Detroit not doing so WELL!!!

With tens of thousands of workers in Michigan losing jobs in manufacturing since 2000, many displaced workers either have not found work or have gotten jobs with a substantial decline in pay. With job cuts left and right, job stability in the motor city seems impossible. With the closings of eight plants in 2007, more than half of employees lost their jobs. In 1960, the Flint, Michigan, manufacturing center reported that one in ten Flint residents lived in poverty, but more recent reports show figures now one in four. The median household income adjusted due to inflation has declined by a shocking ten percent since 2000. In October 2009, the city’s homelessness prevention assistance program received applications from 50,000 - 60,000 residents for the available 3,400 packages of up to $3,000 to cover utility bills and fees associated with keeping their homes or to move into a new one.
With records showing that people can’t survive or provide a living for themselves and families, residents from the area have packed their families up and abandoned their homes to seek a better opportunity. Recent reports taken by Forbes magazine ranked Detroit second behind Las Vegas, with the most abandoned homes and businesses with around sixty to eighty thousand deserted. The home prices have fallen drastically, but there is just another issue with people buying the homes. Residential property tax rates in Detroit are the seventh highest in the country. In the country Detroit’s taxes are 76% higher than any other city equal to its population.
Nevertheless, with the economic crisis in the city many more concerns face Detroit such as the school systems city wide. Detroit’s school system is facing a financial crisis. The school systems are operating with a $400 million dollar deficit in the $1.1 billion annual budget. The system received a D+ from the National Council on Teacher Quality in the group's 2008 annual report. About 68% of the students that attend Detroit Public Schools graduate with a high school diploma.