Bill Cosby, Jesse Jackson join Back to School rally in Detroit

Darren Nichols:

Hundreds of parents, teachers and school children wearing blue “I’m In” T-shirts marched along Woodward today for the second annual Back to School parade and rally downtown.
Comedian Bill Cosby, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and television and syndicated radio personality Rickey Smiley participated in the parade that culminated with a rally at Hart Plaza.
“We should just work on making Detroit a better place and DPS (better),” said Brandon Bailey, 14, who will attend Cass Technical High School this fall.
“It’s very important that DPS stays good financially, education-wise and just keeping kids on track and on task.”
The rally is a part of the district’s efforts retain students for the “I’m In” enrollment campaign. The district is seeking to target 77,313 students for this fall. Officials said last year’s campaign exceeded expectations by bring in 830 additional students and generating about $6.2 million for the financially strapped district.