The Detroit Free Press reported that members of the Detroit school board didn’t want to release a map showing how the academic performance of its students compared to national standards because they were worried it would embarrass parents and pupils.

The date on that story was May 18, 1958, or nearly 60 years ago.

It’s old news, but still relevant today. In recent news reports, the current school superintendent claimed that Detroit’s public school system was once among the best in the country. He implied that the rise of charter schools in the city has led to the district’s collapse.

Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti made his comments at an education forum last week, according to The Detroit News. “Once upon a time DPS was one of the best urban school district in the country,” Vitti said.

It’s unclear how far Vitti wants to turn back the clock to support his claim. The district did not respond to an email asking for more information on the era he referred to.

Newspaper accounts going back many years paint Detroit public schools as struggling to raise the academic performance of its students.

That 1958 Detroit Free Press story said that the average score of the 35,000 Detroit school system students who were tested showed them to about one month behind the national standard in the fourth and sixth grades.

According to a June 24, 1970, Detroit Free Press article, the state held its first statewide assessment of Michigan schools in 1969. And Detroit’s public schools, which had 294,000 students in 1970, performed the worst.

A July 2, 1982, Detroit Free Press story listed the Detroit public school results on the California Achievement Tests administered from 1980 through 1982. Detroit students had mixed results those three years. Their best year was 1982, when five of the nine grades tested did slightly better than the national mean in reading and math. Three grades did slightly worse and one grade was right at the national mean.

A Detroit Free Press story on Feb. 14, 1987, stated that Detroit public schools ranked lower in academic achievement than national averages.

Two years later, most Detroit public school students were performing below grade level in reading and math on the California Achievement Test results, according to a June 22, 1989, Detroit Free Press story.

The first charter school in Michigan opened in 1994. The first three charter schools in Detroit opened the following year.

By that time, Detroit was already a troubled school district.

A May 27, 1994, Detroit Free Press article showed that Detroit public schools were among the worst in the state’s 1993 Michigan Educational Assessment Program testing. Among the reasons: The Detroit public schools were among the worst in grades seven, eight, and 10 in reading, math and science.

Another Free Press article from the same day reported that Detroit’s Finney High School was the lowest performing high school in the state on the MEAP test.

The Michigan Department of Education said its online data goes back to 2005. Department staffers said they weren’t sure data still existed from the 1990s and that it would be a “big project” to get it.

There is little debate that the Detroit public schools system has performed dismally academically during the past several years. The National Assessment of Educational Program has ranked urban school districts in the U.S. in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. Detroit has scored last each time.

In 2017, Detroit Public Schools was compared against school districts in the following localities: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Baltimore; Boston; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago; Clark County, Nevada, home to Las Vegas; Cleveland, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Washington, D.C.; Duval County, Florida, home to Jacksonville; Fort Worth, Texas; Fresno, California; Guilford County, North Carolina, home to Greensboro; Hillsborough County, Florida, home to Tampa; Houston; Jefferson County, Kentucky, home to Louisville; Los Angeles; Miami, Florida; Milwaukee; New York; Philadelphia; San Diego; and Shelby County, Tennessee, home to Memphis.

AUBURN — The Beaver Township Zoning Board voted unanimously on Thursday to amend a proposed wind farm zoning ordinance for the Bay County community. More than 300 residents from the community of 2,900, plus anti-wind activists, wind supporters and industry representatives packed the small gym of a local church school where the meeting was held.

The measure will be discussed at the next zoning board meeting, with a recommendation that it be adopted by the Beaver Township Board of Trustees, which has the final say. According to wind project opponent Kevon Martis, the revised zoning would make the township an unattractive place for wind farm developments.

The amendments require wind turbines to have a property-line setback that is four times the height of the tower. The requirement would apply to how far the tower is from roads and communications and electric lines. Turbine towers could not be taller than 500 feet from base to blade tip, and they could not emit noise greater than 45 decibels at the property line.

Due in part to state mandates requiring utilities to use renewable energy, the township is one of many communities in or near the Thumb area of Michigan that have been eyed for wind farms. It is one of the latest communities to craft ordinances dealing with the prospective developments.

In March, DTE Energy submitted a proposal to the Michigan Public Service Commission to add 1,000 megawatts of renewable generation capacity by 2022. The electricity would come mostly from hundreds of new wind turbines, with the balance coming from solar collectors.

If the state commission approves the proposal, DTE estimates that it will surpass the amount of renewable generation capacity it needs to secure under the state mandate. In 2016, the state enacted a law requiring utilities to get 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources.

DTE Energy Regional Manager Carla Gribbs attended the township event and was disappointed by the outcome.

“I think it’s unfortunate that the planning commission voted to accept the proposed language,” Gribbs said.

Gribbs said that while she believes the proposal is anti-wind, DTE will work with property owners as it anticipates future developments.

For more than an hour before the vote, numerous residents addressed the board, along with activists for and against wind, DTE representatives, Bay County Commissioner Michael Duranczyk and State Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Williams Township.

The people who spoke to the board cited a number of concerns, including the environmental impact of turbines and their possible effects on hunting as well as Midland’s annual hot air balloon festival. Speakers who opposed wind farms outnumbered supporters by a 3-1 ratio.

In the weeks leading up to the meeting, both DTE and Great Lakes Bay Region SOS, a group which opposes wind farms, sent mailings to area residents.

Details of the proposed wind farms in the township have not been finalized or approved by the MPSC. Matthew Wagner, DTE Energy’s manager of renewable energy development, told Michigan Capitol Confidential that the company is looking for a development in Bay or Midland counties that could include 50 to 60 wind turbines that produce 2.5 to 3 megawatts each.

Between July 10, 2017, and April 20, 2018, a subsidiary of DTE Energy secured 98 easements for turbine towers from property owners in Bay County. Wind leases are often worth multiple thousands of dollars each year.

DTE says the process of getting local approvals and signing long-term leases for turbine towers can take two to three years. The exact location of the towers then must factor in noise levels, “shadow flicker” falling on homes, setbacks and more.

According to Gribbs, DTE has not signed leases with any members of the Beaver Township government. Wagner said the company does not have a rule that would prevent it from doing so.

In Isabella County, two members of the county board signed leases with Apex Clean Energy Inc. while the board was considering changes to its wind zoning ordinance. Last December, several people testified at a Michigan House committee hearing that similar actions took place their communities. The hearing was on a bill banning such conflicts of interest.

Wagner said that for DTE to consider a wind farm project viable, it must be able to install two to three wind turbines per square mile. The company also prefers setbacks of 1,320 feet from an inhabited dwelling and 550 to 750 feet from a property line for a 500-foot-tall turbine. It also wants noise limits with less restrictive requirements.

These preferences are a point of contention with activists like Kevon Martis, who has helped people in Michigan and Ohio oppose local wind farm development. Martis suggests that for a 500-foot-tall turbine, setbacks of 1,250 feet from a property line and 1,750 feet from an inhabited dwelling are called for. He also recommends a 40- decibel noise limit as measured at a property line.

Martis said the primary responsibility of a local planning commission is to protect the health, safety and welfare of those in their communities, not broader concerns.

“Planning commissions don’t sit down and contemplate how to solve global warming,” he said. “Even if they find something that’s that great, it doesn’t mean they can place it irresponsibly.”

The amendments adopted by the zoning board were suggested in a document by Martis’ partner, Toledo-based attorney Joshua Nolan.

Environmental activist and Midland County resident Peter Sinclair did not attend the meeting Thursday, but he told Michigan Capitol Confidential he supports wind turbines in the area.

“We need a new business model for rural areas,” Sinclair said. “So for farmers who are struggling to survive, not allowing them to make money from wind energy is unconscionable.”

Previous stories in Michigan Capitol Confidential have reported on township elections that effectively prohibited wind farm developments.