The Detroit schools board of education has extended Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti’s contract.
Vitti joined the district as superintendent in 2017. The board voted 6-1 this week to extend his current contract through 2028, and give him a pay raise.
The move ruffled some feathers among some district teachers and their union leaders. Detroit Federation of Teachers President Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins told board members that district leadership has ignored what she called “toxic working conditions” in some schools for too long.
“Leadership is not supposed to be so blind with allegiance to this administration that you ignore negative occurrences because you can't face reality,” Wilson-Lumpkins said. She and others also criticized the board for extending the contract while the teachers union and district administration are negotiating a new teacher contract.
Board member Sherry Gay-Dagnogo agreed that “timing is an issue” with Vitti’s contract extension. Gay-Dagnogo, who cast the sole vote against the measure, said Vitti and the board should focus on “addressing a number of the issues with respect to culture and climate [in schools], and moving forward with our facility plans.”
“For those reasons, I have a problem voting on this,” Gay-Dagnogo said.
Since becoming superintendent of DPSCD, Vitti has focused on increasing teacher pay and retention, revamping the district’s curriculum, and improving school facilities left crumbling after nearly a decade of state control. Under his leadership, the state’s largest school district initially showed some modest gains in student achievement and reducing chronic absenteeism, but has faced setbacks on both fronts since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vitti was named Urban Educator of the Year in 2022.
Vitti’s current base salary is more than $354,000 per year. According to the terms of his amended contract, he’ll receive pay bumps in alignment with teacher pay in the new union contract, as well as deferred compensation and other benefits.
