Ann Arbor-based think tank Michigan Future is not interested in anti-public-school demagoguery or pro-union rhetoric.

Michigan Future is busy pursuing innovative new answers to revitalize Detroit’s distressed public school system.

The nonprofit group is using $13 million in grant funding to help launch eight new college preparatory high schools.

One, Detroit Edison Public School Academy High School, opened in fall 2010. Four more — including the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science & Medicine and Cornerstone Health High School — will open in fall 2011.

Of the eight schools, five will be operated as charter schools and three as part of the Detroit public school system.

Eight is just a start. Michigan Future President Lou Glazer wants to open 35 over the next eight years.

“We don’t care if they’re charter schools or public schools,” Glazer said. “We’re trying to create brand new high-quality high schools with a goal that kids will leave high school ready for college.”

But it’s not just Ann Arbor nonprofits that can contribute toward the redesign of Detroit public schools.

Private companies like Ann Arbor-based information technology consultancy Dynamic Edge are helping, too.

Once a week, Dynamic Edge sends employees to volunteer at the Detroit Institute of Technology’s Cody High School, which was closed a few years ago in the wake of dismal graduation rates.

Now, Dynamic Edge employees are customizing their own curriculum, teaching students skills like how to find a job on the Internet, how to conduct research online or how to clean viruses off of a computer.

“We are a very democratic, compassionate culture in Ann Arbor,” Dynamic Edge’s Bryan Emmendorfer said in an email. “Most of us want to see turnaround in Detroit. But too many of us make judgments and brainstorm solutions from our couches. Electing officials to throw money at these problems isn’t enough. We need to throw ourselves into the mix.”

He added: “Just like our culture is sometimes missing perspective, so is the culture in Detroit. Many of the kids we work with at Cody never see outside their neighborhoods. I think the businesses need to step up. Employees are willing to contribute if the opportunities are put in front of them.”

Bruce McCully, who founded Dynamic Edge and still leads the company, said companies can “be an ambassador” for Detroit.

“I think the answer is we can pick off little things and champion them and share some of our resources, whether they’re talent or capital or ideas with the folks of Detroit and really see what we can do to help out,” he said.

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.