(No caption)
An unusual conflict between two local education administrators flares as a new academic year starts Tuesday.
The superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District reacts with firm language and a six-paragraph legal threat after what he calls defamation by a charter school group's chief executive. Erin Einhorn of Chalkbeat Detroit describes the drama:
Detroit schools superintendent Nikolai Vitti is lashing out at a charter school leader he accuses of exploiting the district's drinking water crisis.
Vitti on Friday sent a cease-and-desist letter to Mark Ornstein, who heads the University Prep charter school network, demanding that Ornstein correct a "defamatory statement" he made in an automated phone call to parents this week.
Nikolai Vitti, left, and Mark Ornstein (Photos by Erin Einhorn and University Prep Schools)
Here's what makes Vitti bristle, as chronicled at the education news site:
"You may have heard a report in the media about Detroit Public Schools Community District having elevated levels of lead in the water of all of their school buildings resulting in the shutdown of all water supplies in the buildings," Ornstein told parents who received the call.
Ornstein, who runs the largest nonprofit charter school network in the city, went on to assure parents that University Prep schools have been tested and have safe drinking water.
The red flag words are "shutdown of all water supplies in the buildings," which the Detroit district leader sees as intentional, "dishonest, slanderous and derogatory."
The city's 106 public schools, which reopen Tuesday morning after summer break, still have running water for hand washing, showers, sciencce labs, cafeteria cleanups and other purposes. Drinking fountains are covered as a health precaution because tests show potential risks from lead or copper in 16 of 24 schools checked this year. Bottled water is provided.
Chalkbeat Detroit coverage
Einhorn's scoop includes context behind the flareup:
Vitti suggests in the cease-and-desist letter that the robocall was a deliberate attempt to harm the district’s reputation at a time when district and charter schools compete fiercely for students and teachers. . . .
"You could have simply referred to U Prep's [water] test results without mentioning DPSCD at all," Vitti wrote to Ornstein. "Instead, not only did you reference DPSCD, but you did so in a dishonest, slanderous and derogatory fashion. . . .
"At best, your statement was mistaken. At worst, it was opportunistic and predatory. In either event, your false statement regarding all DPSCD schools having high lead levels must stop and immediately cease and desist. If such statement continues to be made and circulated, you and University Prep Schools will be subject to legal action."
Ornstein did not immediately respond late Friday to requests for comment about Vitti’s letter. A University Prep spokeswoman also did not respond.
Vitti has vowed to put charter schools out of business in Detroit and has used combative language in talking about his effort to lure students back from charter schools. Ornstein has taken issue with that approach
Ornstein has led the charter network since 2013. University Prep enrolls about 3,000 students at seven campuses -- two elementary academies, a middle school academy and University Prep High School; and three University Prep Science and Math schools (one at each level).
Stay tuned for the next round in this fight.
Detroit's superintendent -- whose two-page reaction is sent by email, fax and postal mail -- wants the charter executive to send parents another recorded call to correct the facts. He also asks Ornstein to contact the Detroit public system's general counsel "immediately to confirm that . . . you have complied, or intend to comply, with the demands of this letter."
-- Alan Stamm
