The Judge Slams The Sham

Here we go again.

You know the drill.

Use the power of the press to marginalize and minimize legitimate concerns of people of color.

And yes, I'm going there.

 U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala saw through the ruse,  and dropped the hammer on HCS board member Laurie McCaulley's  little "community conversations" masquerading as "a citizens workshop on unitary status" planned for Monday night.

Things in court grew tense as Haikala talked about a "citizens' workshop" that board member Laurie McCaulley has planned for Monday night at Butler High School. McCaulley earlier this week told AL.com that she had decided to host the event to help establish a "template" of the community's wishes for Superintendent Casey Wardynski to refer to during desegregation negotiations with the Justice Department.
In a scathing 107-page opinion she issued June 30, Haikala criticized the school board for a lack of communication with the public about its plans for redrawing school zone lines.
"These sorts of conversations at this juncture could cause problems down the line," Haikala said.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for  AL.com sports/opinion writer Mark McCarter, who once again took it upon himself to be a crusader for the status quo, and bash local NAACP President Alice Sams for saying she planned to attend, but other black leaders planned to boycott the sham, I mean, event.

"But to those who would cavalierly dismiss an opportunity like this to be heard, don't be surprised when people stop listening to you everywhere."

So let me see if I have this right (pun intended),  if the black leaders boycott the event, white people will  stop listening to them?  Sounds like a veiled threat and some racial code words to me.

Psst Mark McCarter!  White folks listening to black folk sound oxymoronic (sic).  Didn't you get the memo?  They certainly didn't listen to black elected officials and community leaders about the Johnson High School name change.  They certainly didn't listen to the J.O.Johnson Alumni Association's petition and march against the name change . They aren't listening to the valid concerns some people have about locating the new north high school less than half a mile from an active rock quarry , without conducting a health risk assessment.  

The education system in our city remains an area of great racial divide. The Huntsville City Schools have gone from an era of being ineptly managed to heavy handed leadership. By its nature, tough decisions that won't sit well with everyone must be made. It's a lightning rod for people with an agenda, often people who have no children involved.

Now where have I heard that Huntsville City Schools were ineptly managed under the former superintendent, and it's a lightning rod for people who have no children involved?  Oh I know.... right wing radio host Dale Jackson, Superintendent Casey Wardynski,  and Mayor Tommy Battle,  people who have no children involved.

The education system in our city remains an area of great racial divide by design,  hopefully we are coming to the end of an era, the tough decisions will be made, and Huntsville City Schools will be a shining example for others to follow again. 

I sure do miss the good old days when the media kept public officials from lying to us instead of enabling them to lie to us.

 Can you hear us now?

Huntsville City Schools character education words for May; cheerfulness, fairness, and kindness, Oh My!

NAACP President Alice Sams speaks for the NAACP Coalition as she addresses the Huntsville City Schools crisis at a press conference in front of the Annie C. Merts Center February 15,2011.

Superintendent Dr. Casey Wardynski is doing the job he was hired to do.

Casey you have to break the mold and prove you're not afraid of minorities, democrats, liberals, aclu (sic) types and the entire entitlement crowd! Do that, and you'll be doing the job you were hired to do! Oh yeah, not to mention striking down all racial transfers. And that includes allowing not allowing whites to racially transfer either. If you don't like where your child goes to school, move to where they can be zoned into a school of your preference, that's what I had to do!

If there is anything a certain segment of the Huntsville community despises more than  being under a court ordered desegregation plan it's them there  Majority to Minority transfers.

To enhance desegregation, the Huntsville City school district permits a student to transfer from a school where his/her race is in a majority to a school where his/her race is in a minority if space is available. This is called a Majority to Minority transfer.

There is the perception of some (not to confused with all) south Huntsville parents and officials, black students from north Huntsville will lower the standardized test scores at their neighborhood schools, thereby lowering their property values.  The part about test scores lowering property values is true.  For verification all you have to do is compare north vs south Huntsville property values. While parents worry about property values, south Huntsville principals worry white  students will flee when/if black enrollment increases.

It's all about race, income, and geography. 

At poor schools, test scores are lower. "That does not mean these kids are dumber," said Dr. Mary Ruth Yates, Huntsville's assistant superintendent.Achievement tests measure what a child has already learned, not how much a child can learn. Some kids receive less teaching at home, Yates said. They reach school less prepared to learn.What they don't learn often puts limits on what they can eventually earn."If we close the achievement gap, then you have equal opportunity to get jobs, to buy property," she said.School leaders shouldn't give up on integration, Yates said, or the cycle on inequalities will continue."As long as we have Grissom and Johnson," she said, "we can't really say we've done all we can do."

"If we close the achievement gap,then you have equal opportunity to get jobs,to buy property."  Instead of focusing on solutions this board would rather focus on ways to strike down all racial transfers and trap disadvantaged students in the schools they fail to serve.

Using the logic of the Huntsville City Board of Education, University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban should only use his youngest, most inexperienced players when his team plays a Top Ten opponent.
 Anyone who pays attention to education knows that the most persistently poor-performing schools are those in impoverished neighborhoods.  For example, there are nine schools in the Huntsville system where more than 90 percent of students receive free-reduced lunches.  According to an analysis by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, none of these schools have reading and math scores where all grades (three through eight) are equal to or above state average.

After patting themselves on the back and taking credit for a federally funded summer feeding program  at last nights Work Session, the superintendent recommended the board approve a Revision of Policy 6.3.1 a- Majority to Minority Transfer.

Per  the Huntsville City Schools website:   The majority to minority transfer window, originally scheduled for May 1-May 31 has been postponed.  The new application window date will be communicated by Student Support Services.  Note, it doesn't say when or how this information will be communicated by SSS.  My guess is they are waiting to see if the revision will be approved.

Students will be granted Majority to Minority transfers through a lottery system when there are more requests for Majority to Minority transfers than space available at the requested school.

There are no specifics as to how said lottery will work,  but it will be done via computer, as well as the initial application for the transfer.  So, instead of parents being awarded a transfer based on first come (date) first served basis with a paper trail,  a computer program will perform this function.  Usually when there is a change in policy it's because of complaints or problems with the implementation. When asked why the policy was changing the superintendent said it was to keep parents from having to come the Merts Center and stand in line, or something to that effect.  To my knowledge parents aren't complaining about coming down standing in line at the Merts center, they are complaining because their transfers are being denied, and they aren't being notified until just before school starts when it's too late to appeal or make other arrangements. This new digital process sounds like it's going to make it harder for parents to apply for, and be granted, a majority to minority transfers, not to mention the lack of transparency.

What parents are complaining about is not being allowed to speak at school board meetings, but I don't see them changing the policy that  says all questions have to be written down and read by the Director of Community Engagement.  But I digress.

"What we want" is equal access to a quality public education for all children, regardless of their race, address, or class.  If all schools were created equal there would be no need or demand for majority/minority transfers to enhance desegregation.   Para quoting the late, great, James Brown, we don't want nobody to give us nothing,  stop standing in the school house door so we can get it ourselves.