Madison Heights Mayor Ed Swanson is backing his superintendent’s controversial request to bring hundreds of Detroit students into the city’s schools.

Swanson said at a Thursday city council meeting that he supports raising the cap on school-of-choice students to allow more students to enroll in the city’s schools, the Free Press reported. Superintendent John Telford, a former Detroit public schools teacher, wants to enroll more students to receive $7,500 from the state per pupil.

 

This extra money is needed to close a $600,000 deficit that’s been largely the result of losing about 1,000 students in the past nine years. Without extra state revenue, the district will be forced to make a 10 percent budget cut, which could mean closing two elementary schools, Swanson said.

As the Michigan Messenger reported Thursday, the proposal did not sit well with many Madison Heights residents speaking at a school board meeting. The idea’s support fell along racial lines, with the mostly white crowd speaking out against Telford’s plan and African-Americans voicing their support for his idea.

Swanson is up for re-election this year and his support for raising the school-of-choice cap could cause him trouble politically. However, he has been mayor for 10 years and ran unopposed last time.