"Segregation Today. Segregation Tomorrow. Segregation Forever."

The "Southern Strategy" never gets old h/t Field Negro 

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat...if Charter Schools provided options for poor/black/brown children, it would NOT be a top priority for Alabama republicans.   Charter Schools are the  vehicle republicans drive on the road to privatized  public education.  Although Charter Schools are funded with tax dollars, Charter Schools don't have to accept ALL children, regardless of race, income, gender, disability, or athletic ability.They can pick and choose the cream of the crop and leave the rest behind. 

Alabama republicans don't care about educating  poor, black or brown children today,  they won't care about them tomorrow, or in the near future.  IMHO, republicans consider poor, black and brown children inferior beings who don't deserve access to a quality public education.  If poor, black and brown children have access to a quality education they might  have a future outside of the, snark  free labor market,  the new Jim Crow.

Former Alabama  Governor George C. Wallace may have had a death bed conversion, but today's republicans still long for the promise of  Segregation today.  Segregation tomorrow.  Segregation forever via Charter Schools  because it is the only way they can continue to ignore the United States Supreme Court.

Today's Must Reads

Charter Schools promoting segregation, studies say

Study: Charter Schools Increasing Racial Segregation in classrooms  -republicans are anti same sex marriage but pro single sex schools,   against an education lottery before they were for an education lottery.

Go figure.

The problem black folks still live with

The problem we all live with — by Norman Rockwell (1894–1978), depicting an incident in the American Civil Rights struggle of the early 1960s, when Ruby Bridges entered first grade on the first day of court-ordered desegregation of New Orleans, Louisiana, public schools (November 14, 1960). Originally published in Look magazine.
The painting is currently displayed in the West Wing of the White House, just outside President Obama's Oval Office.


Unfortunately for black students living in Huntsville, AL, aka The Rocket City, the public school system has been hijacked by a group of people who believe black students don't deserve to have equal access to a quality education because they are... well black. According to them black students either can't learn or don't want to learn and it's all their parents fault for not teaching them how to act like white students, or, because of unfairness in life.

The school system has been co-opted by a group of people who care more about their property values than about all children having equal access to a quality education. The status quo created the best public school system their tax dollars would buy themselves, and the worse public school system their tax dollars couldn't buy for everybody else.

Huntsville integrated it's public school system without armed guards in 1963. From that time until the late 80's Huntsville City Schools were fully integrated. All the schools were considered "good schools" and all the children were learning. First came white flight. Then came black flight. To the detriment of black, brown and poor children.

How did this group of people take over the school system? By electing people who shared their point of view to serve on the School Board, the city council, the county commission, the Mayor, State Senators, State Legislators and United States Congressmen/women by being politically involved.

Parental Involvement is the key. I don't just mean attending PTSA meetings or attending Parent Teacher Conferences, do that too, but become POLITICALLY INVOLVED. The POLITICALLY INVOLVED Parents gets the worm.
Gone are the days when all parents and guardians had to do to ensure their student had access to a quality education was work and pay taxes. Gone are the days when all parents had to do was go to PTSA meetings and Parent Teacher Conferences. Gone are the days when all parents had to was provide students with food, clothing, shelter and school supplies send them off to school and they would learn something.

It is imperative parents be politically involved because if they are not, school administrators and teachers think they don't care about their student. And if they think you don't care, they darn sure won't and don't care.

I am really concerned about the future of public education in Huntsville for black/brown and poor students. I fear they are going to end up being uneducated and miss educated. I fear they will end up being the new slave labor because those in power believe that is what they deserve. I fear, ssegregation today,segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,is here to stay.

Stay tuned for some solutions to the problem black folks still live with.

The sad, sorry, state of public education in Huntsville, Alabama continues

Readers who have been keeping up with the saga of the Huntsville City School system are aware the previous Superintendent's contract was not renewed (which is a polite way of saying she was fired), the former State School Superintendent was hired as a consultant , and B.W.P & Associates was hired to conduct the search for the new Superintendent.

Well, last night, without fanfare, but lots of speculation and rumors , B.W.P & Associates presented the names of seven candidates to be Huntsville’s next superintendent of education. H/T Ben at Flashpoint.

Before I give my critique/analysis of the finalist, let's recap the current state of public education in Huntsville. The United States Department of Justice told HCS don't even think about being released from the desegregation order because the schools were still segregated.

The District’s 2007-2008 overall student enrollment was 43.1% black and 48.7% white. However, the majority of the District’s 47 schools were racially identifiable black or white due to the composition of their respective student bodies.

Here is the *ahem* rationale for the segregation

The DoJ can’t force people to live where they don’t want to live (yet), so it is basically saying that either Huntsville must engage in massive busing or… engage in massive busing.

In addition,the prevailing attitude among the status quo is African American/Hispanic/low income students don't want to learn, have a lower IQ because they are black/brown, their parents aren't involved (what ever that means) or, the racial disparities are caused by unfairness in life.

Top it off with the local branch of the NAACP and other African Community Leaders saying they are sick and tired of black/brown/poor children getting the shaft and Huntsville City Schools ignoring the United States Supreme Court.

Oh, and did I mention the school system is in debt to the tune of $2o Million Dollarrs which caused a RIF (Reduction in Force) and three Principals have filed suit against the School Board and the former Superintendent?

Why anyone would want this job is a mystery to me. After a careful analysis of the candidates selected by B.W.P. and Associates I choose NONE OF THE ABOVE. The School Board either needs to get a refund or send B.W.P. back to the drawing board.

I like the Florence County S.C. Board of Trustees concept

The Florence County School District Three Board of Trustees is comprised of 9 members from seven voting districts. Each board members is elected to serve a three-year term. Each year, three trustee seats are up for election.

The board of trustees normally meets on the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. A list of meeting dates and locations as well as meeting agendas have been posted to the website. Special meetings are scheduled as needed.

The board is charged with policy making, planning, goal setting, providing school buildings, and adopting an annual budget to finance instructional programs and services. Trustees must also be familiar with important legal decisions as well as state and national legislation and regulations.

Trustees do not receive a salary for their service to the district, but do receive a per Diem of $49 per month.

While some would rather concentrate on Dr. King's race, I mean controversial – mishandled rape charge plus many other disappointments,
he is the only candidate with a track record and a proven plan to improve student achievement.

Muncie Community Schools administrators, elementary principals, and elementary teachers have been successful in implementing, maintaining, and studying the student data results outlined in the “8-Step Process” now utilized in each of our nine elementary schools. Through a means of studying data derived from local assessments, our educators have provided intervention and support designed to improve student performance on the state exam.

Because our Spring 2010 ISTEP+ test scores showed significant improvement, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) recognized MCS last Fall for our successful implementation of the 8-Step Process in each of our elementary schools. We anticipate the Spring 2011 ISTEP+ test results will reveal continued improvement.

Based on our successful performance at the elementary level, the IDOE recently provided us the opportunity to pilot the process at the secondary level this Fall. Central High School administrators and teachers received training in the 8-Step Process March 14-18 in Indianapolis.

Muncie Community Schools is excited about the significant gains demonstrated by our elementary students using the 8-Step Process. The Process is composed of eight focal points: 1) Data Disaggregation, 2) Curriculum Timeline, 3) Instructional Focus, 4) Assessment, 5) Tutorials/Remediation, 6) Enrichment, 7) Maintenance, 8) and Monitor. We look forward to the full implementation of the 8-Step Process in our elementary schools and to working with the IDOE to pilot the process at Central High School this Fall.

E. Casey Wardynski has NO Educational background or experience. He would be better suited as Comptroller not the Instructional Leader.

For the past 15 years, Wardynski has provided the Secretary of the Army and senior Army leaders with strategic advice and program management to more effectively convert tens of billions of dollars of fiscal resources into new programs that develop a more capable Army workforce. He has also been responsible for all financial aspects of major innovations such as the $150 million Army Game Project, an online career development exploration game, which gained national recognition from Harvard University and the Council for Excellence in Government.

What Mom said;

It doesn’t seem to matter what I do to help the schools, what I say, etc. I have no power to change anything anyway and it doesn’t look the school board is going to change any time soon. I mean, didn’t they get us into this whole mess to begin with and now we are trusting them to make decisions to fix it??
How could they have NOT known they were spending millions beyond the amount they had to spend??? When they said “sure, let’s sign that. We’ll spend a few million on that project”, couldn’t they see that there were no millions for them to spend?? I just don’t get it. And now the solution is to lower the salaries of the teachers so we can pay it back? Now that’s a great idea: let’s make sure we destroy the moral of the teachers we have left in the system.
And these are the people choosing the next superintendent? Why on earth should I expect anything to change for the good?

I hate to sound cliche', but we have to be the change we are waiting for. The School Board works for us, not the other way around. If we aren't happy with the candidates it is our duty and our right to let them know. Education is the HOPE of the Republican. No Education. No Hope.

The DoJ to Huntsville City Schools-"Don't even think about it."

For some reason, the Huntsville City School Board of Education wants the school district released from a court order to desegregate even though the school district is segregated. The Department of Justice told them not to even think about being released from the federal court order.

The District’s 2007-2008 overall student enrollment was 43.1% black and 48.7% white. However, the majority of the District’s 47 schools were racially identifiable black or white due to the composition of their respective student bodies.

Here is the *ahem* rationale for the segregation

The DoJ can’t force people to live where they don’t want to live (yet), so it is basically saying that either Huntsville must engage in massive busing or… engage in massive busing.

The DoJ can't force people to live where they don't want to live, but the HCS can force them to send their children to school based on where they live. In most cases it's not where parents want to live, it's where parents can afford to live. Affluent parents have access to the best public schools their tax dollars can buy. Disadvantaged parents have access to the worst public schools their tax dollars can buy.

Why should parents be forced by the school system to send their children to failing public schools? Remember the Ohio parent who was convicted of sending her children to a school outside of her district?

American educational apartheid dictates that schools in poorer neighborhoods are of significantly less quality than other schools. The racial divisions within American schools are nothing less than a blatant and consistent human rights violation and should certainly be treated as such.

Blogger Ben at Flashpoint says;

The magnet schools that were supposed to lure white students to north Huntsville have been a colossal failure as a tool of integration, so it’s hard to see how else the system could otherwise meet this requirement.

Well, that's not quite true. The magnet schools did lure white students to north Huntsville, and far from being a colossal failure, they are a colossal success. They are racially balanced (thanks to busing) and have high test scores. The problem is there are no magnet schools located in south Huntsville to lure black students.

One thing is clear, Huntsville will not be released from the federal court order unless and until they reach a unitary status. My recommendation is they look at other systems who have achieved unitary status as a model.

The current school system is the result of a 1976 merger between the previous (historically largely white) Wake County school system and the former (historically largely minority) Raleigh City schools. The merger was proposed initially by business leaders in the early 1970s out of concerns that continued "white flight" from Raleigh's inner-city schools would negatively impact the county's overall economy. Political and educational leaders also hoped that merging the two systems would ease court-mandated desegregation. The proposal proved initially unpopular with residents, however, who rejected it by a 3-1 margin in a non-binding referendum in 1973. School and business leaders instead convinced the North Carolina General Assembly to force the merger.[2]

The district since has become notable for its integration efforts. Schools in the system are today integrated based on the income levels reported by families on applications for federally subsidized school lunches, with the goal of having a maximum ratio of 40% low-income students at any one school. Consequently, thousands of suburban students are bused to magnet schools in poorer areas—and likewise, low-income students to suburban schools—to help maintain this income balance.

The neighborhood school concept not only enables segregation but it affects property values. Houses cost $40-50,000 dollars more in south Huntsville because property values are tied to the academic success (or failure) of the schools. Eliminating the neighborhood school concept and instituting public school choice would not only integrate the school district but equalize property values. Instead of attending the nearest schools, parents and students could choose to attend schools based on their interest (i.e. magnet schools).

I repeat;

As long as the quality of public education in Huntsville is based on parental income and property values there is no hope for the Huntsville City Schools.


As long as those in positions of power believe it’s a silly, unrealistic, line that every school should be as good as Grissom, there is no hope for Huntsville City Schools.

As long as those in positions of power believe them uppity coloreds and sneaky Mexicans would receive an education only white, god-fearing, clean, and law-abiding children deserve, there is no hope for the Huntsville City Schools.

As long as black parents aren't politically involved to the same extent as white parents there is no hope for the Huntsville City Schools.

I don't care how many Superintendents, clueless consultants and school boards are hired and fired, there is no hope for the Huntsville City Schools as long as long as people with racist beliefs have the power to exercise racism.

One would think a school system whose motto is Education is the Hope of the Republic would make an effort to educate ALL students regardless of race, gender, sex or address.

The sad sorry state of the Huntsville City School System and Alabama public schools in general

If you're thinking of moving to Huntsville, or the State of Alabama, I hope you don't have any k-12 school children. If you are not affluent enough to live in a neighborhood with the best public schools your tax dollars can buy, or afford to send your student to private schools, your children are tough out of luck, thanks to the sad, sorry state of separate and unequal education in Alabama.  Fifty years after Brown v. Board ordered schools to integrate Alabama is still the state of segregation today, segregation tomorrow, and it looks like segregation forever.

I want to assure every child that this State government is not afraid to invest in their future through education, so that they will not be handicapped on every threshold of their lives.

Today I have stood, where once Jefferson Davis stood, and took an oath to my people. It is very appropriate then that from this Cradle of the Confederacy, this very Heart of the Great Anglo-Saxon Southland, that today we sound the drum for freedom as have our generations of forebears before us done, time and time again through history. Let us rise to the call of freedom-loving blood that is in us and send our answer to the tyranny that clanks its chains upon the South. In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny . . . and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever.

In an Opinion piece in the Sunday's Huntsville Times, Huntsville City School Chief Dr. Ann Roy Moore says (paraquoting) don't blame me for the sad, sorry, state of separate and unequal education, blame the people who elected the people who hired and enabled me to maintain the status quo, because we were all sitting around the table together.

For clarity it must also be understood that copies of the monthly financials (Certification of Expenditures) are always included in the regular board meeting agenda packet. A negative ending fund balance (general fund) was reflected in the past five monthly financial reports approved by the Huntsville City Board of Education. Since 1997, prior to each regular board meeting, the superintendent and CFO always meet with the two board members that serve on the Finance-Audit Committee to discuss the report that will be voted on at the upcoming board meeting.

See what I mean? As long as the budgetary goals include paying clueless consultants while laying off teachers, paying support personnel slave wages, building new schools while other schools suffer, not making sure every child in Huntsville has access to a quality public education regardless of their zip code, board members who operate in back rooms and not in public, and hire temporary workers to get around tenure laws I can't, strike that, I won't support your *ahem* budgetary goals.

You see the problem with Huntsville City Schools is they don't realize there is no right (pun intended) way to do the wrong thing. If they weren't hell bent on maintaining a separate and unequal school system they wouldn't be in this mess. It's expensive to operate a dual educational system.

Herbert Wheeler, Huntsville City Schools' chief financial officer, comments, "I can't say with any degree of accuracy that we won't have a reduction in force" (The Huntsville Times, April 7, 2009). Additionally, Craig Pouncey, assistant state superintendent of finance , emphasized (The Huntsville Times July 14, 2010), "When the Legislature understands things that must be done, like transporting kids to school or fixing leaky roofs...schools have to pay for it through local funds. That's what has driven school systems into the ditch." In August, "Wheeler was predicting that the system would be in the red either this month or next" (The Huntsville Times, Aug. 20, 2009). In September, State Superintendent Joe Morton predicted a second year of proration. Superintendent Moore says (The Huntsville Times 9/30/09), "it's likely the system will have to reduce staff."

If you think the democratic majority Alabama state legislature didn't understand the problems facing public school systems , what do you think the newly elected anti public education, red, republican, legislature is going to do? Here's a hint.

Now that the red state, republicans have control of the Alabama government expect a big push for new ideas like Charter Schools with the fake concern about poor, black children being forced to attend them there failing public schools. meababs urges folks to use caution before jumping on the charter school bandwagon and I agree.

So here we are, reducing staff (laying off teachers) while the number of school age children increase all because the Huntsville City School system, and the state of Alabama in general is hell bent on doing the wrong thing. Taxpayers would be willing to support the school system's budget if they saw it benefiting their children and not to maintain the status quo.

The first major RIF in the Huntsville City School system in recent history was implemented this past spring and was done in preparation for starting a movement toward a positive outcome at the end of this fiscal year. If everyone supports the budgetary goals based on projections, staffing and other budgetary strategies, the system's financial status will improve over time.

It will take the concerted effort and the support of all board members along with the superintendent to make this happen.

Good luck with that.

"Cam Newton is part of the sweatshop known as collegiate athletics.

I woke up this morning to hear two male Talking TeeVee Chuckle Heads, one white, one black, cackling that Cam Newton's father Cecil Newton cannot attend the important day in his son's life (Heisman Trophy announcement) because of his alleged/accused involvement in a pay for play scandal. I couldn't tell if they were bragging or complaining, but I'm pretty sure they were bragging Cecil Newton is going to be an absentee father. After all that fits the media-driven stereotype of black men. It's no way Cecil Newton is a caring, involved, loving parent who takes care of and protects his wife and children. Nope, he's out to sell them to the highest bidder because that's just what "they" do.

What I would like to know is what happened to innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and not in the court of public opinion? What if Cecil Newton did nothing wrong? What if the allegations are proven to be false? What if it's all a big, fat lie? Why are African American student-athletes held at a different standard from their white counterparts? You never hear of a pay to play for white student-athletes.

Dr. Boyce Watkins says NCAA Athletics is Racial Segregation at it's finest.

If you were to go to most college campuses around the country and ask them to make an investment in students or faculty, their excuses would start with the economy. They would drone on and on about how little wiggle room they have to make financial investments, primarily because the economic downturn has strained their finances beyond measure.

If you are one of the thousands of black families sending your son or daughter to the NCAA to build their multi-billion dollar coffers, they would tell you that paying the athletes or their families is simply impossible. They would convince you that in spite of the fact that the athletes and their families are the most important part of their revenue-generating process, universities simply cannot afford to share their money. Even if you are homeless and your child can’t buy groceries, you must stand to the side as others earn millions from your child’s athletic labor

Read the rest if you dare. Then tell me why Cecil Newton shouldn't attend the Heisman Trophy announcement because it woujld be a distraction. *snark*