LANSING (AP) - Public schools in Detroit will be closed today as thousands of teachers plan to attend a rally in front of the state Capitol to protest charter school expansion.

Mario Morrow, spokesman for the Detroit Public Schools, said that by yesterday afternoon, the district's automated system received more than 1,600 calls from teachers who planned to miss school for the protest.

School administrators also reported to the district that 3,200 teachers told them they wouldn't be in school today.

Substitute teachers haven't been responsive to the district's calls for help today, Morrow said.

Detroit Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Burnley said district officials wanted to let parents know in advance so they could make arrangements for their children today.

"We're also concerned about the safety and welfare of our students," Burnley said.

The Detroit Federation of Teachers, the union representing about 12,500 Detroit public school teachers, asked its membership to skip classes today to protest an agreement that would allow 150 new charter schools to open in Michigan over 10 years, including 15 in Detroit.

Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema of Wyoming and House Speaker Rick Johnson of LeRoy, both Republicans, reached an agreement last week on charter school expansion.

The deal would return Detroit's appointed school reform board to an elected board next summer, although it would retain a chief executive and give the Detroit mayor the ability to reject the board's choice for CEO.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said he asked Granholm, Sikkema and Johnson to hold off on approving the agreement before city residents have a chance to weigh in on the issue. An education summit is set for Oct. 1 in Detroit to discuss charter schools and other issues.

Janna Garrison, leader of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said the 15 new charter high schools that would be opened in Detroit with $200 million from philanthropist Robert Thompson's foundation would take needed funding from the public school district.

"We want him to work with the district so we're not taking money from the critical mass to give it to a select few," Garrison said about Thompson.

Garrison said she expects more than a few thousand people to attend the protest scheduled for 10 a.m. EDT protest today outside the state Capitol in Lansing.