DETROIT — Teachers who had closed Detroit schools for two days by calling out sick announced Tuesday that they would return to the classroom, after receiving assurance from the district’s manager that they would be paid.

The move by the Detroit Federation of Teachers came hours after Michigan lawmakers advanced a $500 million plan to restructure Detroit public schools by creating a new district.

The vote was intended to ease teachers’ fears that they might not get paid if the district runs out of money. But the union quickly denounced the legislation endorsed by the House Appropriations Committee. It would forbid existing labor agreements from transferring to the new district and restrict collective bargaining over work schedules and school calendars.

Terrence Martin, the union’s executive vice president, said the union was “truly outraged” by the proposal. He said the measures heading to the full House “feel like and look like anti-teacher bills” and differ radically from legislation approved in March by the Senate that he described as “workable.”

“It’s just a testament to how far apart lawmakers are right now. … “(It’s) very discouraging to our membership,” Martin said. “We’ll continue to fight.”

The union said it would encourage members to go back to school Wednesday based on discussions with the district’s state-appointed transitional manager, Steven Rhodes.

The sickout idled 45,000 children and presented yet another crisis for a governor and Legislature already engrossed in the water emergency in Flint, a majority-black city like Detroit.

The proposal that passed mostly along party lines would retire the district’s enormous debt by 2023 and launch a new district in July. It would spend less than a $700 million-plus plan approved by the Senate in March.

The Republican-led House could vote on the plan later this week. But big differences would still need to be resolved with the Republican-controlled Senate. It was unclear how quickly that could occur before the Legislature adjourns in mid-June.


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