My Perspective: Welcome to the New DPS with a New Flavor to School Board

Welcome to the New DPS with a New Flavor to School Board

The New DPS will give “all” students the tools to succeed is what a flyer reads that School Board member Terry Catchings is passing out. However the new DPS has not arrived yet despite all the changes that EFM Robert Bobb is making. The reality is that Detroit Public Schools does need new board members but they need one’s who are competent enough to understand the issues plaguing our district and are willing to do the real investigations necessary into DPS finances that will yield results that will recover the millions of billions of dollars the state reform board and current board members as well school officials have taken.

Now Robert Bobb has uncovered a few of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that board employees have stolen but still that doesn’t account for the millions of billions that were stolen by the state reform board, current board members, former board members and a boat load of other political officials and key stake holders in DPS and the city of Detroit as well as the throughout the state that have stolen from the children of Detroit Public Schools. Nonetheless until a complete investigation into DPS finances that dates back to 1997 up until now takes place, no matter what Robert Bobb does, we will continue to a school district in chaos and a school district that has deprived generations from their fair share of money that was supposed to be used to educate the future of Detroit.

Therefore it is clear that the school board will look differently come next year due the shakeup that Robert Bobb has done but the real question is what power the new board will have. Therefore it is extremely important to have people on the Detroit Board of Education that are intelligent and understand the issues plaguing the district as well as are willing to ask the state to look into an extensive financial audit into the district finances dating back from 1997 up until now. Also we need board members who are willing to listen to Marie Thornton and mountains of evidence as well as information that she pertaining to the misuse of funds that board members have allocated toward their friends and other political cronies.

We need board members who will give a new flavor to the school board that is presented with competence as well as a clear understanding of advocating for academic policies and budgetary restricts that will reshape DPS for the future. New Board members need to understand that our children must come first and foremost but the problems that plague the district go beyond just finances and budget problems. That is why we need board members who are willing to challenge not only the status quo of school district but they are willing to challenge the state to take responsibility for the conditions that the state left our elected board in when they took over Detroit’s school district from 1997-2005 in which the district’s graduation rate dropped dramatically and dropout rate increased.

Nonetheless the at large candidates that should be elected to the school board are the following:

1. Steven Perkins because he already runs the historic Sugar-N-Spice nursery which is known by many throughout the City of Detroit. Also Steven has an approach to engage DPS with Historically Black Colleges and Universities which will only help HBCUs grow further because DPS can be a major feeder to all of them for years to come. Also the fact that he has no relationships to any educational or political outlets makes him the perfect candidate for school board. His ability to understand education and the fact the he plans to connect HBCUs with DPS like never before is a huge boost for HBCUs as well as Detroit Public Schools because it creates partnerships in many high schools that have never existed between colleges and universities that have been the Mecca of education for African Americans for decades. That’s why creating an educational agenda that will help many students go to colleges outside of the state particularly HBCUs is not only innovative but it pivotal since a large population of Detroit’s population is from the south to begin with and majority of Detroit Public Schools teachers came from HBCUs from the 1970s until now. Nonetheless Perkins is the type of person that the board of education needs and he would make a perfect candidate in order to create the new DPS that we the voters want.

2. Bernard Thompson is another good candidate for Detroit Public Schools because he supports a global education model for DPS which is needed in order for our youth to compete with other school districts not just nationally but internationally. Also Bernard has been campaigning throughout the city for this seat for nearly two months now and he fully understands the need for silver rights for our children and supports reducing DPS to make it manageable. Everyone knows that DPS should be reduced to a more manageable size and Bernard will make sure that happens so that the district saves millions in both the short term and long term. However the only question about Bernard is whether or not he will give in to pressure on the school board and follow the status quo but my hopes is that he will not. I can’t imagine someone campaigning as hard as he is on both the far Eastside and far Westside of Detroit for school board and succumbing to the pressure of the status quo as a member of the school board. I believe that Bernard wants to enact change and is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure our youth are getting the best education possible by making sure they are getting the resources that they need to get properly educated.

3. Marie Thornton because she has been telling the truth since being on school board when it comes to the stealing and the friends getting contracts. While Marie Thornton’s tactics and style of politics might not be the ideal for the school board or any political office, she is knowledgeable about the issues and has been fighting with grassroots for years to improve the state of education in Detroit since the state takeover days. Marie was a staunch supporter of Keep the Vote, No Takeover and as a board member she has spent the last four years trying to uncover theft from not only the State Reform Board days but what the elected board has been doing. Marie has been silenced for releasing information to the media and us the residents of Detroit in regards to contracts being giving to political friends, family and cronies of board members. Nonetheless, Marie has survived it all and with new allies on the board, Marie should be able to get her wish for the state to do a full extensive investigation in DPS finances dating back from 1997 until now and then we the citizens of Detroit will finally uncover the millions of billions of dollars that have been stolen from our school district and generations of Detroit youth.

Now there are other candidates running for school board but these three candidates are exactly what our new school board needs for the next four years. They are the type of candidates that will protect our youth from future thief while holding those accountable who have robbed from our youth since 1997. Until we can have a complete and full investigation into the State Takeover board actions as well as the current boards’ actions, we the citizens of Detroit will not know the entire the truth behind the finances of the district and quote unquote $400 million deficit that Robert Bobb claims we have. Is it possible or a school district such as Detroit to have a $400 million deficit from 4 years of bad financing or does this deficit date back further such as the reported deficit that our elected board encountered 4 years ago and that is why Marie Thornton than wanted a complete investigation into the State Takeover Reform Board’s actions that stole millions of billions of dollars from our school district and at the same time resulted in the selling of the school center building to Wayne State for little to nothing while DPS signed a multi-million dollar lease with the New Center area to have offices in four different buildings. Thus leasing rather than owning is costing the district millions and that is an issue that our school board needs to address if the EFM Robert Bobb is not going to address.

So a new DPS cannot be welcomed until we really take education seriously and we not only fully investigate DPS finances from 1997 until now but we also create an academic plan for the short and long term future. DPS needs a new flavor and these candidates possess the type of flavor that will create results for our youth and restore a lot of the luster that DPS has lacked over the years. Plus this new flavor will run circles around the old heads on the board who have stood in the way of progress and have lacked knowledge about what is really plaguing our district. Marie Thornton, Steven Perkins and Bernard Thompson will create shockwaves through DPS because they will create new standards for other board members to live up to and at the same time, they will really get down to business in regards to making sure educating our youth is priority number one and that reshaping DPS for the better is priority number two. Thus we have to change DPS if we are going to usher in a wave of educating our youth as well as a new wave of doing business in DPS that will yield positive results for all those involved in DPS.

Political Disclaimer: I am no way affiliated with any candidate that I have endorsed on this list nor have I taken any monetary payment from any candidate on this list or have I volunteered, worked or participated in any political planning meetings for any candidate I have endorsed for School Board. These endorsements are based off my vision for the City of Detroit School Board and the candidates that I feel can bring about the change that I want to see for Detroit Public Schools.