Dive Brief:

• The Detroit Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers are suing Detroit Public Schools and the district's emergency manager, Darnell Earley, over unsafe learning conditions. 
• The suit comes after the city released findings from school inspections last week, in which each of its 97 schools were reportedly found to have at least one violation, WXYZ reports — though many had multiple problems. 
• Responding to the suit, Earley published a statement saying that the Michigan legislature needs to appropriate "critically necessary" funding to fix the problems.

Dive Insight:

The latest chapter in the saga of Detroit Public Schools will likely further push the troubled district into the national spotlight. With a bankruptcy date of April looming overhead, state politicians and school officials don't have much time to spare before kickstarting reform efforts.

Yet Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's reform plan lacks a broad base of support, and the district's ongoing teacher "sickouts" are, in part, spurred by his plan to divide DPS into two districts and other lingering issues at the state level. 

DPS has also been under emergency state management for the last eight years, under the Snyder-created Education Achievement Authority district, and his wider $715 million reform package is likely to be delayed because federal authorities are currently investigating alleged vendor kickbacks in the EAA. The emergency district is now considered a failure by many, since it did not turn around Detroit's worst-performing schools. 

Michigan Senate Bills 710 and 711, however, have already been introduced in support of Snyder's controversial new plan.