[Peace-discuss] Re: [Discuss] Consent Decree done

Thu Nov 5 14:44:55 CST 2009

I think you are giving this administration far more credit than is due. I
have 3rd grade pushout at home who was in the District for the last half of
this consent decree, and have seen exactly how the administration has
treated her when sitting down with the "peace-pipe," things only got worse
and worse and District officials didn't even begin to address issues. We
dont hear about these stories because they are downplayed as irrational
rants from a single, black mother on welfare.

I have seen firsthand with other black students, some whom are in juvenile
prison, and others who dropped out, exactly how they are valued by this
District and its Administrators.  I even had two FBI agents tell me last
year that I should bring a class action suit against the District.

I have been told by many people that you were a fighter on the Board several
years ago, and I applaud your efforts and I was not referring to you in
talking about "self-appointed" black leaders.  But let's be real, we all
know how Champaign operates.  We've got all these so-called black leaders
running around acting like they represent the interests of the community,
all the while they are bowing to the District's interests because they have
their hands in their pockets, getting grants for programs and employment.

The Consent Decree was not in the hands of the people from the get-go. John
Lee understood this when trying to get a new law firm to represent
plaintiffs and filing a complaint against Carol Ashley for collusion. It's
not that the community was at the mercy of the District just at the end of
the Decree, the community was never allowed at the table once the Decree was
signed by both parties.

I would argue that there is a greater need than just mentoring programs to
prepare kids for Higher Ed. What about the pushouts? The black special
education student who was referred to the Champaign Police Department at 3rd
grade and got his teeth knocked in by a teacher in 6th grade (true story)?
All the other black children who the district casts as behavioral problems,
and less than?  I'm far more concerned about what is going on with those
children because their cries are less heard.

On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 11:22 AM, Melodye Rosales <melodye at nitrogendesign.com
> wrote:

>
> I couldn't disagree more.  You are mixing facts with lack of knowledge.  It
> is much more complicated then you have described.  I know because I had
> children in the system pre-Consent Decree and post-Consent Decree.  I have
> seen many Board members come and go as well as administrations---as well as
> those Leaders who stayed with the issues---and those who dipped in and
> out---and those who stood on the side both cheering and jeering.
>
> I was there during the Aber Report---and those subsequent ones----I was
> there challenging the administration and Board when I disagreed----and
> applauded them when they made efforts to do the right thing---and I was not
> one who earned a penny for what I did or am committed to doing.
>
> The Consent Decree needed to end.  Was I totally happy with the
> results---No.  But I also understood (not unlike what we are going through
> with trying to get a community police review) if you don't have the
> cooperation of those who hold the power of the pen---it matters not what
> token or self important agendas are put in place.  As a legal matter, the
> Consent Decree negotiations resulted in the best agreement possible for the
> situation at the time the Decree ended.
>
> When the Decree began, it was made with certain demands that became the
> core argument.  In a legal pleading you cannot change and or add items that
> are part of that legal pleading---unless an appeal or the court requests for
> more details--but always in support of the original arguments (which is why
> it is so important as we look at our current Kiwane situation that we have
> forward thinking instead of immediate gratification).  By the time the
> Consent Decree came to its end---our community's original pleading had
> changed in the form of needs---but remained dated because of when it was
> first argued.  So, what those who were not actually following the matter for
> the last decade---you wouldn't fully understand that by the end of the
> Decree---the community was really at the mercy of those at the table because
> we were asking for modification of the original pleading to incorporate
> current restitution given the original was no longer vital and demands were
> not going to move us forward at this time---nearly a decade later.
>
> As for the current Administration in its current evolution---I am very
> pleased because we all have sat down with the peace-pipe and started
> investing our energies on progress---not simply the illusion of.  And---for
> those who have worked on issues that have long-term effect---you'd
> understand you may not see them as they unfold---but you can feel the
> climate beginning to feel equitable.
>
> Regardless of the anointed committees and elected Boards----if you live in
> Champaign I would encourage you to get involved with the schools---you will
> find welcomed arms.  Go to the Mellon and fill out the proper forms for a
> background check so you can volunteer to create programs that mentor the
> youth and help prepare them for Higher Ed.  You don't need to be on a token
> committee or fuss about the what-ifs of the Consent Decree that the two
> folks who made it possible---are now dead and buried--and one of them
> financially made it possible, that without---we wouldn't even have the
> little progress that we can find agreement on.
>
> That said---I am the first to call folks out if they are veering off the
> progress path---as I am sure you and others monitoring will as well.
>
>
> On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 9:59 AM, Devin Chambers <
> devin.he.chambers at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The problem with the Consent Decree was collusion on all sides.  The
>> plaintiff's attorney was working with Unit 4 attorneys and self-appointed
>> black leaders were colluding with the District, and getting jobs out of it.
>> The minute Futterman & Howard brokered a deal with the District to begin the
>> watered-down, unaccountable Consent Decree, there was little hope for
>> progress as the community no longer had any power or say, regardless of how
>> many committees or task forces the District created to appease the masses.
>>
>> We got a Texas transplanted administration (Superintendent Culver,
>> McFarland, Dorland Norris, Dedrick Martin who recently left, Beth Sheppard),
>> so did we really expect the District to have a stake in educational progress
>> in this community??  Everyone is making money off of the miseducation of our
>> children, black and white, and I would bet money that there is
>> fraud/missapropriation of funding, I just have yet to prove so sufficiently
>> enough to get them in trouble (I had the Office of Inspector General do a
>> fraud investigation on the District last year).
>>
>> It's a welcome change that the Consent Decree ended. It opens the door for
>> real lawsuits to come forward and challenge the District's business as
>> usual.
>>
>> Devin
>> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 9:43 PM, Danielle Chynoweth <chyn at ojctech.com>wrote:
>>
>>> It would be worth talking to Imani, Rev. Underwood, and others who worked
>>> tirelessly on this to get a people's take on the Consent Decree - what was
>>> accomplished, what is left to do.  We have only gotten the NG version of the
>>> story for years and years now.
>>>
>>> - Danielle
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 7:26 PM, Barbara kessel <barkes at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I agree with Brian that it is such a lesson. Widespread outrage is a
>>>> short-range engine. To accomplish something it takes organization(s) to keep
>>>> the focus continuing.  Barbara K
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 5:33 PM, Brian Dolinar <briandolinar at gmail.com
>>>> > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>  Anything in the print version about city council last night?
>>>>> Nothing on line.
>>>>>
>>>>> This anti-climactic ending of the consent decree.
>>>>> It should be a lesson on what happens when an effort loses grassroots
>>>>> support and becomes simply a matter left up to the courts.
>>>>>
>>>>> BD
>>>>>
>>>>> [image: The News-Gazette.com]   Final approval granted in consent
>>>>> decree settlement
>>>>> By Jodi Heckel <http://www.news-gazette.com/news/reporter/jheckel/> Wednesday
>>>>> November 4, 2009
>>>>>
>>>>> CHAMPAIGN — The Champaign school district’s consent decree case is
>>>>> officially over.
>>>>>
>>>>> Federal District Court Judge Joe Billy McDade entered an order
>>>>> <http://cdn.news-gazette.com/media/pdf/CD_settlement_approved.pdf>Wednesday
>>>>> afternoon approving the proposed settlement agreement reached by the school
>>>>> district and the plaintiffs this summer.
>>>>>
>>>>> The docket entry noting the approval of the settlement states: “The
>>>>> settlement agreement represents a significant bargain for Plaintiffs that
>>>>> outweighs the potential merit of Plaintiffs’ case and is not the product of
>>>>> collusion between counsel. The Court is convinced that the agreement
>>>>> represents the best method of continuing the progress made in the Champaign
>>>>> schools that was started by the Consent Decree. This Court further is
>>>>> convinced that the agreement places the future of Champaign school children
>>>>> in the hands of persons best equipped to educate: the administrators,
>>>>> teachers, and staff of the Champaign schools, the community they serve, and
>>>>> the parents that are part of that community. The Consent Decree is hereby
>>>>> terminated in its entirety.”
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
>>>>> 303 W. Locust St.
>>>>> Urbana, IL 61801
>>>>> briandolinar at gmail.com
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Discuss mailing list
>>>>> Discuss at lists.communitycourtwatch.org
>>>>>
>>>>> http://lists.communitycourtwatch.org/listinfo.cgi/discuss-communitycourtwatch.org
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
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>>
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>
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