The Detroit Public School Board members don't care about the children in Detroit Public Schools. This is not a saying but a fact because after being elected to office in November of 2007, three board members have their eyes now set on Lansing, Michigan as they attempt to win State House of Representative seats. Yes, 3 out of our current 11 member school board who were elected last November now seek to run for State House seats this summer. Former School Board President Jimmy Womack who is an At-Large member of the school board and didn't have to face re-election last November for his board seat but faced re-election for his Board Presidency, which he was defeated for by Carla Scott. It seems as if Mr. Womack really didn't want to be School Board President any more any way because he not only filed to run for office once but twice as he is running for the soon to be vacant District 7 State Representative seat that currently Virgil Smith, Jr. holds but is term limited so he cannot run again. Therefore not only is Womack running for the seat but he is actually being endorsed by Virgil Smith for the seat, which comes as a surprise since Womack's style of politics consists of disrespecting the elderly and woman as well as being a flamboyant dresser with all his loud colors.
Next you have School Board District 3 member Annie Carter seeking the State Representative seat of District 11 which is currently held by Morris Hood III but he is term limited as well. Carter ran for re-election last November and now she is seeking to be a State Representative when she has done anything for the school board after she has been in her seat since 2005. So like Womack, Carter has not been apart of any solutions but simply is apart of the problem because since getting on the School Board, Carter has continued to allow Armark to receive millions and billions of dollars of the districts money for services that they have not did. Since Carter and Womack have been on the school board, they have closed nearly 200 schools and laid off hundreds of thousands of employers while neither one of them have ever taken a pay cut as board members. Also Carter and Womack are now recently the two most vocal board members spitting venom on Superintendent Connie Calloway saying she didn't have a vision. In fact Carter said that the gloves are off now and that the honeymoon is over. So I ask would Carter and Womack be speaking so much about Calloway if they were not running for office.
Remember it was Carter and Womack who were apart of the group of board members who hired Calloway last year, literally giving her a guaranteed 5 year contract worth roughly $1.4 million. So the question now is why are Carter and Womack trying to distance themselves from Calloway as the summer race for elected offices heats up. Well the answer is that they both know that they need as much media exposure as they can get in order to win the two State Representative seats that are vacant. Also they know at the end of the day that if they don't get the State Representatives seats, they can still go back to being on the School Board, however their real ambitions is to win. In order to win they have to expose Calloway as an idiot and have to make themselves look good by fighting to not lay off teachers and other employees.
However Carter and Womack are not the only board members seeking a State Representative seat but District 6 School Board Member Terry Catchings is seeking Bert Johnson's District 5 State Representative seat. Now Mr. Catchings is a unique fellow because two years ago who ran for this same seat and lost badly to Mr. Johnson who is the incumbent and has done a wonderful job for District 5 as he drives back and forth to Lansing each and every day to represent his district and still finds the time to attend community meetings spread throughout his district and once he's done with that, he finds time to get home to tuck his two little boys in and prepares to do all of that again. Now I say all that to say does anyone think Catchings will do the same job when as a current school board member he chooses to go party on Mackinac Island instead of giving awards at a Pershing Athletic Banquet that he had committed to. In fact Mr. Catchings reason for not attending was that Senator Martha Scott's people handled it for him. Thus can you envision Mr. Catchings doing what Bert Johnson does every weekday and weekend. I think not.
Now Catchings story doesn't end there because although Catchings ran against Johnson in 2006 and lost, he quickly turned right back around decided to run against Paula Johnson in 2007 for the District 6 School Board seat. Mr. Catchings had beat Johnson in the primaries in 2007, so I suggested to Mr. Catchings that he debate Johnson at my Alma Mater of Pershing High School. Now I regrettably have to say that Catchings is also a doughboy but I say that regrettably. Nonetheless, Catchings declined my offer to set up the debate after I got approval from the principal and the parent group to have such an event. In fact, the debate was more geared toward showcasing my Alma Mater more so than the candidates. However Catchings said he didn't want to debate Johnson because he didn't want to give her any further media exposure or attention. While Catchings went on to defeat Johnson in the General Election in November as well, he now looks to see to run for State Representative again after not having served a full year as a school board member. Thus that is a major sign to me that Catchings doesn't care about the children.
Now you would think that the story with Catchings would end there but I ran into Catchings on June 3, 2008 at Pershing's 2008 Commencement ceremony where I was the Commencement Speaker. While there I heard Catchings privately trying to talk to a Pershing staff member about running for State Representative and how he is only running to keep his name out there because he wants to run for State Senate in 2010. Yes Terry Catchings wants to run for District 2 State Senator's Martha Scott's seat in 2010 because Senator Scott can't run no more due to being term limited. Now Catchings says he is only running for State Representative in 2008 because he wants to keep his name on the ballot for the third consecutive August and perhaps four if he runs for city council or mayor next year. Wow, Catchings is really planning his political career for the next 2 years. While I would like to stop there and not say anything else about Mr. Catchings but I don't like being lied out and after seeing Mr. Catchings give a brief speech at Pershing's commencement ceremony, I know now why he did not want to debate Paula Johnson last summer. It had nothing to do with not wanting to give her any more exposure but let's just say that my little cousin can speak louder than Catchings and can speak with more confidence than him.
It is clear that these three board members need to be recalled because they don't care about the children of Detroit Public Schools. All three of these members care about themselves and their political careers than the jobs they were elected to perform. Womack, Carter and Catchings are all a disgrace and the citizens of the city of Detroit need to take a stand and have rallies outside their homes because if 1,400 board employees get laid off than these three need to be laid off next. They don't need any promotions Lansing and they don't need to set on the Detroit Public School Board any more because their actions have spoken. They care about seeking higher offices than solving the economic and financial woes of Detroit Public Schools.
Therefore I hope the Detroit Teachers Union and others who work for the district gather outside the homes of Jimmy Womack, Annie Carter and Terry Catchings each and every morning and afternoon this summer until they resign from their board positions and or at least until we can recall all three board members or our entire school board for the lack of fiscal responsibility they have shown not only the citizens of Detroit but the children of Detroit.
Addresses:
Jimmy Womack
2310 West McNichols Road
Detroit, MI 48221
Annie Carter
8944 Appoline
Detroit, MI 48228
Terry Catchings
19424 Anglin
Detroit, MI 48234
Further Information: 2008 Michigan August Primary http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/candlist/08PRI/08PRI_CL.HTM
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