Today, my oldest son appeared before the Flint community schools Board of Education, its chairman and its members. He spoke to the board as a student. He was asked by one of his teachers to appear and represent his school by identifying the problems that he, as a student, faces everyday. He was the only student who appeared in the open forum to represent the student body. Not only from his school but, the neighboring high school in danger of closure.
Among the things be mentioned:
1. The hallways are unsafe to transition from class to class because teachers are not at their posts in the hallway providing supervision. Once they are in class, often the worst of the students prevent the best of the students from even getting close to an education. The teachers simply do not have the disciplinary tools to do their jobs.
2. The bathrooms are unsafe, unhealthy, and unsanitary. They are not usable in most places and lack even the barest of supplies. This is just the tip of the iceberg of logistical disasters our school children face in order to attempt to learn on a daily basis.
3. Although he understood that school employees, such as the janitorial staff and cafeteria staff, do their best with the few resources the administration has provided them, they cannot do their jobs to an adequate and acceptable level.
4. Supplies and resources are not adequate in the least. His text book for geography, for example, is 10 years old and not even the correct text for his grade. He’s a 7th. grader and it is a 6th. grade text.
5. Salaries and administration overhead never seems to be a problem when working out the budgets… why then, are they struggling to keep the few remaining schools open? As “No Child Left Behind” looms, the few schools that remain in Flint are in danger of being closed due to poor performance, that’s why.
6. The Flint community school system was once a model of education for the nation. Created in 1953, founded by the brightest and most progressive educational thinkers and funded by the most powerful and resourceful men in business… It has been reduced to a mockery of it’s former self. A complete and total bureaucratic failure of nightmarish proportions. What was once a model for the entire nation, is once again a model… only this time, they are coming to find out what could have possibly gone so wrong.
7. The current sitting board and many of their predecessors have failed the mission that the vision of Mott and Manley and many others set forth. A community school was formed by the community to solve the problems of the community, for the community. The community is still there, the problems are still there. Sadly, the administration and the leadership is absent.
8. Last but, not at all least. He demanded a full, complete and independent financial examination of the last 40 years of the Flint Community School’s fiscal life. From 1964 until today. Mainly to discover and uncover the gross misappropriation of funding, the lack of oversight in administrative salaries and bonus’, and to uncover 40 years of graft and corruption at all levels of the organization.
So unless his small speech go unnoticed and forgotten, unless it is forgotten that my son stood and spoke the truth, a 12 year old before the beaurocratic career administrators and politicians… it’s here for all to read.
Now, I call upon the new mayor of Flint, Don Williamson, to set forth a task force of independent auditors, accounting investigators, and educational professionals to determine the length and depth of the sickness in the Flint Community Schools system. To discover the amount and level of fraud and corruption that has taken place since at least 1964, to examine the responsibility and leadership of the board, present and past… and take them directly to task for their actions.
I call upon the leadership and oversight of the Mott Foundation to also establish an independent committee of educational leaders to work in concert with the Williamson group to ensure fairness, accuracy and honesty in its investigations. Once the investigation is complete, those who have committed fraud should be prosecuted, those whom have served in negligence and dereliction of their duties as administrators should also be prosecuted, where applicable. If they cannot, they should he tried in civil court by they Mayor on behalf of the people of the City of Flint.
While my son spoke some in the audience cheered, some of the teachers even nodded to him in silent agreement. The Board Education members and it’s chairman was silent and never addressed him or, a single word he said. Well, I heard you… now many, many other people will too.