"You can see there is literally steam coming out of the parking lot asphalt. There is definitely a problem underneath the ground here," said a WXYZ reporter.

Teachers have staged "sick-outs" — strikes where they call in sick to protest the conditions.

But some teachers say the conditions are literally making them ill.

"There's cold air that just gushes through there as well as the mold," said Nancy Muerhoff, a teacher at Carleton Elementary.

After complaining of constant headaches, that teacher took a different job.

State legislators have toured some of the schools.

Some say there is plenty of good going on as well as bad.

"The easy thing to do is see what's not working," said State Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo. "The harder thing to do is get to the solution."

City officials will inspect all Detroit Public Schools through April.

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Students stand on a balcony at the John Lewis Student Center on the campus of  Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (Natrice Miller/AJC)

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com