DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS:
STATE TO TAKE OVER

In what has been seen as a purely racist move, Gov. John Engler, has laid down the law, if you will, concerning to education of the children of the city of Detroit.

The governor stated, that he wanted the Detroit Public schools to improve on their inability to properly educate our children. Of all the public schools in this state, Detroit's school children, rank just about last. And, for Detroit, being the main force behind the attraction to this state, Gov. Engler, after allowing us to make changes in the system since he took office 9 or so years ago, has decided to take charge of the situation himself. He realizes, that people are not going to come here, to Michigan, and invest money, and their time, and try to improve on their lives, when our main city, is incapable of educatiing its youth.

Now, if you ask me, the only problem I have with it, is why did it take so long???

When we look at the condition of our schools. Dilapidated buildings. Shortages on supplies (toilet tissue, paper, books, pencils), teachers not being adequately trained to teach subjects they are teaching. All of these things, the school boards, past and present, were supposed to fix. But, they haven't. Time after time, year after year, we hear the same old lines. "We are working on it." "We need more money." "The Republicans are the problem." They have a million of them. And I am tired of hearing it, and so are a lot of other people, in this city.

However, there are those, that see what the governor is doing, as being totally racist, and political. Just like they said, about the Republicans trying to overturn the will of the people, when Clinton was on trial, now they accuse the governor, of doing the same thing. Well, if the will of the people, is to destroy themselves, and it would only hurt them, then it wouldn't be a problem. But, because the people in this city, tend to go along with the status quo, and that is destroying the state, then the governor, is doing the right thing.

Governor Engler, has said, that the mayor, Dennis Archer, should take over the schools, and get rid of the existing board members. If the mayor doesn't do it, then the state, will.

The problem, with the public schools, can be traced to one place, the board. They get money, for the supplies, and fixing up the buildings. They set policy on how the schools are run, and what subjects are to be taught. They hire and fire the teachers. So the total responsibility for educating the children in this city, rests on their shoulders. Yet, they continually want to blame Republicans for the problems.

Look at this fact. Before the governor announced this bold measure, there was not enough money to repair the school buildings. Teachers, had to spend their own money, to buy supplies for the students to use. Yet, after the announcement, all of a sudden, there is money for all of that and more. Where did all this money suddenly come from??? Out of thin air??? Or, were they doing something else with
it???

It hasn't been too awfully long ago, that voters approved 1 billion dollars plus, in bonds for the schools, to fix them up, and supply our children with what they needed. However, that money seemed to vanish, never to be heard from again, until Engler, got involved.

What people fail to understand, as I eluded to earlier. Gov. Engler, has to look out for the best interests of the whole state. Our, the state's, total livelihood, depends on Detroit. As Detroiter's say, 'as goes the city, so goes the state.' They have been saying that for years. So, Detroit, may be on the comeback trail, as far as new projects being built for people to come back in to the city, but they aren't going to come here to live, if their kids, can't get a good, quality education.

A lot of businesses left the city, because they couldn't find decent employees, that were educated enough to be clerks, let alone, engineers. A lot of these kids, couldn't even fill out an employment application correctly. Many black businessmen themselves have stated, 'If we can't get any better potential employees then what we are getting, we will have to move elsewhere. Notice, these are black businessmen saying this, not whites. Governor Engler knows, that the fewer businesses in the state, means fewer tax dollars. And fewer tax dollars, translates more dependency on the federal government, and with it, their rules and regulations.

Those that call this plan racist, would support it in a minute, if the board was all white. These people have a very narrow vision, when it comes to issues concerning Detroit, versus the state. They are trying to have a city, in the state, that is totally independent of the rules of the state, and that 'ain't gonna happen.'

This city, as all cities in this, and other states, exist, and are empowered, by the state. It is the state, that grants powers to the individual cities. If these people, keep trying to thwart the will of the state, the Governor, can, in extreme examples, remove the entire governing body of this city, and make it part of another city, or split the city up in to different smaller townships or such.

These people think that they hold power over Lansing, when it is the other way around. I guess many of them never paid attention when they were in 'civics' class in high school, if they didn't drop out before they got there.

Anyway, when it comes to making tough decisions, Gov. Engler, seems to be able to do it, and take the heat. That is what we need. That is why he has been consistently re-elected, time and again. If it were a democrat that was governor, he wouldn't do it, and our kids would continue to pay the price

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APRIL1999


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