VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

To hear radio interview with Elaine Brown on Democracy NOW! go to

http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2010/12/14/prisoner_advocate_elaine_brown_on_georgia

To hear radio interview between Glen Ford, Elaine Brown and striking prisoner, go to

http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=georgia_prison_strike_interview_update_dec15)

Bruce Dixon

Wed, 12/15/2010 – 04:50 — The Editors, Black Agenda Report

Georgia prisoners who began a courageous, peaceful and nonviolent protest strike for educational opportunities, wages for their work, medical care and human rights have captured the attention of the world. Black Agenda Report intends to closely cover their continuing story. Glen Ford recorded a conversation with activist Elaine Brown and one of the striking inmates in Georgia on Wednesday, December 15.

Story by Bruce A. Dixon, audio interview by Glen Ford

The historic strike of Georgia prisoners, demanding wages for their labor, educational opportunities, adequate health care and nutrition, and better conditions is entering a new phase. Strikers remain firm in their demands for full human rights, though after several days many have emerged from their cells, if only to take hot showers and hot food. Many of these, however, are still refusing their involuntary and unpaid work assignments.

A group that includes relatives, friends and a broad range of supporters of the prisoners on the outside has emerged. They are seeking to sit down with Georgia correctional officials this week to discuss how some of the just demands of inmates can begin to be implemented. Initially, Georgia-based representatives of this coalition supporting the prisoner demands included the Georgia NAACP, the Nation of Islam, the National Association for Radical Prison Reform, the Green Party of Georgia, and the Ordinary Peoples Society among others. Civil rights attorneys, ministers, community organizations and other prisoner advocates are also joining the group which calls itself the Concerned Coalition to Protect Prisoner Rights.

Prisoners have stood up for themselves, and the communities they came from are lining up to support them. Today, at a groundbreaking for a private prison 300 miles southeast of Atlanta in Millen GA, residents of that local community opposed to the private prison are greeting the governor and corrections brass with a protest. They will be joined by dozens more coming in from Atlanta who will respectfully urge state authorities to talk to the prisoners. We understand that one person there has been arrested. Black Agenda Report will have photos and footage of that event on Thursday.

The broad-based Concerned Coalition to Protect Prisoners Rights fully supports the heroic stand of Georgia’s prisoners. “This isn’t Attica,” one representative of the coalition explained. “No violent acts have been committed by any of the inmates involved. We hope state corrections officials will be as peaceful and respectful as the prisoners have been, and start a good faith dialog about quickly addressing their concerns.”

Prisoners in Georgia are conducting a peaceful protest; their supporters are calling on authorities not to turn it into another Attica Rebellion, during which law enforcement officials murdered and tortured hundreds of prisoners, including guards inside the complex; Attica was a symbol of resistance for a generation of prison activists.

Right now, the ball is in the hands of state corrections officials, and reports are that in some of the affected prisons, authorities are fumbling that ball, engaging

“They transferred some of the high Muslims here to max already,” one prisoner told Black Agenda Report this morning. “They want to break up the unity we have here. We have the Crips and the Bloods, we have the Muslims, we have the head Mexicans, and we have the Aryans all with a peaceful understanding, all on common ground. We all want to be paid for our work, and we all want education in here. There’s people in here who can’t even read…

“They’re trying to provoke people to violence in here, but we’re not letting that happen. We just want our human rights.”

The transfers are intended to deprive groups of leadership and demoralize them. In some cases they may be having the opposite effect, stiffening prisoner morale and making room for still more leaders to emerge.

“The prisoners insist that punitive transfers are an act of bad faith, the opposite of what we should be doing,” said Minister Charles Muhammad, of the Nation of Islam in Atlanta. “The coalition supports them and demands no punitive transfers, either within or between institutions, and absolutely no transfers to institutions outside Georgia.”

Members of the public should continue to call the prisons listed below, and the GA Department of Corrections and the office of Georgia’s governor, Sonny Perdue. Ask them firmly but respectfully to resolve the situation non-violently and without punitive measures. Tell them you believe prisoners deserve wages for work and education. Ask them to talk to prisoners and the communities they come from.

It’s simple. With one in twelve Georgia adults in jail or prison, parole or probation or other court and correctional supervision, prisoners are us. They are our families. They are our fathers and our mothers, our sons and daughters, our nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles and cousins. Most prisoners will be back out in society sooner, not later. It’s time for us all to grow up and realize that warehousing, malnourishing, mistreating and abusing prisoners does not make us safer. Denying prisoners meaningful training and educational opportunities, and forcing them to work for no wages is not the way to do.

It’s time to fundamentally reconsider prison as we know it, and America’s public policy of mass incarceration.

Bruce Dixon and Glen Ford are reachable at bruce.dixon@blackagendareport.com and glen.ford@blackagendareport.com, respectively. Black Agenda Report intends to provide ongoing coverage several times per week of the ongoing struggle of Georgia prisoners.

To read “Lockdown for Liberty,” the article on the prison strike by Charlene Muhammad in The Final Call, the Nation of Islam’s national newspaper, go to http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_7498.shtml.

People who had lost their homes to foreclosure, or have been battling banks over loan modification, and their supporters, including Alvivon Hurt, protest outside a Chase bank branch in downtown LA Dec. 16. Police arrested 22 protesters who blocked the doors to the bank in acts of civil disobedience. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

By JACOB ADELMAN, AP

Posted 12/16/2010 Silicon Valley Mercury News.com

LOS ANGELES—Police arrested 22 demonstrators who blocked entry to a downtown Chase bank branch Thursday to protest what they said were unfair home foreclosures.

The demonstrators, which included homeowners facing foreclosure, community advocates and labor leaders, silently allowed officers to bind their wrists behind their backs with plastic restraints and guide them into a police van.

Sitting in a makeshift living room, people who had lost their homes to foreclosure, or have been battling banks over loan modification, and their supporters, pray as they protest outside Chase in LA Dec. 16 AP Photo/Reed Saxon

Dozens more demonstrators chanted and marched on a nearby sidewalk holding signs that said “Stop Bank Greed, Save Our Neighborhoods” as the 12 men and 10 women were taken into custody.

Detective Gus Villanueva said there were no injuries to police or protesters. All the demonstrators were released by late afternoon after all but one of them received citations for trespassing, he said.

Villanueva did not immediately know why the one protester had not been cited.

Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment member David Mazariegos said the demonstrators hoped to bring attention to the plight of people who were unjustly losing their homes.

84-year-old Julia Boteo is led away under arrest during the protest at Chase in LA Dec. 16. Photo/Reed Saxon

He said banks’ failure to modify many borrowers’ loans puts them in violation of the Home Affordable Modification Program in which lenders agreed to participate as part of the bank bailout.

“The banks are not helping anyone stay in their homes,” Mazariegos said. “It’s highway robbery, what they’re doing to these people.”

ACCE director Amy Schur said the groups were singling out JPMorgan Chase & Co. because most of the borrowers whose foreclosures and evictions they are contesting are serviced by that bank.

Chase spokeswoman Eileen Leveckis disputed that the bank was denying help to distressed mortgage borrowers.

“Chase is committed to helping struggling borrowers remain in their homes,” she said in a statement, stressing that the lender had completed more than 250,000 modifications since early 2009.

Frank DeCaro is taken into custody during protest. AP Photo/Reed Saxon

Before the protesters blocked the doors leading to the Chase branch, homeowners at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure used a microphone to tell of their difficulties getting help from Chase and other banks.

Among them was Esperanza Casco, 47, who said her Long Beach home was foreclosed on even though she’d been making all the payments required under modification and forbearance deals worked out with Chase.

A Chase spokesman said in an Associated Press story last month that the bank gave Casco and her husband as many opportunities as it could to qualify for a modification, but that the couple was unable to do so.

The Cascos were scheduled to be evicted this month, but on Tuesday, Chase rescinded its eviction threat and offered them a new modification.

Fellow protesters awaiting their own arrests cheer as Javier Sarmiento is led away by police. AP Photo/Reed Saxon

Chase spokesman Tom Kelly on Thursday declined to detail why the bank changed its mind, saying only that it reviewed the case again “with updated financials” and was able to approve the modification.

But Esperanza Casco said the financial information they sent the bank most recently was identical to the paperwork they previously provided.

“They saw that we were putting pressure and the publicity we were getting. But this is not just about us,” she said in Spanish through an interpreter. “There’s lots of people facing the same situation we’re in.”

(Ed. note: Chase Bank is also the target of a national boycott initiated by the coalition People Before Banks, which includes the United Autoworkers, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and Detroit’s Moratorium NOW! Coalition against Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-offs. The group has been leafletting Chase banks throughout the metro area. To contact People Before Banks, email peoplebeforebanks@gmail.com, or call 313-319-0870.

Aiyana Jones Family photo

Show filmed Detroit police killing of 7-year-old child

By Diane Bukowski

DETROIT – “There were two people out there, a man and a lady, and they had videocameras and were filming while the police raided our home and killed my 7-year-old niece Aiyana,” LaKrystal Sanders said. “It was wrong. I begged them to stop filming, but they wouldn’t stop. They knew there were children in the house, there were toys all over the front yard. I asked them and the police for a warrant and they couldn’t come up with any.”

Aiyana's grandmother Mertilla Jones, who was sleeping with the child when Detroit police shot her to death, grieves with Aiyana's aunt LaKrystal Sanders at press conference in May (Photo by Diane Bukowski)

Aiyana Jones’ father Charles Jones, mother Dominika Stanley, and grandmother Mertilla Jones filed suit in federal court Dec. 14 against the A&E Television Network, the First 48 Television Show, and a contractor, who were filming a police raid on Aiyana’s home May 16. The suit asks for 10 types of monetary compensation, including “hedonic damages” related to the intangible value of life.  

Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley, at the time a regular “star” on the program, shot Aiyana in the head after he and a partner threw an incendiary “flash-bang” grenade through the front window of the family’s home without warning, according to the family’s attorney Geoffrey Fieger. Fieger filed suit against Weekley and an unnamed partner in May, in state court. That suit is currently ongoing.

The Jones home was located in a poor east-side Detroit neighborhood that is over 90 percent Black, with a 33 percent poverty rate according to 2000 US Census records. Weekley, who is white, lives in one of Detroit’s wealthiest suburbs, Grosse Pointe Park, according to court records. He has not been disciplined or charged, and is still active on the police force.

Detroit cop Joseph Weekley, a Grosse Pointe Park resident, aimed at and shot Aiyana through the head May 16, according to family's attorney

A&E Television Network (AETN), raked in $1.05 billion in revenue in 2005, according to Advertising Age, an industry publication, AETN is jointly owned by NBC Enterprises, which made $12.44 billion, Disney, which made $17.14 billion, and Hearst Enterprises.

The AETN suit, filed by Fieger’s firm, cites a written agreement between A&E’s contractor, Kirkstall Road Enterprises of New York City, with Detroit’s police chief at the time, Warren Evans.

“The Agreement gave Defendants unprecedented access to work with the Detroit Police Department and video tape and record, in the words of the Agreement, ‘an innovative and documentary experience.’ This ‘innovative’ experience ended up being the tragic and senseless death of Aiyana.”

The written agreement, attached to the lawsuit, provided no payment to the City of Detroit or its police department and reserved all ownership rights for the program to the producers.

Aiyana's father Charles Jones, attorney Geoffrey Fieger, mother Dominika Stanley, and grandmother Mertilla Jones at press conference shortly after child's murder Photo by Diane Bukowski

The suit adds, “Prior to the decision to illegally assault Aiyana’s home, there were discussions about the fact that television cameras would be present and the desire to create a ‘good show’ and/or to create ‘great video footage.’”

Sanders said she and her fiancée, Chauncey Owens, and many of her mother’s 18 grandchildren were outside the house all day. They saw what attorney Fieger later described as an undercover police vehicle watching their two-family flat.  

Aiyana, Charles and the grandmother Mertilla Jones, along with three younger children including an infant, lived downstairs from Stanley and Owens.

Police claimed they were looking for Owens on a murder warrant when they assaulted the building. But Sanders said police came to their door looking for “Chinaman,” Owens’ brother, who used to live there but had moved.

“When they knocked on my door, I let them in,” she said. “They had no reason to assault my mother and brother’s home and kill my little niece. And A&E had no reason to try to make my family look bad for something we didn’t do. If the police hadn’t been showing off for the cameras, my niece would still be alive.”

None of the defendants in the suit returned calls for comment.

For further information, contact the offices of Fieger, Fieger, Kenney, Johnson & Giroux at 1-248-355-5555.

DTE Cobo Hall propaganda event Dec. 13 WSWS photo

BREAKING NEWS: Two sentenced Dec. 15  for “restoring gas and /or electricity theft without the authorization of DTE” to the Young family, which lost three toddlers in 2009 fire; Judge Daniel Ryan sentenced handyman James Sand to 10 months in jail with 2 years probation; landlord Darnell Jackson got 3 years probation with restitution.  They were only trying to help the family stay warm after DTE shut off their heat in the freezing cold.

By Jerry White

Dec. 14, 2010

DETROIT — Several thousand residents who have either lost their utility service or are in danger of doing so attended a “Customer Assistance Day” sponsored by DTE Energy in downtown Detroit on Monday Dec. 13.

Toddlers Tra'vion, Selena and Fantasia Young, dead last year in fire caused by DTE shut-off; Judge Daniel Ryan just sent handyman to jail for turning the family's electricity back on to help them stay warm

Low-income workers, the unemployed and families with small children braved the bitter cold and the season’s first major snow storm to come to the event, which the energy giant expected to attract up to 7,000 applicants. Behind on their utility bills, many who attended owe the company thousands of dollars.

The event was a public relations affair that will do little to help the enormous numbers of people facing the prospect of a winter without heat and lights in their homes. DTE spokesman Scott Simons said 476,000 customers are currently behind on their bills, and that the utility’s electrical and gas divisions had already cut off service to 200,000 households this year.

There is no state law prohibiting the shutoff of utilities in the winter, despite the fact that house fires caused by space heaters, ovens and other unsafe forms of heating are a regular occurrence in Detroit. During the winter months last year, at least 11 area residents―including small children, handicapped workers and senior citizens―lost their lives in house fires that occurred after the DTE cut off service to their homes. The tragedies provoked public outrage and led to the formation of the Committee Against Utility Shutoffs by the Socialist Equality Party. (See CAUS web site).

DTE urged those attending Monday’s event to apply for assistance from charities like the Salvation Army and cash-strapped state agencies. One such program, the State Emergency Relief Fund (SER), relies on funding from the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), whose allocation Congress is slated to  cut by 35 percent this season, from $5.1 billion to $3.3 billion.

Dozens protested shut-offs outside DTE HQ Dec. 10 Photo by Daymon Hartley

Even after meeting stringent income requirements and other hurdles to qualify for the SER program, a worker with the Michigan Department of Human Services, which oversees the program, told the WSWS, “The maximum help someone can get from us is a one-time $350 check for gas and another $350 for electricity―for a total of $700. You can only use it once and many people run out of money before the winter and have no heat.

“When we make a payment to DTE it holds them off for 30 days. Then they can come right back and shut off your service. If you owe more than a total of $700, you have to pay off the balance or you’ll be cut off. We’re being overwhelmed by the need.”

Another program, The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW), which is only available to low-income residents who have received a shut-off notice or have already been cut off and who have exhausted all federal and state funded programs, quickly runs out of resources each year, leaving tens of thousands of households with no assistance.

DTE officials boasted that a series of fundraising events held this past weekend aimed to bring in $1 million to help residents pay their utility bills. This is a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of millions in back bills being demanded by the Fortune 500 company, which has made a half billion in profits so far this year.

“How much more would be available to help utility payers would depend on federal grants from LIHEAP,” Simons told the WSWS. Noting that the program had lost billions in funding, he added, “With fewer dollars it means there will be fewer people getting help.”

Profits over lives; protest at DTE HQ 12 10 10 Photo by Daymon Hartley

Monday’s “Customer Assistance Day” was one of a series of public relations events held by DTE to deflect criticisms over its shutoff policy and exorbitant rates. The events have had the added purpose of boosting the false idea that there are innumerable resources to help customers. They are designed to propagate the myth that if a household’s utilities are shut off, it’s their own fault.

In an effort to deny its responsibility for the house fires last year and prepare public opinion for a further loss of life this winter, DTE, state and local politicians and the news media have also blamed the tragedies on unauthorized utility hookups and so-called “energy theft.” (See “Media campaigns against ‘energy theft’ at beginning of heating season”)

Members and supporters of CAUS passed out a statement (“End all utility shutoffs! Electricity and gas must be social rights!”) encouraging the development of an independent movement of the working class to take profit out of the provision of utilities.

Several residents stopped to speak to the World Socialist Web Site. An unemployed construction worker who had an outstanding bill of $2,000 said, “People are standing in long lines here and there is no guarantee that they will get help. You can get a $1,000 bill for the winter. Everybody is going through a rough time now. The utility rates are going higher and higher. All you have in this country is the rich and the poor―it’s all divided into classes.

Laid-off worker Crystal Brittman and children came to get help to stop shut-off WSWS photo

“What are people going to do if they cut off your heat in the winter? People have kids and they are not going to watch them freeze to death. DTE screams about ‘energy theft’ but people are going to do what they have to. If you were in the woods and it was ice cold, you would start a fire. It’s natural.”

Angela Robinson, who works at Comerica Park baseball stadium, said, “I was laid off for a month and got behind on the bills. They shouldn’t be allowed to cut you off. Heat, water and lights are a basic necessity. There aren’t many jobs and people should be helped.”

Renee Williams said, “A lot of people are behind on their bills. There should be a law against DTE raising rates. Now they have gas and light bills together, and if you can’t pay one they’ll shut you off of both services. People are using hot plates, stoves and space heaters to stay warm. I had a fire at my house last night. It started in the backyard and fortunately it never came into the house. The only reason DTE is holding this event is because that two-year-old lost his life in house with no heat and so many others did last year. It takes people to die before they offer any help.” (See “Two-year-old boy dies in Detroit house fire” )

Renee Williams, center, Jatonia, left, Kobi, right WSWS photo

“A lot of people are struggling. There are no jobs. The Democrats and the Republicans aren’t doing anything. People are willing to work, but they don’t have jobs. You turn in a job application and they say, ‘We’ll get back to you’ or ‘We’ll keep it on file.’

“Mayor Bing is worthless. I heard the city was giving traffic tickets to cars that were on the streets last September after the fires caused by DTE. The cars were all burnt up and they gave the people parking tickets. As for Obama, all these politicians will say anything to get elected and then they will do nothing to help.

“It should be a crime to cut people off―but it isn’t. Kids are dying every day and DTE doesn’t want to take any responsibility.”

Crystal Brittman, a laid-off postal worker, said, “I’ve always thought that gas and electricity should be a basic human right that is guaranteed to everyone. But you are the first one that I heard say that.

“DTE doesn’t want it that way because they are making billions off poor people. This event is propaganda―making it look like DTE is doing something for the people, but they’re not helping. They gave me a $25 credit for coming here. If they hand that out to a couple thousand of people it won’t even make a dent.

“Some people have $6,000 to $7,000 in back bills. My friend had her lights and gas cut off and her children are in the cold. What if people don’t have any place to go? Now they are charging people with fraud for hooking up to the utility lines. But what are you going to do if you can’t pay?”

Daryl and Katherine Burchett have five kids, in danger of shut-off WSWS photo

Daryl and Katherine Burchett have five children

and are in danger of having their utilities cut off. Daryl, who is unemployed, said, “I’m laid off from doing fence work and welding. We’re here to get help

 because the bills are so high. If it weren’t for our family helping us out we would be just one step from being homeless.”

Katherine added, “It would be terrible to be without heat in the winter. We have a three-year-old.”

Daryl continued, “You’re going to see a lot of people from southwest Detroit down here today. There are no jobs and they are talking about growing crops in the neighborhood. I have nothing against crops, but we need good jobs.”

Heddy Dooley and son sought assistance Dec. 13 WSWS photo

Asked about the efforts to portray poverty in Detroit as a race question because of the city’s large African-American population, Daryl said, “That’s a bunch of crock. This is affecting everybody―black, white and immigrant. We’re all facing tough times.”

John Morris, said, “My bill is sky high. I was working at the Salvation Army and now I am laid off. I have a sister at home who is handicapped and she has to pay $500 a month in rent. The utility bill is in my name and is $205. I can’t pay that; my sister can’t pay that. I couldn’t make their payment plan to keep from them shutting it off. They haven’t shut it off yet. I am hoping I get some sort of assistance. You hear so much about people getting their utilities cut off, and it is getting cold out there.”

Heddy Dooley told the WSWS, “I am behind on my bill. I am a full-time student on Social Security and have a part-time job. It is hard to find full-time work. I feel bad for the elderly people and the handicapped. Every time the winter comes, you hear about people who die because their utilities were shut off.”

Naomi and Roderick Scott also spoke to the WSWS. “They didn’t give us any help at all,” Naomi said. “I filled out the applications and they gave us the $50 credit for our bill. They are telling us to go to THAW or the Salvation Army.”

Naomi and Roderick Scott WSWS Photo

“And THAW is saying they will not have any money until January,” Roderick said. “They are saying there is no help right now.”

Naomi added, “I have four kids and I explained that the best I could do is to pay $300 a month. They said no, they want the entire sum up front. That’s $8,000. Where are we going to get $8,000? We saved up the money to buy the house for $10,000. The bill is almost the amount we paid for the house.

“I worked at Ford for six years as a full-time worker, from 2002 to 2008. Then I was laid off for two years. When I got called back in 2010 we were put on a lower tier wage of $14 an hour, instead of $28. When I complained to the union they said, ‘Be happy you are working.’”

http://wsws.org

Mary Shoemake

Mary Shoemake, Community Activist 

Call’em-Out!!! Treasurer

UAW Local 6000, retired social worker

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization

Hood Research

Democratic Party 14^th District

Voice of Detroit

DETROIT — On Dec. 10, 2014, Ms. Mary Shoemake, an ardent member of the Call ’em Out Coalition, retired social worker, and life-long activist for Detroit’s poor and working people, made her transition after several months of illness, at Sinai-Grace Hospital.

Greg Frazier and Mary Shoemake present Power Couple award to Jan and William Malachi at Call em Out 7th Annual Dinner Feb. 2010

Going home services are set for: 

Cantrell Funeral Home Saturday, December 18, 2010

Family & Community Hour 10:30 AM   

Service 11:00AM – 12:00 noon

Interment Lincoln Memorial Cemetery Gratiot & 14 Mile

Repast:  Central United Methodist Church, Detroit, A Peace and Justice Church,

23 East Adams at Woodward, Detroit, MI 48226

ALL ARE INVITED TO CELEBRATE MARY’S LIFE OF STRUGGLE FOR THE PEOPLE, AND THE COMMUNITY’S ONGOING EFFORTS IN HER MEMORY

Mary Shoemake, Erma Thomas and Linda Willis participated in march for justice for Aiyana Jones, 7, killed by Detroit police; march was held June 26, 2010 in downtown Detroit

Sunrise – May 22, 1938   Sunset – December 9,  2010

Birthplace – Chester, Georgia

 Grew up on the Eastside of Detroit, attended Detroit Public Schools

Graduated from NorthEastern High School

 Served in the United States Army

 State of Michigan Retired Social Worker

More Information:  Agnes Hitchcock 313-874-2792

Ed. note: Mary will be forever loved and remembered by the people of Detroit for her quiet determination and militant beliefs. I will always recall her unfailing presence, with her constant companion Erma Thomas, at every court hearing when I faced 10 years in prison for reporting on a fatal State Police chase. Mary was a fighter who put her beliefs into action every day of her life. A people’s hero like her comes along once in a lifetime.

DETROIT CONTINGENT OF CONCERNED COALITION TO RESPECT PRISONERS’ RIGHTS HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE OUTSIDE MOUND RD. PRISON DEC. 14

Elaine Brown

Link to radio interview with Elaine Brown by Davey D on KPFA Radio, Oakland CA (excellent, thorough interview is about 10 minutes into the tape)

Young prisoner Rodriques Dukes in solitary confinement at Georgia's Hays State Prison Photo National Geographic

GEORGIA PRESS RELEASE:

Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights

Demand Governor Perdue and DOC Commissioner Brian Owens

Stop Violence Against Striking Prisoners

 PRESS CONFERENCE December 13, 2010, 3:30 p.m.

State Capitol 100 Washington Street Atlanta, Georgia

Georgia uses a paramilitary system that demands a rigid structure and full accountability of both inmates and COs (Corrections Officers). A CO monitors a cell-house to instill authority over the inmates. (Photo Credit Gregory Henry)

NAACP State Chairman Edward Dubose joined by representatives from the Nation of Islam, elected officials and others, who have formed the Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights, will hold a press conference at 3:30 p.m. today at the Capitol to urge Governor Perdue and Department of Corrections Commissioner Owens to halt the violent tactics being employed by guards against thousands of striking prisoners.  They have reached out to Perdue and Owens for meetings earlier in the day.

Begun on December 9, 2010, the prisoners’ peaceful protest has been historic in scope and in the unity of thousands of black, brown, white, Muslim, Christian, Rastafarian prisoners, including those at Augusta, Baldwin, Calhoun, Hancock, Hays, Macon, Rogers, Smith, Telfair, Valdosta and Ware State Prisons.  For five days, now, these men have shut down all activity at most of these facilities.

            The prisoners are petitioning the DOC for their human rights, including being paid for their labor, provided educational opportunities, decent health care and nutritional meals, a halt to cruel and unusual punishments, and just parole decisions.

The DOC has made itself unavailable to the press and prisoner family members, creating fears that, behind closed doors, the Department will escalate this peaceful protest to a violent confrontation.  The Coalition is urging the DOC to come to the table in peace to address the prisoners’ concerns.

“Due to the harsh conditions faced behind bars and the need for prison reform, the men are staying in their cells as a form of peaceful protest.  No officials or staff have been threatened and no property has been damaged.  These men’s requests are reasonable and in accord with the basic respect and treatment every human being deserves,” said Elaine Brown, a social activist and former Black Panther Party leader.  Brown is spearheading the Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights.  More information about the Coalition can be found on its Facebook page.

#   #   #

Contact:   Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights concernedcoalitionga@gmail.com

LETTER TO GEORGIA GOVERNOR

Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights

Gov. Sonny Perdue, Georgia

December 13, 2010

Via Hand Delivery

The Honorable Sonny Perdue

Governor of Georgia

203 State Capitol

Atlanta, Georgia  30334

Dear Governor Perdue:

            On behalf of the newly-formed Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights, a nation-wide formation, I implore you to direct the Department of Corrections, headed by Commissioner Brian Owens, to cease and desist from using violent tactics to force prisoners engaged in a non-violent labor strike to return to work.

            The Coalition would like to sit down with you and Commissioner Owens to discuss ways to bring all parties to the table to address the prisoners’ concerns over human rights’ violations, including being forced to labor without pay.  We will make ourselves available at any time.

Edward DuBose, Pres. GA NAACP

            We look forward to coming together with you and the Commissioner as soon as possible, toward a peaceful conclusion to the prisoners’ strike.

 Sincerely yours,

Edward Dubose, Chair, Georgia NAACP

Tell the Georgia Department of Corrections that you stand with protesting prisoners

Click on: http://www.change.org/petitions/view/tell_the_georgia_department_of_corrections_that_you_stand_with_protesting_prisoners

Targeting: Brian Owens (Commissioner, GA Department of Corrections)

Started by: Wendy Jason

On Thursday, December 9, prisoners across Georgia joined in solidarity to demand that their basic human needs be met. You can help them gain access to the supports and services that will preserve their dignity by supporting their nonviolent protest. Please sign the following letter to Brian Owens, Commissioner of the GA Department of Corrections.

—-

Greetings,

I’m writing to express my concerns over the conditions of Georgia’s prisons, and to urge you to address the needs of Georgia’s prisoners.  After days of peaceful protest from prisoners across the state, no apparent action has been taken towards acknowledging their demands for measures aimed solely at preserving their dignity as human beings. Further, there have been reports that their nonviolence has been met with violence and the further deprivation of basic rights.
These acts of violence must stop, and the conditions of Georgia’s prisons must be addressed without further delay.  I stand in solidarity with the prisoners and insist that they be treated with respect and dignity, and that you act now to begin fulfilling the following demands:

·         A LIVING WAGE FOR WORK:  In violation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude, the DOC demands prisoners work for free.

·         EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES:  For the great majority of prisoners, the DOC denies all opportunities for education beyond the GED, despite the benefit to both prisoners and society.

·         DECENT HEALTH CARE:  In violation of the 8th Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments, the DOC denies adequate medical care to prisoners, charges excessive fees for the most minimal care and is responsible for extraordinary pain and suffering.

·         AN END TO CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS:  In further violation of the 8th Amendment, the DOC is responsible for cruel prisoner punishments for minor infractions of rules.

·         DECENT LIVING CONDITIONS:  Georgia prisoners are confined in over-crowded, substandard conditions, with little heat in winter and oppressive heat in summer.

·         NUTRITIONAL MEALS:  Vegetables and fruit are in short supply in DOC facilities while starches and fatty foods are plentiful.

·         VOCATIONAL AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES:  The DOC has stripped its facilities of all opportunities for skills training, self-improvement and proper exercise.

·         ACCESS TO FAMILIES:  The DOC has disconnected thousands of prisoners from their families by imposing excessive telephone charges and innumerable barriers to visitation.

·         JUST PAROLE DECISIONS:  The Parole Board capriciously and regularly denies parole to the majority of prisoners despite evidence of eligibility.

I expect that you will convene a committee that includes prisoners, lawmakers, prison authorities, and prisoner advocates to take positive and concrete steps toward alleviating the inhumane conditions and lack of opportunities within Georgia’s correctional facilities.

Sincerely,

Thousands marched against auto bail-outs, lay-offs in Detroit Aug. 28; now GM wants to destroy DPS as well

$27 million grant to United Way, partner of Excellent Schools

By Russ Bellant

The GM Foundation announced on Dec. 10 that they made their largest grant ever, $27.1 million, to United Way of Southeastern Michigan (fka United Way of Detroit) to set up 20 academies in five area high schools. The high schools have not been named.

Charter schools CEO Doug Ross, Skillman Foundation CEO Carol Goss and DPS EFM Robert Bobb at Excellent Schools meeting

United Way is a signatory partner of the Excellent Schools Detroit plan for setting up privately controlled high schools to displace DPS high schools, funded by area foundations, including Skillman, Kresge, Kellogg and McGregor. The “incubator” for starting new schools for the Excellent Schools group is Michigan Future Inc. in Ann Arbor. MFI has been trying to get national foundations to fund the Excellent Schools plan to start up 35 high schools south of 12 mile and east of Telegraph. Whether in Detroit or a northern suburb, they are being set up to recruit DPS students.

Whether GM Foundation is funding the Excellent Schools or just a group that supports the plan is unclear. The nature and governance of the 20 academies is unclear. United Way was part of creating smaller high schools at Osborn and Cody which remained DPS schools.

Michael Tenbusch

United Way was a supporter of Mayoral control in the battle waged last summer, with Michael Tenbusch (former member of the state takeover board at DPS) leading the way for United Way. Tenbusch had previously set up Think Detroit, an athletic league, in the 1990’s, with Daniel Varner, who became a program officer of the Kellogg Foundation on April 29 and was recently appointed to the State Board of Education by Granholm to replace Reggie Turner.

As a program officer at Kellogg, Varner oversees the $7.5 million grant to Michigan Future Inc/Excellent Schools. How Varner will use his state board position to advance his day job projects has yet to be seen, but Varner is one of eight people that directly control Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan’s contract.

Michael Flanagan

He can push for more Michigan Department of Education influence to help Varner/Kellogg/Excellent Schools. Varner does not have to push hard on Flanagan, however; Flanagan is on the board of Michigan Future Inc, to set up the private school network, a pretty clear conflict with his duty to help DPS. In fact, there are a lot of ethically questionable relationships here.

(ed. note: The bills sponsored by State Rep. Fred Durhal, which he intends to bring back in the next legislative session, hand control of schools with deficits to Flanagan in exchange for tobacco settlement funds, which will go to the banks to pay off part of the schools’ huge debt loads.)

Kellogg has been a major funder of the Detroit Parent Network, so Varner has some leverage with them as well. It should be noted that Kellogg has taken the DPN grant off its website, however. Skillman recently committed $750,000 to DPN, a group started by Bob Thompson when he was pushing charter schools in Detroit.

Skillman has already given over a million dollars to DPS prior to this recent grant. All the Excellent Schools foundations have given DPN support in the last couple years. Two of them, Kresge and Kellogg, were the secret paymasters to Robert Bobb when it was announced that his contract was renewed in March. Research eventually unearthed their role in partially funding Bobb’s compensation. In turn, Bobb is also a signatory to the Excellent Schools plan to tear apart Detroit Public Schools and is permitting them to use DPS facilities to launch some schools. Another huge conflict of interest.

By Greg Thrasher

Movie still featured on racist blog which falsely claimed Detroit has highest murder rate in U.S.

Recently in the media industry various outlets and magazines including CNN and other outlets compiled a list of the most dangerous cities in the world; Detroit was on the list. This is an example of how shallow and worthless journalism, reporting and disinformation have become almost criminal (excuse the pun). Lists like these are often inferences based upon survey data, questionable data collections and subjective media accounts. There is no integrity in impotent lists like these other than tabloid currency.

What is more valuable and practical is crime data and information that is based upon the actual security and risk of harm to individuals and property. Yet this type of crime data has little currency and shock value for the media industry tales of crimes and victims suffering at the end of a gun of a nasty crack head has more bite and as such more ratings and the potential of more eyeballs, blog hits, advertisement fees and data which is based upon sound inferences and accurate crime findings. 

Inflated crime reports help finance more cops, courts and prisons

The reporting of crime is now a commodity that is marketed to make revenue for a number of industries and interests.  Crime is big business for the lawyers, bail bond agencies, city and county court departments, correctional facilities as well as companies which sell crime prevention gadgets and of course insurance companies that make money on fear and the specter of being a victim. Crime is a money maker even for the medical industry. It should be noted as well that entire non-profit organizations are created around the industry of crime in America.

None of the data collected nor the lists directly evaluate the ratio or metric about actual danger to victims. Most victims of crime know their assailants and many of them are family and friends. Crime data and information that provides insights on the pathology of crime is never the news that is reported by the media. Cause and effect reporting regarding crime in the media is very rare and more often the domain of college studies and research conducted by academic interests for publication in academics journals and trade publications. The real hard core data and truths about crime are often never reported in the daily media outlets.

Aiyana Jones, killed by Detroit cop while TV series 48 Hours was filming Photo by Brandy Baker

Factually most people are rarely victims of remote danger or stranger inflicted criminal acts. Most people are safer with strangers than actual people they have a history or relation with. In reality with regard to family crimes and spousal abuse, the victims are at risk often from other family member and not strangers. In the area of  property crimes many of these crimes are also committed by criminals who know the victim.

One of the nasty little secrets about crimes that is known to most police departments is that criminals will flip on each other and most crimes can be solved not by police investigations but by the the offer of rewards and plea deals. In the real world most crimes are caused by a very small percentage of the population; most people never commit a crime and are never a victim of a crime. Yet this truth is rarely reported in the media especially when it comes to cities like Detroit and other urban venues.

Reporting and information of this nature at end of the day does not make anyone safer it only demonizes entire cities with fiction and disinformation. A city like Detroit which is often demonized by the the publication of lists which claim Detroit is the most violent venue in America are always in a defensive and recovery mode as they try to defend the myths and disinformation that these publications  have created about the city and its residents. It often takes decades to recover from the ugly images of the city that are created by articles which inflate the level of crime in the city. Entire neighborhoods  are destroyed and demonized by false accusations of being crime infested venues. New business are handcuffed by the fictional portrayal of crime in areas where business are located. The crime of reporting crime must stop!

UNDER A CLIMATE OF FEAR: PARENT COMPLAINTS FROM THE DETROIT DISTRICT  

Aurora Harris

http://detroitparentswithspecialedstudents.blogspot.com/

By Aurora Harris

Dear Readers, Parents, Friends, Colleagues, Constituents, Students, Professors, and Mentees,

Due to many calls about complaints from parents within the Detroit school district in general about school closures, transportation problems, and, calls from parents of special needs/disabled students that are experiencing compliance issues, please find below a list of what parents are complaining about as it relates to being under emergency financial management. Some of these complaints have been reported to EMF Robert Bobb. Other complaints have not been reported because some parents feel that their complaints are repeatedly disregarded.

Detroit EFM Robert Bobb

 They often say,  “What’s the use in calling Robert Bobb? We keep complaining and nothing happens.” Some of these complaints were reported to news reporters, but the stories weren’t published in the papers, for whatever reason. Some of the complaints were even sent to advocates and legislators in Lansing.

Many parents feel that there is a major lack of communication from administration to parent, school to school, parent to parent, and parent group to parent group, including whatever is being reported or not reported by local news sources to the public… Basically, parents feel they aren’t being told about anything concerning changes in Federal and State laws that removed consent from IEP’s (individual education plans), and, other forms concerning their special needs children, and, the stories that illustrate their panic, distress, stress, and frustration are not being told or they are reported in a slanted way.

Today’s entry is not about sensationalism. This blog entry is about fall-out and fear…the stressful experiences of parents and special needs students.  I was asked to write this entry by concerned parents, many of whom are afraid to step forward and be identified.  I consider their request timely because as of yesterday, I received the following info from an advocate (that was distributed in September through October by other advocates). If you click on the links from the Michigan Department of Education- Office of Special Education, you can download the NEW AND REVISED forms to your desktop:

_________________________________
What you are about to read are some of the things that happens to special needs/disabled children and non-English speaking parents and children when public education in Detroit is being destroyed during the ‘takeover” or “downsizing” of the schools and the city.  Many special needs students are labeled as failures and discriminated against. Certified special ed teachers and caring support staff are fired, resource support for children with Autism, ADD, Speech, Brain injuries, and severe disabilities are canceled, and transition adults due to compliance issues are either not admitted or placed into vocational training or forced into a curriculum where they sit all day to do “paperwork”… not receiving hands on training.

If you have had an experience like these, please feel free to add your experience or concerns by writing in the “Comments” section. You may join this blog and advocates will forward you important information to assist you. If you want to remain anonymous, just go to the sidebar in this blog and find an advocacy group that can assist you.

The following complaints were reported to various advocates of special needs children and their parents between September 2010 to the present time.

Due to parents being targeted and fear within the district, parents do not want to be identified. Some parents feel that these violations are taking place because of major firings of staff, teachers, personnel, counselors, bi-lingual personnel in schools, transportation and safety departments. Certain parents that serve on a special ed parents’ committee have also been targeted due to complaints concerning their child or children. Many parents feel that ALL teachers, principals, staff, resource support staff, personnel, and the current Detroit Public Schools Board are not to blame for what has been out of compliance for the past two years.

Parental Consent has been removed from IEP’s after the Initial IEP. Some parents feel that just because you remove the Parent Consent sign off line and the boxes where parents can check off whether they agree or disagree with the IEP, that the removal of the signature of the parent DOES NOT REMOVE THE LAWS OR THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS AND PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS THAT PROTECT THEM AND THEIR CHILDREN. LAWS AND PROTECTIONS INCLUDE IDEA, 504, CIVIL RIGHTS, AMERICAN DISABILITIES ACT, PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS FOR PARENTS AND MENTAL HEALTH RECIPIENT RIGHTS.

I. TRANSPORTATION ISSUES THAT PLACE CHILDREN IN HARMS WAY AND CREATES SAFETY ISSUES

Special ed children have special transportation needs

1. Special needs children being dropped off at different schools that parents did not enroll them in. This caused panic among parents that tried to find their children.
2. Special needs children were still sitting at home waiting for transportation to pick them up as late as October.
3. Special needs students dropped off “at nearest corner” instead of “curb to curb” or “door to door” which means pick up from home to school and return from school to home.
4. IEP transportation instructions are being changed to “pick up” and drop off at nearest corner” which poses safety issues for all special needs/disabled children. 

Questions that were asked by an elder parent: “If I am on a walker or wheelchair, disabled myself, and my child is in a wheelchair, is the school, or city or state going to send me someone to help me and my child through the snow to the nearest corner?” What if the bus is late? Why do we have to stand on a corner in the middle of winter running the risk of getting ill?” Why is cab service for disabled kids cancelled?”

5. Parent reported staff not securing wheelchair bound child properly for transport. Bus attendant not securing child properly at all.  ADA violation, IDEA violation, 504 violation
6. Bus attendant and/or driver inappropriately and illegally questioning special needs child about address and illegally, without verifying with parent or giving notification,  changed student’s transportation instructions, changed parent and child address, and changed phone number to a non working phone number. All changes are violations of IEP, ADA, IDEA, 504 and Privacy
7. No Bi-lingual translators on buses or in Transportation or information in other languages to help non-English speaking parents locate or find their children when buses are late or student does not arrive at home.
8. No bus personnel on buses that are trained sign language for the deaf and hearing impaired.

Bilingual staff needed

II. BI-LINGUAL ISSUES

a.  No Bi-lingual staff at Welcome Center, Placement office, Transportation, Security or schools to assist with enrollment or placement in Special education classes or programs, or to assist in emergency situations for non-English speaking Spanish, Arab, Hindi, Bengali, or Hmong populations  (Discrimination, Civil Rights)
III. UNSAFE SCHOOL BUILDINGS, CLASSROOMS AND
TRANSFER OF STUDENTS WITHOUT PARENTS BEING NOTIFIED IN A TIMELY MANNER (IEP Violations, Prior Written Notice procedures violated: IDEA, ADA, 504 CIVIL RIGHTS)

The Spanish speaking population reports:
a. No Bi-lingual staff at schools to assist non-English speakers with enrollment process.
b. New security team harassing special needs students at a high school.
c. Under the imposed “Inclusion” model. Students transferred from one Academy to a High School without giving Prior Written Notice or notification in a timely manner. Parents did not understand why students were moved without their consent. Some could not find their children until they could get info from a Spanish speaking student. (IEP, Prior Written Notice violation)

Rats and mice infest some special ed facilities

2. Parents of special needs students saw mice and/or rats and reported infestation in a school that already has ADA violations on it.  Parents and students concerned about rat or mice contamination in food that is served to students. Parents and students are expected to “bear with” the fact that nothing will be done to fix the school until students are moved to a school that is being refurbished. Violations include: mice in classrooms, broken glass in a door, 16 doors that need repair, holding students back from being placed in vocational programs like commercial foods because of kitchen violations.

Parents are repeatedly told to “Call Robert Bobb.” Parents have been told that “nothing can be done until construction on the refurbished building is completed.” Parents repeatedly called facilities department until they sent staff to “put down more traps.”

One of the questions from parents is: WHY ARE OTHER GENERAL ED STUDENTS GETTING NEW SCHOOLS OR MOVED INTO REFURBISHED SCHOOLS QUICKLY AND OUR SPECIAL NEEDS /DISABLED STUDENTS EXPECTED TO BE IN A RAT INFESTED SCHOOL?  Parents report that special needs/disabled students are illegally withheld from being placed in hands-on training and vocational programs for up to two years while construction is taking place on the re-furbished school that will not be ready until February? or March? or June? or September? 2011.

Teachers and other staff needed

IV. DUE TO PERSONNEL / TEACHER  FIRINGS and INCLUSION: NOT ENOUGH CERTIFIED TEACHERS AND RESOURCE STAFF, RESOURCES FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN ARE BEING CANCELLED.
1. Parent reported their school had to wait two months to get certified Special Ed Teachers
2. Under the “Inclusion” or General Ed model, special needs children are placed in overcrowded class rooms. Parents feel that overcrowding is a safety issue.
3. Parents reported student had speech therapy canceled. Some parents were told “Your child talks better than the other ones” as a reason to cancel speech therapy.
4. Parents reported that students’ resources are being canceled because they “Plateaued out” or “They have gone as far as they can go with this disability” or “They have reached the highest limit they can go”
5. Non Certified assistants are reported as running classes instead of teachers.
6. Parents feel that there is general attitude and air throughout the district that there is a discriminatory “lumping together or dumping” of all special needs/disabled students into “inclusive” or general ed classes without regard to the individuality of the student or consideration of their single or multiple disability.

While some special needs children were recently reported that they like inclusive classes, most special needs children are the subject of bullying, teasing, and harassment. Many children with severe disabilities or multi-disabilities are in specialized classes and cannot be mainstreamed.

Some parents feel that their special needs children may not be able to pass new charter school curriculum standards and fear that if they don’t meet AYP (annual yearly progress) the students will be further stigmatized and labeled as failures in schools labeled as failures, and dumped into overcrowded classrooms instead of being considered as being an “excellent or gifted students in an Excellent School” that is given the opportunity to have a classroom with fewer students and more individual attention from teachers.

Some parents feel that the current model of education is treating all special needs children exactly the same as if they have exactly the same learning or physical challenges, without consideration to the multitude and combination of educational challenges and needs that have to be addressed.

Many parents of special needs children are not shown respect. They are either treated and talked to badly or targeted by certain school personnel to “make their lives hell” when they complain or try to get services or IEP’s completed.

Scared student

One parent reported that in the past month, due to complaints about a school not scheduling IEP in a timely fashion, and, the IEP being late, staff A. TRIED TO CONDUCT AN IEP WITHOUT HER BEING PRESENT WITH JUST THE DAUGHTER, and B. LIED TO THE DAUGHTER AND TOLD HER THAT HER MOTHER CANCELED THE IEP WHEN THE MOTHER WAS IN THE PARKING LOT, and, C. THIS WEEK THEY CONVENED AN IEP WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE (AT THE LAST MINUTE) WHILE THE PARENT WAS WAITING FOR RESPONSE TO A MEDIATION REQUEST BECAUSE THE IEP WAS CONTINUALLY DELAYED OR SCHEDULED AT THE LAST MINUTE.  AT ONE IEP, THEY TRIED TO GET THE STUDENT TO SIGN THE PAPER WITHOUT HER MOTHER PRESENT.

Another parent reported that her special needs child is repeatedly harassed at school by “certain staff”. “Certain staff” appears to be picking on the student and stockpiling what can be construed as behavior issues that could lead to the student being expelled. This week the parent reported that the special needs student was pushed by a staff member and was injured. Case is being investigated.
…End of complaints…

The complaints you have just read came from parents who wish to remain anonymous. One of the pointst of the parents asking me to post them was to let other parents know what is going on in Detroit in hope that more parents will discuss and/or step forward with their issues. There are many people here in Detroit who would love to hear from parents in other cities just for moral support or to hear a kind word…and would love to hear from parents of special needs children in New Orleans, since Detroit is often compared with New Orleans.

In an effort to inform parents of special needs/disabled students of changes with IEP forms, other advocates and myself are scheduling workshops. On December 14, 2010 I will be at Detroit Transition Center West with parents of the East and West vocational schools for adult special needs transition students (aged 20-26) at 10:00 a.m. to discuss the changes with the IEP form, and, new forms that parents should know about. The school is located at 4800 Collingwood Street  Detroit, MI 48204-1418  between Yellowstone and Cascade Streets.

Thank you for your time, Aurora Harris

Judge Wendy Baxter’s Opinion & Order: Detroit Public Schools, Robert Bobb & Control of Academics

By Aurora Harris

http://detroitparentswithspecialedstudents.blogspot.com/

On December 6, 2010, regarding the case of the Detroit Board of Education vs Robert Bobb, Emergency Financial Manager for Detroit Public Schools, Case No. 09-020160 AW, Honorable Judge Wendy Baxter of the Circuit Court of the County of Wayne, ruled in favor of the Detroit Board of Education. A few days ago, I posted that I would post the legal document on this blog. However, due to the size of the document (over 60 pages long), I found that I couldn’t post it. Therefore, if anyone would like a copy of the case please send an email to me at aurora917@gmail.com

With regard to the state of education in Detroit, my particular focus as a parent and advocate of an autistic person has been to bring to the forefront of discussions, whether they be at community, local and state, or academic levels, is the voice of parents with special needs/disabled children and transition adults in vocational schools.

Idil Abdul with her autistic son Ayub Abdi, 5

From late August through October 8, 2010, I was a member of the Detroit Public Schools Academic Transition Team with two other parents of children with special needs, and, members of the community (parents, educators, public education supporters, reform supporters, charter school supporters). During those two and a half months, the concerns and issues of parents with special needs children in the Detroit Public Schools were brought to the discussion of education during the analysis of the DPS District Plans of former Superintendent Theresa Gueyser and the Excellent Schools reform plan of EMF Robert Bobb for the purpose of making recommendations to the Board and the new Superintendent.

During that time, if it had not been for the three of us parents with special needs children…Special Education, the certified special education teachers, and special needs students K-12, and transition students (aged 20-26) in Detroit’s only two adult vocational schools for disabled adults would not have been heard. Continue reading →