The state of Michigan is offering 38 chronically low-performing schools a chance to avoid being closed this summer.
In a letter this week, Detroit and seven other districts were promised a delay in the potential closings for 18 months if they instead enter a "partnership" agreement with the state Department of Education in the next two months. Officials would try to improve test scores in other ways besides closing a school and sending the students elsewhere.
Gov. Rick Snyder previously delayed a decision on the contentious school closures until May and had the Education Department and School Reform Office begin collaborating.
Schools at risk of closures are those ranked in the bottom 5 percent statewide for at least three straight years.
