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The Politics of Educational Retrenchment in Detroit, 1929–1935

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Urban Education in the United States

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Abstract

In 1930, Detroit was the nation’s fourth largest city and one of the world’s great manufacturing centers.1 During the 1920s its schools had been transformed along Progressive lines and, by 1929, were considered among the best in the nation. The Great Depression, however, devastated the city’s economy and plunged its schools into an unparalleled financial crisis. Detroit thus provides an excellent opportunity to investigate questions about the process of retrenchment under these conditions.

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Notes

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  41. For examples of that position see Bowles and Gintis, Schooling, pp. 191–195; Michael Kali, Class, Bureaucracy and Schools (New York, 1971), pp. 120–123;

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  46. Examples of the business community’s stand on school aid can be found in Detroit News 1/26/33; 6/15/33; The Detroiter 6/12/36; 12/18/33; 12/15/33; 1/8/34; 6/4/34; Detroit Saturday Night 12/2/33; 12/16/33; 12/23/22; 11/3/34;1/12/35; Detroit Free Press 2/4/33; 2/7/33; 4/2/ 33; 11/4/34; Detroit Free Press 4/16/37 cited in George Male, “The Michigan Education Association as an Interest Group, 1852–1950” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 1952), p. 468. As late as 1940, Male argues, major Michigan corporations and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce were fighting for reduced state appropriations for education, pp. 476–484.

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Authors
  1. Jeffrey Mirel
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kansas, USA

    John L. Rury (Professor of Education) (Professor of Education)

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© 2005 John L. Rury

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Mirel, J. (2005). The Politics of Educational Retrenchment in Detroit, 1929–1935. In: Rury, J.L. (eds) Urban Education in the United States. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981875_10

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