of the schools was
black. The issue could only have been fixed with multiple city
participation, which was turned down in the Supreme Court ruling of
Milliken v Bradley. The code of conduct was also an area that was harder to
implement and had fewer positive results. Although the number of
suspensions and expulsions went down significantly with the monitoring
commissions plans, the schools were unable to form uniform guidelines for
punishments for behaviors. The commission also tried to increase diversity
in the workforce of DPS, however, this was largely unsuccessful, as the
percentage of black teachers was only around 15%. There was also no
guarantee that some of the administrative changes, such as increased
guidance reporting, would continue after the commission disbanded.
The Detroit Monitoring Commission was a court-ordered
commission put into place by Judge Robert Demascio in 1975. The
purpose of the commission was to audit the progress of the
desegregation plan that Demascio had ruled to put into place after the
Milliken v Bradley case. The Supreme Court ruled that there was De
Juro segregation happening in Detroit Schools, but that bussing
between different districts was not permitted. Judge Demascio was
tasked with creating a plan to help desegregate Detroit Public
Schools.
The group originally focused on implementing the pupil
reassignment plan but eventually focused on improving all areas of
Detroit’s Public Schools. The goals of the committee were to
successfully integrate Detroit Public Schools and improve the quality
of education. This included bussing, a uniform student code of
conduct, increased attendance, better vocational training, increased
bilingual services, increased reading and test scores, and more
positive school-community relations.
The commission was meant to help carry out the plans, but quickly became
more involved and related to other school issues that weren’t strictly related
to segregation. The community rallied for the monitoring commission in
August of 1978 when Demascio tried to disband it, claiming it was an
unnecessary expense. Members of the community wrote to Demascio to
voice their disagreement, and the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News
published articles and opinion pieces about the choice to disband. The
backlash was enough to keep the commission together. The commission ran
into problems with school cooperation, as was expected. The principals and
superintendents of some Detroit Public Schools were unfriendly and
advised their staff to do the bare minimum to reach requirements so the
commission would stop auditing the school. Many school executives did
not appreciate having a watchdog over their shoulders for issues such as
school budgets, student conduct, and guidance counselor reports.
The commission achieved a lot in the time it was together. It
successfully implemented the planning, building, and enrolling of
three brand new vocational centers for non-traditional learning.
Literacy and test scores increased. School-community relations were
stronger, with more parents reporting to events and parent-teacher
conferences. The bussing plan was carried out, however, the
effectiveness was debatable. The commission also implemented more
reporting for guidance reports and more staff training throughout the
years on Desegregation and other issues.