Exiled School Board Passes Resolution Investigating Emergency Manager, Alleges Retaliation

Emergency Manager
(Image courtesy of WikiMedia)

Detroit Public Schools are fighting for their right to self-determination under Gov. Rick Snyder?s democra-cide known as the Emergency Manager law, and the battle is on.

The Detroit Public School Board sent communication Jan. 20, 2015, that it wished to meet regarding matters fighting the emergency manager PA 436 law, but was in turn denied the right to meet the following day by school district Emergency Manager, Darnell Earley, and warned that the board may be in store for some form of ?discipline? if it moved forward and held the meeting.

You can see a copy of Earley’s denial for the Board’s meeting, below:

What follows also, is a partial copy of the Emergency Manager’s warning regarding possible discipline:

 

Emergency Manager
(Image provided by Go Left America)

Not to be deterred from performing their elected roles and duties, the DPS School Board did end up holding the unapproved meeting later that week, since a room was free to do so, and has since accused Earley and the Snyder administration of waging retaliatory action against what they feel to be a just cause and meeting.

The defiant meeting was utilized by the DPS School Board to create three of six intended Resolutions, one of which aims to call for an investigation by the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Educational Department.

Defender of democracy and progressive organization, Go Left America, joined onto the Board’s Resolution, along with 53,000 members of the Badass Teachers Association (BATS), the Detroit Chapter of Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, the Detroit Water Brigade, and several other community leaders and active citizens around the country.

On Feb. 4, President of the Detroit School Board, Herman Davis sent another communication to Earley requesting a meeting to discuss PA 436, hoping to invite Union President Steve Conn to the meeting, as well. That same day, the Board was issued a notice of discipline and barred from meeting in the future. In addition, Earley called the recent defiant meeting ?illegal,? thereby nullifying the Resolutions passed that day, including the Resolution calling for the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation into misappropriation of taxpayer money by the Snyder administration.

According to Go Left America, that discipline and barring of the Board from meeting, is a violation of an order stipulated by Judge Annette Berry of the 3rd Circuit Court, which upholds that the Board has a right to meet 52 times a year. Go Left America also states that Earley’s retaliation is a violation of the Whistleblower Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well.

Adding insult to injury, the previous emergency manager had already ordered that only one parent group could conduct meetings on behalf of Detroit Public Schools, and those meetings were to be conducted by the paid representatives handpicked by former Emergency Manager, Jack Martin ? a bunch of corporate, sellout patsies for the Snyder administration.

Davis states:

?This is black history month and yet we have lost our democracy to the Governor’s free market fascism. Dr. King said that the measure of a man, is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. And certainly, the Governor’s punishing us via a non-elected overseer to prevent us from speaking out and calling for a Federal investigation of the misuse of our money as tax payers is a retaliatory violation of our civil rights, and fascism.?

DPS Board Member Tawanna Simpson says:

?We asked for a Federal investigation and Darnell Earley, the Emergency Manager, retaliated by barring us from meeting, and thereby violated my civil rights under Title VI, my constitutional rights under the Whistleblower Act, and most importantly, my rights as an elected official to serve the people that voted for me.?

Another DPS Board Member, LaMar Lemmons, adds:

?There is a clear timeline here that this is retaliation against us for doing our due diligence as elected Board members to uncover what happened to taxpayer money.?

Davis also states:

?The Detroit Public Schools needs a forensic audit to determine how the Governor through emergency management has misused Detroiter’s money. Every Detroit voter should be outraged that you lose your democracy and have no say in policy in procedures in the department. And now that we want an investigation, they bar us from meeting altogether. You must stand up.?

Spokesperson for Go Left America, Madison Paige, says:

?In America it is the right – and duty – of citizens to take an active role in their government, and Go Left America has done just that. Here we have a coalition of organizations representing over 60,000 citizens who are concerned about the possible misuse of federal funds in Michigan and have joined with the Detroit School Board to request a Department of Justice investigation into it — only to be met with retaliatory tactics by Governor Snyder and his Emergency Manager. The time for lip service about democracy is over. We are either going to embrace democracy or we are not. The actions of the Governor and his Emergency Manager are antithetical to the spirit of democracy and we at Go Left America urge them to reconsider this attack on democracy and the citizens who care about this issue.”

Regarding the entire shameful fiasco, General Manager of BATS, Marla Kilfoyle, states:

“The Governor once again disregards the voice of the people. The lack of transparency and disregard for the voice of the people is a recipe for disaster for the CHILDREN of Detroit.”

Lemmons believes the EM hoped to prevent the Board from acting further on the criminal allegations and that by preventing them to meet he could prevent them from sending the Resolution. Those in the know jokingly wonder, however, if Earley ?missed the memo? that Go Left America has already received the Resolution calling for investigation into the matter and is currently filing it in conjunction with several other organizations.

In addition, Earley has been sent a letter from the School Board attorney stating that he is violating the stipulated order by Judge Berry. You can see that letter below:

Emergency Manager
(Image courtesy of Go Left America)

Paige states:

“We’re going to move forward with the Resolution requesting that the justice department’s civil rights division investigate. They have a department that deals with education and we and our coalition aren’t willing to wait around for Synder to do the right thing any longer. We’re moving forward.”

Clearly, passions are running high in the Motor City, as local elected officials fight tooth and nail to maintain the integrity of democracy, stand up for the best use of taxpayer dollars, and most importantly, the fight for the best means for educating the children of Detroit.

DPS School Board member Elena Herrada wrote on Facebook:

Emergency Manager
(Image courtesy of Facebook)

To read more on Herrada’s thoughts on Earley’s retaliation, click here.

To read Herrada’s story of Detroit’s bankruptcy, read the ?People’s History of Detroit,? below:

Readers in support of the Resolution can sign a petition in solidarity, below:


 

Featured image: via WikiMedia