Panel to View Detroit Schools as ‘Blank Canvas’

Michigan Governor Names Group to Help Troubled District on Governance, Finances

Michigan’s governor has named a panel of 120 citizens to help the Detroit school district improve its governance, but some skeptics worry that the group’s size and broad mission might hamper its effectiveness.

The task force’s mission is to help the district make the transition from an appointed school board to an elected one late this year, and to monitor its deficit-elimination plans. But in remarks to the news media on Jan. 11, Gov. Jennifer Granholm suggested the panel could take on much more than that.

The Democratic governor said the group would view the 140,000-student district as a “blank canvas,” coming up with educational, financial, and even structural improvements, including possibly breaking the system into subdistricts and creating...