RedEye Around #SweetHomeAmeriBAMA

"Listen up! Jockey Boy Restaurant ONLY serves #Pepsi from now on! Got it?" pic.twitter.com/prlkyeX7PG

— Donald J. Trump (@BiglyPrez) April 5, 2017

EYE Never liked #Pepsi

Is downtown Huntsville, home of Mayor Tommy Battle for whites only? EYE report.  You decide.

Update on the "Luv Guv" scandal.  It's not looking too good for the Governor, but then again this is Alabama and he could come out of this smelling like a rose. 

#WarOnBlackWomenAtWork.......  Alabama Style

The buck stops with the State School Board.  Good luck with that.

Why bother having elections?  The white male dominated media has already decided who the next Governor of the great state of Alabama will be.  And they wonder why Alabama is stuck on stupid?

RedEye Out 

How dare #HCSBOE Reps Michelle Watkins And Pam Hill represent the wishes of their con·stit·u·ents

Huntsville City Schools Board of Education Representatives Michelle Watkins left, Pam Hill right

Long Sigh

 Here we go again.    

You know the drill.  

Elected officials who actually represent the wishes of their constituents are told to go along to get along or else the establishment will (as my Daddy used to say)  come down on them like a cow urinating (my word not his) on a flat rock. 

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle issued a statement today to address the letters he sent to two Huntsville school board members, chastising them for their behavior at a recent board meeting.
"Last week, the Huntsville Board of education experienced a particularly contentious meeting, prompting a number of concerned calls to my office," Battle said in the letter, which was sent as an e-newsletter titled "Inspiring Confidence."
"I am concerned by the perception we are giving industry and our children," Battle continued. "City Hall does not attempt to interfere in the management of the City School System; however, as your mayor of this great city, it is my role to promote Huntsville, which means earning the confidence of incoming companies and families to trust our public schools with the education of their children."

On Friday, Battle sent what he called a "personal message" to Huntsville board members Michelle Watkins and Pam Hill. The letters, which were identical, were written on city letterhead, signed by Mayor Tommy Battle, and sent to the two elected officials at the school board office.
The letters said, among other things, that their behavior at the meeting "did not reflect the values we have established in our community."

EYE am still trying to figure out why Mayor Battle chose Women's History Day of all days to chastise two female elected officials for doing their jobs, and EYE have to wonder if he chastised their behavior for political gain. 

Two big-city Alabama mayors, viewed as popular candidates for statewide office someday, found themselves embroiled in local controversies this week.
But political observers in Alabama doubt that either Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle or Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson will face much backlash from their separate issues.
And as one observer noted, the incidences that have been viewed as missteps could turn out to be helpful in pumping up name recognition statewide.
"These two little blips are probably more beneficial than not," said Steve Flowers, a political columnist and commentator based out of Troy. "It gets their name out there. I don't think the average person cares if Tommy Battle got mad at a school board member. It looks like (to them) that he's doing his job."

EYE guess it depends on what the definition of the average person IS because this average person sees a sexist, paternalistic, bully.  

For Battle, an early poll among conservative voters has listed him high on a list of gubernatorial hopefuls. The Alabama Forestry Association, in a poll in August on the 2018 gubernatorial election had Battle trailing only behind former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and current U.S. Senator Luther Strange.

Now if that doesn't scare the bejesus out of you EYE don't know what will.  It also explains why Alabama is stuck on stupid.  Politicians pander to concerned citizens aka conservative voters at the expense of everyone else, if you don't believe me the proof is the al.com anonymous comment section.  

Concerned citizens like this:  Battle was right to chastise those 2 clowns.

Conservative voters like this:  Did you watch the board meeting? They were throwing a fit interrupting everyone about not getting an email that they did receive. Even when other members were trying to simply clarify what was going on they wouldn't let anyone get a full sentence out. It is one thing to decry dirty tricks, it is another to make them up because you aren't getting your way. They even eventually got their way once Wilder was able to get her questions answered. These two women are blatantly disrespectful every board meeting. You can disagree with people and not make a spectacle of yourself. It's no wonder there is (sic) discipline issues in the school if a woman like Pam Hill was teaching these kids for the past 20 years. I feel for any kid subjected to that kind of abuse.

Concerned citizens like this:  No matter what your belief, this was a public official meeting. The behavior demonstrated was embarrassing. Should the mayor have gotten involved? Probably not but shame on the other board members for not trying to put a stop to the childish display between the 2 individuals. If you want a cat fight, wait til after the meeting and meet in an alley.

Conservative voters like this:  Wow. that's a bit of a stretch! Out of the Mayor's letter, you pulled that he wants people to act like they are fixing problems but not actually fix them? The Mayor was very clear... when you are new to politics, you may not realize that the way you act in a meeting means something. Being "passionate" about an issue is great... being in charge of a meeting and losing control... not so much. Meetings have rules to keep people from doing what they did. If all meetings allowed for anyone to start losing their minds, nothing gets done and confidence in the system and in the elected members is eroded. The Mayor speaks for the City and if the City looks like a bunch of out out-of-control political newbies, he should say something. And he did. Good job Mayor Battle.

According to the white male dominated media enabled clueless consultants, Alabama voters are either stuck on stupid or suffer chronic amnesia. 

But Brown, along with Flowers, is doubtful the letter and the reaction to it will have a long-lasting impact.
"He's obviously very visible in the Huntsville media market, mayor for three terms now," said Brown. "If you have a crowded field, someone like that might take their regional base in the Huntsville metro area and do well enough there to acquire enough votes to make runoff."
Said Flowers: "If someone would read on AL.com that Battle had an argument with a school board member, my perception is that he's wanting to do a good job as mayor. It looks like he's doing a good job ... that he's interested in doing a good job as mayor."

Now EYE understand why #SweetHomeAlabama is the most conservative state in the nation. We have got to take our state back from conservative voters and Make Alabama Great  ...EYE won't say "again" because Alabama was never great in the first place.

Until the majority of the people of this state – the average, common workers and poor, impoverished workers – figure out that we’re all getting the shaft from the race-based, elite-aiding policies pushed by our lawmakers, we deserve exactly the job market and poor quality of life that such idiocy produces.
It’s time for a change that only we can bring.
Stop concerning yourself with whether an idea is “liberal” or “conservative.” Stop worrying if it was put forth by a Republican or a Democrat. Or if it’s a policy to aid *whisper* “the blacks.”
Instead, ask this simple question: is it a policy that helps me and people like me.

  Wake up everybody.  It is time to see a new day. It's time to stop electing people who pander to conservative voters.  We can start by seeking out real news sources where we the public can find real facts and not alternative facts.
  
There are more of us than there are of them.

#HCSvsDOJ Desegregation Hearing: "Much Ado about Nothing" #hscboe

Huntsville City Schools March 11, 1963 -March 11, 2015  (Huntsville Times file)

Let's recap:
Eight months ago Federal Judge Madeline Haikala dropped her hammer on the Huntsville City Schools rezoning plan.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala didn't approve the city's plan to redraw school zones.
And she didn't approve the Justice Department's plan.
Instead, she appointed Chief Magistrate Judge John Ott to oversee months of mediation between the two as they examine all aspects of racial disparities across Huntsville City Schools.
She also called for appointment of a Special Master to oversee the court's ongoing fact-finding in the case.

She also dropped her hammer on the Justice Department, but only to say they were being far too lax.

 "From the record, it appears that years of relative calm and inactivity have lulled the government into a habit of checking in only when the district proposes actions that require the government's review. The government should be more proactive. Based on the current record, the Court does not know when inequities in educational programs arose in the district; however, standardized test scores from 10 years ago demonstrate disparate results among racially identifiable schools. Had the government been keeping an eye on that sort of information, it could have brought it to the Court's attention more quickly and enabled the Court and the district to address the issue in a timely fashion. "

In short, Haikala held: "On the record before it, the Court cannot find conclusively that the Board does not operate a dual system."

Fast forward to March 11, 2015 exactly,  52 years to the day after black families first sued to end segregated schooling in Huntsville,  and a hearing about  granting Huntsville City Schools the rare opportunity to have court approved segregation disguised as a "pathway to unitary status", enabled by the Department of Justice.

City Councilman Richard Showers has written a federal judge to complain that the plan to improve racial equity in Huntsville does little to end the racially isolated classrooms on opposite ends of the city.
"It seems the District was successful in pleading their case that it was in the best interest of the schools in North Huntsville to remain as they are and continue the same 'feeder' pattern," wrote Showers. "Failing schools feeding into failing schools."

After months of  secret mediation The United States Department of Justice basically approved Wardynski’s rezoning plan that he developed and implemented entirely without public input.

Huntsville City Schools will agree to anything as long as they can legally operate a dual school system.  In an effort to stop expelling black students the district agreed to rewrite the Student Code of Conduct, implement a Restorative Justice Strategies, develop a Positive School Climate Program, and appoint a Desegregation Advisory Committee.  All of this by a superintendent and school board who who view African American students as natural born gang members, and adopts polices that treat them that way.

All of the above slogans, I mean programs, sound nice but here's the real deal.  African American students will be forced to attend failing schools, illegally renamed after two black astronauts located less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.  Majority to Minority Transfers,  and access to Magnet Schools will be granted to the fortunate few.  The Alternative School is still privatized.

Even If We Win We Lose

So after months and possibly years of litigation over the rezoning plan, what have we won?
The district will still be under the control of the DoJ except now the plan that the DoJ believed would best bring us unification has been rejected.
The DoJ still controls our destiny. Does fighting their plan (even assuming we’ve seen their plan) bring us closer to unification?
Nope. It doesn’t.
The Wardynski Plan is a fool’s errand. We did not have to file it. And the public has had zero input into the plan.
So, after potentially years of litigation and expense, we will have accomplished absolutely nothing, even if we win.
Nothing except the following:

1. Wardynski has shored up support for himself in this town because he’s willing to fight the “evil” federal government.
2. Wardynski has improved his name recognition on a national level.
3. Wardynski has spent a ton of the district’s money that he should be spending on improving education at all of our schools. And of course,
4. We’re still a segregated system.

This is, in the Bard’s wise words, much ado about nothing.

In short, the proposed Consent Order equals Segregation then. Segregation now.  Segregation forever?

For 50 years the legacy of discrimination has been allowed to  exist under the watchful eyes of those who didn't want integration then, and who don't want integration now.  Let's face it, it's all about money, and whose children will have equal access to the public dollars that fund public education.  I challenge these people to start being part of the solution. Everything we do as is first and foremost for our children, not what is best for a political agenda.

#PatelAlabama: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. A tale of tale of two grandfathers. One black. One brown. One American. One Not.

A tale of two elderly men of who were both brutalized by police but treated differently.

 

William Frazier, 80, in an emergency room shows injuries he says were inflicted by Huntsville police

Remember William Frazier,  who filed a brutality claim against the Huntsville Police Department and was arrested after he failed to stop for a pursuing police car for more than three miles, ran a red light, hit a curb and swerved around a stop stick before five officers pulled him from the car and took him to the ground?  This comes to mind in light of the recent take down by a Madison police officer  of the Indian grandfather, Sureshbhai Patel, who was partially paralyzed, after someone called to report a skinny black man in the neighborhood.

Fraziers' crime was being black.
Patel's crime seems to be being mistaken for black.


William Frazier files $8 million claim against the city of Huntsville.
 Sureshbhai Patel files suit against the City of Madison and the Police.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle defends the actions of Huntsville Police officers and blames the victim.
Madison Mayor Troy Trulock continued discussions with local Indian residents, and Alabama Governor Robert Bentley met with India's general consul.

The Huntsville City Attorney said Fraziers' injuries after police encounter are from arrest, not excessive force.
Madison Police fire, arrest officer who badly injured Indian grandfather during sidewalk stop

North Huntsville residents press for changes after elderly driver's police brutality claim

Sureshbhai Patel at Huntsville Hospital

Indian grandfather's injury by Madison Police officers prompts calls for cultural education.

Madison residents are embarrassed,  offended, and defensive by police assault on elderly grandfather, and a member of the local Indian community, started a Go Fund Me account to help raise funds for the Patel family.  

William Frazier was found guilty of attempting to allude police in city court

#PatelAlabama: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. A tale of tale of two grandfathers. One black. One brown. One American. One Not.

Eye Report.

You Decide.

The Devil is in the Al.com comment section, I mean, the details #HsvBoe

 

Superintendent Dr. Casey Wardynski answers questions from the press following Thursday night's Huntsville school board meeting. (The Huntsville Times/Michael Mercier)

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 you want to take the pulse of Huntsville, and find out what's really going on, who the people in positions of power and influence cater and pander to, and how they really feel about an issue, look no further than the comment section of Al.com.

NW needs to stop complaining and start setting a good example for their students. Kids don't learn well if their parents spend evenings at the club and not helping with homework. Learning starts at home. This is what southeast parents have always done. Northwest preachers need to stop the whining.

 Leaders of the ENTITLEMENT generation is what I see in the picture with this story. What a joke !!

And what exactly are Northwest preachers and Leaders of the ENTITLEMENT generation whining about?

"We want our middle schools to offer a curriculum that prepares students for honors and advanced level classes in their high schools. High school students in north Huntsville must be offered all Advancement courses that are offered to students in south Huntsville," Montgomery said.  "We want teachers who are highly qualified, formally trained in their respective content areas and prepared for the reality of teaching in the classroom."
The group also expressed concerns similar to those of the American Civil Liberties Union, questioning the district's social media monitoring system and if it disproportionately punishes students of color. Wardynski told AL.com that students focused on by the program have been more racially balanced and that the program has identified students in every high school that could pose a safety threat.
"He has earned our distrust," Montgomery said.

But, but, the previous superintendent.....

Don't hire a minority, and it's racist. Fire a minority, and it's racist.
Is anyone else confused here? How is a white guy like me supposed to get a job when the minorities will get hired over me and they can't ever get fired? 

Why would anyone hire a superintendent knowing that if it didn't work out and she had to be replaced they would be labeled racist? Just hire a white person and you can fire them when ever you get ready.

Richard Showers is a racist! If you look at the schools in our city that are failing, guess what, they are all in his district! If this were truly about the children and our school system, Showers should be leading the charge demanding a change in school leadership because HIS district is the one that has suffered the most!

I heard him telling some of the pastors last night that Tommy Battle called Ann Roy Moore and asked for her resignation. If he did, GOOD! She and the school system have gone unchecked for far too long.

Put a pipe in it, Richard.

And how does Mayor Tommy Battle respond to calls for the resignation of Casey Wardynski?

The City of Huntsville, The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce and the Huntsville Council of PTAs and the Tennessee Valley BRAC Committee all responded to Wednesday morning's remarks with letters of support praising the district's leadership and its efforts to provide every child with a high quality education.
"Every child must emerge from our schools college or career ready and well-prepared for active and meaningful lives as thoughtful, engaged and productive citizens," Mayor Tommy Battle said in a statement. "We believe our Board of Education and Dr. Wardynski are working to meet that challenge, and we have confidence in the job they are doing for our children."

There you have it, they have confidence in the job Casey Wardynski and the Lame Duck Board of Education are doing on, I mean, for our children.

"Let me make this very clear," board President David Blair said, "this small group is basing their complaints on outdated misinformation. This school board will not ask for Dr. Wardynski's resignation. We in fact will vote on a contract extension at the next board meeting.
For 50 years our school system hasn't performed like it should. Many of these same people who are making inaccurate accusations were the same people neglecting the schools till we started making changes. I challenge these people to start being part of the solution. Everything we do as a school board is first and foremost for our children, not what is best for a political agenda."

Speaking of doing what is best for a political agenda.....

United For Action can't seem to get anything done, including getting a handle on the criminal activity which plagues their own backyards. Seems to me that they are long on talk and short on action. Besides, Wardynski is exactly what Huntsville City Schools needs right now. AND... yesterday's runoff appears to be an additional vote of confidence for Wardynski.
Perhaps they aren't so United after all...

Or perhaps the WARdynski machine conducted a successful palace coup....

Dr. Casey Wardynski, the school superintendent, should be fired or resign, so said the more than two dozen representatives of the North Huntsville Community United for Action.
We'll not be holding our breath for that to happen.

"Let them define themselves, let them reveal who they are. The American public needs to see that."~ Rep. Maxine Waters, D. CA

Eye report.  You decide.

What if the City of Huntsville looked like the Huntsville City Schools system Monday through Friday?

University Place students sit for 2012 kickoff of Mayor Tommy Battle's Book Club. (Huntsville Times file)


This is a follow up to What if Huntsville City Schools looked like downtown Huntsville on a Thursday night.

Yep, young, old, rich, poor, men,women, black/white/brown/red/yellow people of all religions, sexual orientation, and class, had equal access to spend their money at one of the most exciting Thursdays ever in downtown Huntsville.
It looked like One City, One Vision.   
Then I attended the school board work session, which was originally touted as an opportunity for citizens to comment on the desegregation case, and I thought, what if Huntsville City Schools looked like downtown Huntsville on a Thursday evening?  What if all children, regardless of their race, sex, or address, had equal access to the best public education their parents tax dollars could buy?

Justice Department slams Huntsville for creating more segregated educational environments

Today I ask: What if the City of Huntsville looked like the Huntsville City School system Monday through Friday?

What if we had separate exciting Thursdays in downtown Huntsville? 

What if we had separate shopping centers, movie theaters, swimming pools, clubs, hotels, bars and restaurants?

What if had separate public libraries, museums, swimming pools, and parks?

What if we had separate hospitals, police departments, fire departments, and emergency responders?

Oh wait,  been there, done that.

What if all children, regardless of their race, sex, or address, had equal access to the best public education their parents tax dollars could buy?

What a wonderful school district it would be......

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?

Blast from the Past

I am sharing this comment from Mack Lyons I found in this post while doing research for my in depth analysis of the rezoning hearing.   

Al.com commenter Drambui said this on August 19, 2011

"Casey you have to break the mold and prove you're not afraid of minorities, democrats, liberals, aclu 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!"

 Mack Lyons said this in response on August 21, 2011

Casey, if you're reading this, don't do this. You'll only end up with the Department of Justice's foot up your ass behind this, which, when it comes down to it, is effectively promoting the re-segregation of the school system. If you think you're worried about doing the job you were hired to do, imagine how it'll be with those DOJ wingtips traveling up your intestines.

Those guys at AL.com should be glad they have a little Topix-lite they can vent on. It warns everyone else about the attitudes that still linger around the Deep South.

Un Huh.  Very prophetic, only the wingtips traveling up Casey's intestines were high heel pumps worn on the feet of  two 30 year old lawyers working in Washington D.C. At the Justice Department .

In the documents, the DOJ says Huntsville's plan emphasizes racial lines already in the city. It also says that even with major changes in 32 of the 40 schools, it would leave most students in segregated schools.
The court document also claims that under the district's plan, identified African-American schools would lack access to advanced educational material that is easily available to identifiable "white schools."
The most significant change in the district's plan, according to the DOJ's filing, is the closure of Butler High School, a school with a majority of African-American students. However, court documents say that under the district's plan, those students would go to a school with a less diverse population.
"The district's plan falls short of its desegregation obligations," the DOJ said in the documents. The state said they are open to continued discussion with the district.

 To be continued.....

How can the blind lead the blind?

University Place students sit for 2012 kickoff of Mayor Tommy Battle's Book Club. (Huntsville Times file) 

 Blind ambition has lead District 1 School Board member Laurie McCaulley to a deserted island.

 What's happening outside of court? This dispute has tapped into all sorts of local hostilities. Madison County Commissioner Bob Harrison has blasted Superintendent Casey Wardynski for not meeting with black officials. Wardysnki ordered an audit of Harrisons' non-profit. Mayor Tommy Battle and the Chamber of Commerce and the PTA have written letters on behalf of the school board. Black ministers and all the elected black officials, save school board member Laurie McCaulley, have written in support of the Justice Department.

Like the dismissal of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Lawyer Norman J. Chanchkin, the tax payers are over due for another dismissal.

 Plus, she found Chachkin, who lives in New York, was out of touch with sentiments in Huntsville and that the Justice Department has done an adequate job representing broader concerns of black children in Huntsville.

Guess who else is out of touch with the people they are supposed to represent?

 Casey Brown said the decision to do away with J.O. Johnson High School was made in a "back room" and he is starting a petition today calling for the resignation of Laurie McCaulley, who represents the district on the city school board.
Speaking at a rally and march this morning to support keeping the name J.O. Johnson when a new school is built, Brown said McCaulley should resign because she has not properly represented the people of her district.

So much for the legacy of Dr. James I. Dawson and Fletcher Seldon.

During his almost 20 years representing north Huntsville on the city school board, Dawson "was a voice of equality and justice for all," according to the resolution. "Some thought he was abrupt at times, but admitted he had a servant's heart. He was an outspoken champion for diversity. Dr. Dawson once commented: 'If people don't like equality and justice, they can't like me.'" He died in December 2009.
Seldon was the first black person to campaign for and win a seat on the elected city school board in 1971 and served until 1980. He "aggressively worked to better the public school system at both local and state levels through advocating improved policies regarding problems in student discipline, improving teacher capabilities, implementing an effective program in school/community relations, and improving employee personnel policies."

Huntsville City Schools vs. The United States Department of Justice.

 What does Huntsville say? Huntsville says they desegregated two generations ago, people moved around and the courts have held that school boards can't control housing patterns.

But the city does control housing patterns.  Housing prices are tied to test scores of the neighborhood school.

 Why? On the most basic level, rezoning stands to influence neighborhoods and real estate prices within every high school zone. Big picture, that means this ruling could determine what this city will look like in coming years.

This residential isolation of the most disadvantaged children – a product of migration patterns and economic trends that have occurred since Brown -- points to one set of strategies that’s been given little attention over the last 60 years. What if we made a more concerted effort to integrate schools by integrating neighborhoods? What if we tried to improve the educational prospects of low-income minority students by breaking down barriers to affordable housing in the communities where good schools exist? What if we wielded zoning laws and housing vouchers as levers of education policy?

So what's the bottom line?  This is about protecting property values .

 Concerns over public housing can still draw a crowd, as almost 250 people on Tuesday gathered for the second meeting of the South Huntsville Civic Association.

"We need something in south Huntsville they've had in other parts of Huntsville for years - a cohesive voice," Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks announced from the stage at Grissom High School.

Brooks, one of two key speakers, said that the Huntsville Housing Authority has quietly used vouchers to send poor families south and plans now to single out south Huntsville for more.

In February, the authority surprised homeowners with the outright purchase of 50 units at Stone Manor near Chaffee Elementary. That sparked a raucous public meeting at Chaffee on April 6 and led to the creation of the civic association.

On Tuesday, the upstart group drew an influential crowd, including Republican Brooks, a former legislator; newly elected state Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville; state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne.

Going through the numbers at Whitesburg Elementary, Brooks argued that schools in south Huntsville have seen test scores drop "thanks in large part to what the Huntsville Housing Authority has done to us."

 This is what happens when property values are tied to student/school achievement, and vice versa.  A blind  person can see Huntsville City Schools are separate and unequal 60 years after Brown.

Even if we win, we lose.

The Wardynski Plan is a fool’s errand. We did not have to file it. And the public has had zero input into the plan.
So, after potentially years of litigation and expense, we will have accomplished absolutely nothing, even if we win.
Nothing except the following:

1. Wardynski has shored up support for himself in this town because he’s willing to fight the “evil” federal government.
2. Wardynski has improved his name recognition on a national level.
3. Wardynski has spent a ton of the district’s money that he should be spending on improving education at all of our schools. And of course,
4. We’re still a segregated system.

This is, in the Bard’s wise words, much ado about nothing.

Who will represent the black/brown/poor students of Huntsville in Federal Court on Thursday, May 22, 2014?

The Justice Department would rezone University Place Elementary from Jemison High to Huntsville High. Here University Place students sit for 2012 kickoff of Mayor Tommy Battle's Book Club. (Huntsville Times file)

^This is what Huntsville City Schools looks like in 2014.^

^This is what Huntsville City Schools looked like in 1963^

The persons who are supposed to represent the children in the first picture are on the side of those who want our schools to look like the second picture.  Those who represent the children in the first photo are marginalized, and victimized.

What is wrong with this picture?

Stay tuned for Keeping Them Honest Vol. 2

RedEye'sWeekly Rundown 5/9/2014

 

Reminder: Voter Suppression isn't coming, it's already here. 

 Alabama voters now need to have a photo ID to cast a ballot. Not having one could get you turned away at the polls.
Poll workers will get a long list of acceptable options, but if you registered and don’t have any of them, you still have a chance. You can apply for an ID to use for voting purposes only.
You will have to provide some documentation to get the free photo ID used for voting. A birth certificate is the easiest way to do it, though you can sign up without it if you were born in-state.
But don’t you dare register for the card if you have another form of ID, though. If you sign the Voter ID Card application and you already have a photo ID, it’s a class C felony.
So Lynda Hairston with the Voter Registration Office says, ” We want you to be very careful that if you sign it, you do not have one in your possession.”

Former Republican turned Independent, turned Democrat, Charlie Crist tells the truth and shames the Devil.

I’m happy for his soul, but I’m happier that someone had the balls to say what he did about Republican opposition to President Obama. Granted, it’s coming from a calculated politician who understands that he’s not nearly crazy and bigoted enough to be a factor in the Republican Party anymore, but I appreciate it all the same.

School Board Meeting Gone Wild, First Amendment thrown out of the door,  here, there, and everywhere.

Restricting access to school board meetings seems more an "intimidation" of critics than any intimidation critics may pose in recording board actions. And it's against the law.

Caught on Tape:  Did Police handle this properly? (Warning hard to watch)

The video shows the officer tackling Jaquora White, 15, and then handcuffing the girl while she is seizing. Jaquora is then left on the floor for an extended period of time while the officers and school officials attempt to clear the halls. Paramedics were eventually called and Jaquora was taken to the hospital.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire?

When a school system closes public schools and replaces them by funding private organizations like The Pinnacle Schools, the people, the community, and especially the students, lose. The district, the people, lose their ability to oversee and question even extreme examples of child abuse as seen in these pictures.

Why Michelle Obama joining the #BringBackOurGirls Campaign is Ridiculous

Firstly, it was absurd to see Michelle Obama holding up a sign with the #BringBackOurGirls hash tag considering that her husband, as Commander-In-Chief, oversees Seal Team 6, as well as every other elite military unit available in the world’s mightiest army. If Mrs. Obama wants to #BringBackOurGirls, then she need not hold up a sign with a sad faced frown. She should talk to her husband.

 Eye see you.

The DOJ said Huntsville's plan does not integrate the school system enough.
Mayor Battle disagreed, stating the DOJ's plan "actually congregates larger numbers of African-American children and underperforming children in a few schools than the plan offered by the Huntsville School Board".

Peace.

Pay your taxes, shut up, and die

Happy birthday Gloria Richardson (5/6/22). “A first-class citizen does not beg for freedom. A first-class citizen does not plead to the white power-structure to give him something that the whites have no power to give or take away. Human rights are human rights, not white rights.” Richardson led the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee (a SNCC affiliate) in Cambridge, Maryland to fight against institutional racism.

If you were meant to have a voice you would have been born white.  This is how I feel as I type this post in the wake of HCS superintendent Casey Wardynki's meeting with Southeast Huntsville residents, organized by Huntsville City Councilman Bill Kling and community leaders.   I would describe the atmosphere as....cordial.  Unlike BOE meetings, citizens comments/questions didn't have to be written down and read by the Director of Community Engagement, also, unlike BOE meetings, the superintendent answered their questions.

Several people expressed their love and support to the Superintendent for 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!

One thing I did learn as a result of the meeting is although they can't disclose who the potential buyers are for Butler High School and some of the other vacant schools in the district, residents in these neighborhoods would be happy if these deals go through.

In addition to the interest in Butler, Wardynski said, there is also a buyer interested in both Stone Middle and West Huntsville Elementary. A portion of the Stone property has already been sold off, and the school itself is being used as a storage facility by the district.
Portions of the West Huntsville building are currently being used by the non-profit Free 2 Teach and The Pinnacle Schools, the outside company that, in 2012, replaced the Seldon Center as the district's alternative school.

The current Grissom High School campus may become the site of a new southeast library and a police substation.  The current J.O. Johnson High school  facility will be used as a public safety training facility when the new school is moved less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.  It's hard to see how a public safety (police and fire) training station slapped right dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood is going to improve the quality of life and property values in north Huntsville.  But hey, it's north Huntsville, who cares?

The superintendent and the councilman did all they could to assure southeast Huntsville residents they would be pleased by the purchasers of the properties in their neighborhood, and promised they would be safe from homeless vagrants, north Huntsville residents not so much.  Speaking of security, the superintendent must have been afraid for his safety because he was there with a full security detail consisting of a HCS and HPD detail.  I thought he was the Governor of the President or something.

So tonight, at a public meeting held in a church, Huntsville leaders claim they want residents to contribute to the cities future plans. Call me cynical, but I believe the plans have already been made, and I have no reason to believe north Huntsville is included in said plans.  We can't even get them to listen to us about  a name change.  Why should they listen to us about anything else?  Seems like to me all they want north Huntsville residents to do is pay taxes, shut up, support the status quo, and die.

I feel like an unwelcome visitor in my own city.  Marginalized, minimized, under estimated and under valued.
Remember when Huntsville was known as the Star of Alabama?  What happened to that bright star?

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

—Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789

"My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6

SMI Analytical

Taxpayers who  live (if they have no alternative),  work (if they are lucky),  and play (at their own risk), in north Huntsville  are being systematically destroyed from a lack of knowledge, not by choice, by design.

The Huntsville City School Board of Education, enabled by the City of Huntsville, purchased 100 acres of land to build a new predominately African American high school less than a mile from an active rock quarry. 

The property, located just north of Pulaski Pike's intersection with Stringfield Road, began as one of four potential sites for the new school. Problems with two of those sites, a 78-acre parcel of land near the intersection of Jordan Lane and Mastin Lake Road and a 100-acre site across Blue Springs Road from the Richard Showers Recreation Center, quickly eliminated them from consideration.
Johnson High could have been rebuilt at its current location off of Winchester Road, but the Pulaski Pike site is twice the size of the current one. Laurie McCaulley, who represents Johnson High on the board, said the current site could become a training ground for public service officers.

Note the article doesn't state exactly what the "problems" were at the other two locations, nor does it state the property that was purchased is less than a mile from an active rock quarry.  If that's not a problem I don't know what is.

To add insult to injury, the BOE violated their own policy and renamed said new school after  Dr. Mae Jemison  despite a massive protest to keep the name J.O. Johnson. 

 Last night the Huntsville City School Board of Education violated their own policy on the Selection of School, Facility, and/or Property Name (Policy 2.9, presented September 5, 2013) by concluding the process and voting on the new names approximately three weeks before they were allowed to do so.

There  has been no coverage of this violation by the media. 

There are valid concerns adequate/aggressive testing of the air quality and the potential risk to students, administrators, teachers, and support personnel was not conducted prior to purchasing this property.  There is an increased risk of asthma, respiratory disease, and lung cancer; the same health risk as being exposed to asbestos.

 Mesothelioma (or, more precisely, malignant mesothelioma) is a rare form of cancer that develops from cells of the mesothelium, the protective lining that covers many of the internal organs of the body. Mesothelioma is most commonly caused by exposure to asbestos.^[1] The most common anatomical site for mesothelioma is the pleura (the outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall), but it can also arise in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), the pericardium (the sac that surrounds the heart),^[2] or the tunica vaginalis (a sac that surrounds the testis).

There was a huge public outcry, supported by city, county and state public officials when Vulcan wanted to operate a rock quarry in the affluent Gurley/New Hope community, citing air quality concerns for schools two miles away. Some of the same city, county and state officials are silent when it comes to air quality for schools in north Huntsville.  

Other elected officials speaking against the quarry were Mark Russell, president of Huntsville City Council, Madison County District 3 Commissioner Eddie Sisk, state Sen. Paul Sanford, state Sen. Shadrack McGill, state Rep. Wayne Johnson, Gurley Mayor Rob Sentell, Gurley Councilman Robert Wren.
Their concerns addressed environmental quality of Flint River and Hayes Nature Preserve, unsafe traffic with trucks crossing Norfolk Southern Railroad along a curve, heavy trucks sharing roads with school buses, air quality at two nearby schools and a lack of local governmental control of the quarry operation.

There was a huge public outcry supported by city, county, and state public officials when the superintendent wanted to change the name of Lee High School to the point of telling him he would be making a gargantuan mistake if he changed the name.

 "There's been any number of councilman and officials call to inform me that I've made a gargantuan mistake," Wardynski said, to applause from the crowd that made him smile. "Thank you for acknowledging my mistake."

Some of the same city, county, and state officials are silent when it comes to responding to public outcry against changing the name of J.O. Johnson.  As a matter of fact, they are planning a ground breaking ceremony using, I mean, inviting Mae Jemison to put a black face on their deception.
Dr. Mae Jemison's good name is being destroyed by a lack of knowledge.   

 Dear Dr. Mae Carol Jemison,

It's me, RedEye.  Have your ears been burning lately?  The reason I ask is because you are being talked about 24/7 in the Rocket City.  In case you haven't heard, the Superintendent and the Huntsville City Schools Board of Education, voted to replace the name James Oliver Johnson  with  your name, despite opposition  from the majority of Alumni, parents, students, and the community.  The reason the BOE states for wanting to replace the name  J.O. Johnson with  your good name is because you are well....black  and because JOJ is a so called  "failing" school. In other words, they don't want to fix the problem, they want to slap your good name on it and call it fixed.  Nod.  Nod. Wink.  Wink.

The public outcry by citizens in north Huntsville is being suppressed. 

Purposely withholding vital info from the people/community that will be affected is a nice nasty way of saying......"You are not valued as a person".......We know what is best for you, even though we need your tax dollars........We will do what we want in your community because we don't live in your community.

Lord, please help us.