The efforts of the citizens of Detroit won a victory after four weeks of making public comment opposing Mayoral Control of the Detroit Public Schools! The persistence and passion of the citizens made it clear that we DO NOT INTEND TO VOTE TO GIVE OUR RIGHTS AWAY BY ELIMINATING AN ELECTED SCHOOL BOARD.
We know that we must work collectively to strengthen all aspects of DPS including an aggressive curriculum to include strong math and science, language and reading components; as well creating a code of standards for future DPS board candidates. We also believe that we must look into the possibly of having a paid board.
Opponents of Mayoral Control of DPS filled the council chambers while a handful of the Detroit Parent Network supporters resided in the overflow auditorium. Councilman Gary Brown's defeated resolution was supported by Councilpersons Saunteel Jenkins, Charles Pugh and of course Brown! Councilpersons Joann Watson, Ken Cockrel, James Tate, Brenda Jones, Andre Spivey and Kwame Kenyatta voted against the Mayoral Takeover measure. To the councilpersons who were on the right side of this very important issue, we thank you for standing up for the children and parents of Detroit.
See the blog's sidebar on the right for the new NAACP report on education. Click on "Head Office of NAACP Agrees We Should Fight For Free Public Education." Wait a few seconds and the PDF report called "Framework for Providing All Students and Opportunity to Learn through Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act" was created by Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP), NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., National Council for Educating Black Children, National Urban League, Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Schott Foundation for Public Education.
http://naacp.3cdn.net/9b2fd98be3694cb716_2xm6btgji.pdf
More to come later! Time to rest and celebrate right now!
Thanks for this blog, we really needed something like this.
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