Speaking Out Against The Second Mile offer on Terry Heights Elementary School

Terry Heights Elementary School is pictured in a January file photo. Second Mile Development, a Christian nonprofit, has made the Huntsville school district an offer on the vacant building. (The Huntsville Times)

I have been in a state of shock, shame and disgust since the story broke of Penn State's complicity in covering for a pedophile. It's like rubber necking at the scene of a car accident, I can't stand to watch the news coverage, but I can't not watch the news coverage. Everyday there is some new, disgusting, detail of the cover up of Jerry Sandusky's alleged raping of young boys under the umbrella of Penn State University and The Second Mile Charity.

It was the mention of The Second Mile Charity on MSNBC which got me thinking.....where have I heard that name before....then it hit me...we have a Second Mile non profit right here in Huntsville,AL.

Although the two non-profits are not affiliated in any way they happen to have similar names, organizational structure, and Mission Statements.
Huntsville, AL

Second Mile desires to empower the community where the hopeless can find hope; where children can find love and laughter, where young men and women can look to the future with pride and eager anticipation rather than with fear and dread; where men and women of all ages can discover the depth and the breadth of Christ's love.

The ultimate dream of Second Mile is to bring about, through Christ, reconciliation between all people: the rich and poor, the educated and uneducated, the fortunate and less fortunate.

Pennsylvania

The Second Mile challenges young people to achieve their potential as individuals and community members by providing opportunities for them to develop positive life skills and self-esteem as well as by providing education and support for parents and professionals addressing the needs of youth.

The Huntsville Second Mile is about to enter into an agreement with The Huntsville City School Board, in another step towards privatization of the school system. Once again funneling public money to private entities. Emphasis mine.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- More than two years after shuttering Terry Heights Elementary School, the Huntsville school board appears to have a buyer for the empty building.
Bill McDowell, executive director of Second Mile Development, confirmed Tuesday that the Christian nonprofit has made an offer for the 48,000-square-foot building.
"We're excited about our offer," McDowell said. "We'll be scared and excited if they accept it."
The district seemed to have accepted the offer last week, when approval of the $575,000 contract was placed on the school board's meeting agenda. But the contract was pulled before the meeting.
The reason for the retraction wasn't clear, but Aaron King, transition director for Superintendent Casey Wardynski, said the details were still being negotiated as late as last week.
"It could be that the terms are still not yet finalized," King said Tuesday.
Laurie McCaulley, president of the board, said negotiations ae still ongoing but that the contract should come back to the board for approval soon.
The contract, as written last week, included a payment of $200,000 upon closing and five years of in-kind services that Second Mile would provide to five of the district's schools

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5 years of in-kind services?

The services, valued in the contract at $75,000 a year, would be provided at Ridgecrest, McDonnell, Morris and University Place elementaries and Westlawn Middle.

Uh, why can't the school system and the city of Huntsville provide these services?

McDowell said the nonprofit aims to form a partnership with about a dozen churches and charitable organizations. The partners would, in turn, team with the surrounding neighborhood to determine how the school would be used.
"Everything's on the table that could be done," McDowell said. "The property lends itself to a lot of opportunities."
The possibilities already discussed include an afternoon art program for teens, various sports programs, an urban gardening center, gardening and nutrition classes, a health clinic and more, McDowell said.

I am vehemently opposed to this proposal in light of the crimes surrounding non profits, churches and disadvantaged youth.

Like Bishop Long with his Youth Academy, Sandusky allegedly used his own children's charity program, The Second Mile, which focused on assisting poor, underprivileged kids, many of whom came from single-parent homes and were struggling in school -- to find his prey. Using his money, fame and the lure of access to prized football facilities and games that any young boy could only dream of, Sandusky likely perverted the mission of the charity by making it a breeding ground for his targets.
The motto of the program, originally founded by Sandusky in 1977, is "Providing Children with Help and Hope"; but the gruesome details of the grand jury report released this week reveal something so damning it rivals the actions of notorious Catholic priests engaged in the highest betrayal. As Stuart Scott, anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter, opined last night, "Short of murder, these allegations are as serious as it gets."

To be clear, I'm not saying Second Mile Huntsville has done anythig wrong, or will do anything wrong, I'm just saying if Terry Heights is turned into an after school center it should be a public endeavor, under public control and accountable to the people, not a board of directors. After all, it's our money.

Redeye's Week in Review~edited

If you are not a millionaire you shouldn't be a republican.
Isn't it funny how the republican status quo is using the poor to wage a war against the middle class and to get out of paying their fair share of taxes? There are some republicans who argue the poor should pay the same if not more taxes than the rich, and to ask the rich to pay their fair share is "punishing them for being successful" and, that tax cuts for the rich increase revenues and create jobs. Uh, if that were true the Bush tax cut for the rich wouldn't have resulted in a multi trillion deficit and 22 million jobs lost.

It's getting to the point where it's hard to shovel the gop hypocrisy.
Republicans are pro life and pro war.
They are pro life and anti welfare.
They are pro life and anti public education
They are pro life and pro death penalty.
They are anti government but want to tell you how to live, how to die, who to marry, who you can have sex with, and who to worship.

The ALA GOP is up in arms because the democratic candidate for Attorney General quipped how can anyone be a Christian and a republican. I guess the same way they can not be rich and be a republican. Either they don't know the rich are getting richer and the rest are getting the shaft or they don't care. I don't know which is worse.

The war against public education and public school teachers escalated this week with a full court press in the media.

We are seeing a concerted and organized effort to make the new film "Waiting for Superman" the means of defining the discussion on education. When combined with the corporate sponsorship and interconnections with NBC's Education Nation effort, it is perhaps worthwhile to examine some of the interconnections which are tying all this together.

Let the media tell it, public schools for all should be replaced with charter schools for a few. Public school teachers/unions and tenure laws are the reason public schools are failing. The National Education Association says they don't make the state and federal budgets and that charter schools aren't the cure all, as a matter of fact they are the problem.

Despite the heavy promotion of charter schools in Waiting For Superman, research shows that they are no panacea. (Read the full statement of NEA President Dennis Van Roekel on the movie.) Improving lower-performing schools does not require a silver bullet, but a multi-faceted approach that involves teachers, support staff, administrators, parents, and community members. This holistic approach has yielded results in places like Putnam City West High School in Oklahoma City, where educators have engaged parents and the community to boost the graduation rate of Hispanic students by 70 percent; and Denver, where the teacher-led Math and Science Leadership Academy is taking a collaborative approach that focuses on mentoring and professional development to boost student achievement; and in Las Vegas, where a teacher empowerment program has led to remarkable gains, including at Culley Elementary School, a “high achieving” school where only five years ago, less than a quarter of students were at grade level.

The media is ignoring the elephant (pun intended) in the room. Charter schools' growth promoting segregation.

"We don't want the Race to the Top to become a race to the past," said Gary Orfield, co-director of the Civil Rights Project, alluding to the era of enforced segregation.

Of course if they really wanted to fix the economy they would invest in public education instead of bashing public education.

Last week, the Republicans released their so-called “Pledge to America.” This pledge contained more glossy photos than policy proposals, much like $290,900 taxpayer funded mailers my opponent, Congressman Lance, sent out in August. Their entire promise to America is that they will systematically undo what Democrats have done in Congress during the past two years. No new ideas, no proposals to actually help the millions of Americans struggling everyday.

In America being a macho man and a professional homophobe is big business,

In America being a macho man and a professional homophobe is big business, one that jeopardizes the lives and mental health and wellness of thousands of gays and lesbians. Regardless of whether the allegations against Long are true or not, his prosperity gospel of gay-bashing and robber baron profiteering at the expense of poor black people is another indictment of the moral injustice that happens on "God's" watch.

Is there a Psychiatrist in the House?
The more I read the latest of Glen Beck and Teabagger's insane babblings and what they are about the more I think that they might need to see a good head shrink. And to think they represent those on the right's values and ideals. Scary! Or are Americans that stressed out that they are just not thinking straight these days.

Under the radar, California just took a huge step in ending the drug wars.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Thursday signed into law a bill that decriminalizes the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. The bill reduces simple possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction.

Rham Emmanuel is out Pete Rouse is in as Chief of Staff to President Obama. Let's HOPE it's some change we can believe in. Will Press Secretary Robert Gibbs be next? God I hope so.

Have a great weekend!