Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Dreary Day Musings

 I have too much time on my hands today....Hope you enjoy my ramblings 

Narcissistic Delusion

I'm a total f**k-up, delusional, hated and scarred
Narcissistic and needy, can't stop what I start
But the blood won't come off, my hands won't come clean
Beauty grows in the hearts of the cold and obscene

Obligations are weathered with doubt and regret
I bring down every person and soul that I've met
But I'm apathetic, and nothing hurts me
Emotionless B**CH as far as you can see

I'm relentless, uncaring, I keep secrets and hide
From the passionless demons eating me inside
I never did care, and I throw away trust
I give into the heart of the man that I lust

Raging, intensive, I WONT bite my tongue
You can't try to control me or change what I've done
I'm angry and spiteful, he stole me away
I'm a monster containing a heart of decay

Tripping on power and low self-esteem
Like a razor I cut at your hopes and your dreams
Unholy, deceiving, pathetic and weak
Aggressive and forceful when words do not speak

Flawed and distorted, lackluster and lies
Carving hearts into skin that you hate and despise
Parasitic and lonely, lacking self control
The darker side that never did seem to show
By Kristen Weaver

© 2006 Kristen Weaver (All rights reserved)


 Delusional (Original) by Olivia Thai 


Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself 

 Rolling Stones- Sympathy for the Devil 

Uriah Heep - Stealin  

The Beatles - The Fool On The Hill  

 

Humble Pie-30 Days In The Hole  

Led Zeppelin - Nobody's Fault But Mine 

Foo Fighters - The Pretender 

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth

I'd Love To Change The World - Ten Years After  

The Doors - When The Music's Over 

 

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Bridgeport School Board Meeting August 24th, 2015

The video starts before the board meeting actually began. You will see a summons server serving four of the school board members with legal documents pertaining to a amended lawsuit against board member Marti Sageman. The amended suit now includes these four board members and also there is another lawsuit seeking to have the courts invalidate the resolution that was passed on July 20th by these four board members.

On the meeting agenda:
- Citizen Participation begins at 4:59
- Agenda Adjustments begins at 7:43
- Priority School Quarterly Report begins at 9:30
- High School Update By Mr. McCarthy begins at 18:15
- Searching For New Legal Counsel Discussion begins at 26:26
- Deficit Elimination Plan (DEP) Update and Approval begins at 34:43
- Personnel Report begins at 44:46
- Superintendent Search Discussion/Appointment begins at 47:34
- Board's Responses To Public Comments and Questions Discussion begins at 50:18
- Board And Superintendent Comments begin at 1:02:00


Four board members, Jay Bruns, Larry Long, Robert Lange, and Dempsey Allen were all served with legal papers pertaining to lawsuits filed by Attorney Philip Ellison.  One of the suits is against the school board for violating the Open Meeting Act by going into the closed session at the July 20th school board meeting and also to have the resolution that they voted to approve at that meeting declared invalid by the court.  Mr. Ellison has some very detailed grounds for the claim laid out in the suit.
The four board members that voted to approve the resolution have also been added to the original lawsuit against board member Marti Sageman for misappropriation of public funds, based on their vote for the resolution.  You can view the details of both of these lawsuits and the resolution passed here on my blog.  Mlive also has posted a article today about the four members being added to the lawsuit - http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2015/08/more_bridgeport_school_board_m.html#incart_river

There was a Priority School Quarterly Report presented by Mrs. Duran.  It sounds like they have put a lot of work into this plan for the future and it sounds like some very positive and good changes are being put into place.  I wish them luck and applaud all their hard work and dedication.

Mr. McCarthy had a update of some of the new things that will be coming for the upcoming school year.  One of the exciting things they have is the Project Lead The Way engineering program.  MLive did a article on this earlier this year, you can view it here - http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2015/05/bridgeport_students_preparing.html  
They will be offering things like a Computer Science class that will feature Coding, a Chinese language class, new textbooks, one hour lunch program.  They will be looking into adding the Air Force Jr. ROTC program.  I see many positive changes coming from the administration and staff of the Bridgeport Schools!

They had a discussion about looking for a new legal counsel firm to use.  They agreed they will no longer be using the firm of Masud Law Group.  They do also have another firm Clark & Hill they will continue to use and will be looking into local firms for future use.

Melissa Cabine gave a update on the current Deficit Elimination Plan and they voted to approve it.  Positive outlook for the future of Bridgeport Schools in the plan.
They voted on some new hires during the Personnel Report.

At the August 10th board meeting Board Vice President Pat Nelson presented a motion to table any decision on which firm to use for the Superintendent Search until the September meeting. 

They also discussed the board's policy for responding to comments and questions from the public.  I can't say that they actually ended up with a consensus for handling this issue in the future.  In my opinion, comments and questions directed at specifically the school board should be answered by the school board, if it is a issue involving the schools and students, that should probably best be answered by the Superintendent. 

The board and superintendent comments are also worth listening to from this school board meeting.  The next school board meeting will be held on September 14th.

Misappropriation Lawsuit Against Marti Sageman Amended To Include Four Other Bridgeport School Board Members

Let me start this post by putting the sequence of events in order here:
-- Lawsuit filed against Bridgeport School Board member Marti Sageman for misappropriation of funds.  You can view the lawsuit here - http://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2015/07/lawsuit-on-behalf-of-bridgeport-school.html
-- At the July 20th Bridgeport School Board Meeting the board members voted on a resolution to approve the separation agreement and the monies paid to Jennifer McDonald.  That separation agreement and the monies are the basis of the lawsuit against Marti Sageman.
You can view the July 20th meeting here - http://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2015/07/bridgeport-school-board-special-meeting_21.html
You can view a copy of the actual resolution passed at that meeting here - http://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2015/08/resolution-approving-settlement-from.html
-- On August 14th Attorney Philip Ellison filed a suit seeking to have the court invalidate the resolution passed at the July 20th meeting.  You can view that suit here -  http://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2015/08/lawsuit-filed-seeking-to-invalidate.html

On August 14th, Mr. Ellison also amended the original misappropriation lawsuit to include the four board members that voted to approve that resolution, Jay Bruns, Larry Long, Robert Lange, Dempsey Allen.  Some of the arguments included in the amendment are:

- That at no time did these Defendants actually investigate, conduct hearings, or interview the parties involved, including Superintendent Thomas Hill and/or Jennifer McDonald.
- That in other words, these Defendants wrongfully used their political voting power to aid in the concealment of stolen, embezzled, or converted property in the form of monies belonging to the taxpayers of the BRIDGEPORT-SPAULDING COMMUNITY SCHOOLS and/or its BOARD OF EDUCATION as misappropriated by Defendant MARTHA SAGEMAN.

You can view the amended lawsuit here.  The part where they add the other four board members begins on the end of page 4 and continues through page 7.   Click on the photos to see a larger version:








You can follow the progress of this lawsuit on the Circuit Court website -- http://www.saginawcounty.com/Apps/ClerkSearches/CircuitCivilDetail.aspx?caseNo=15-027138-CZ






Lawsuit Filed Seeking To Invalidate Resolution Passed By Bridgeport School Board On July 20th, 2015

Attorney Philip Ellison filed a complaint on August 14th seeking to have the resolution invalidated that was passed by the Bridgeport School Board on July 20th.
You can view the resolution on this blog post - http://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2015/08/resolution-approving-settlement-from.html
You can follow the progress of this suit on the Circuit Court website - http://www.saginawcounty.com/Apps/ClerkSearches/CircuitCivilDetail.aspx?caseNo=15-027422-CZ
I could try to summarize his grounds for this complaint but it is better to view the entire legal complaint itself.  There are some interesting facts in this complaint, here are just a few highlights from the complaint -

-- Undertaking a political attempt to thwart the return of monies to the taxpayers within the Bridgeport-Spaulding Community Schools as misappropriated by current trustee Martha A. Sageman.
-- That it is suspected that Defendant BRIDGEPORT-SPAULDING COMMUNITY SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION did not, in closed session, actually review evidence to support the findings of fact outlined in the July 20, 2015, but rather sought ways, via a false resolution, to politically protect trustee Martha A. Sageman’s prior illegal misappropriations of funds.
-- That in support of this belief, trustee Martha A. Sageman voted to ratify her own illegal conduct, despite being a named defendant in another case and having a direct conflict of interest.

Just click on these photos to see the larger version:










Monday, August 24, 2015

Resolution Approving Settlement From July 20th, 2015 School Board Meeting

People have commented that they could not understand exactly what was said at the July 20th School Board Meeting concerning the resolution that was passed by the school board concerning the separation agreement signed by former Elementary Principal Jennifer McDonald.  It was confusing to listen to.  I have a copy of the resolution that was passed and hopefully that will be a little easier to understand.

Here is the three page resolution that was voted on by the board members with a 5 to 2 vote.  Click on the pictures to see a larger image:




The original separation agreement signed by Jennifer McDonald was drawn up by Attorney Gary Patterson from the Masud Law Group, one of the regular law firms used by the Bridgeport School District.  At the July 20th School Board Meeting it appeared to me that it was Attorney Gary Patterson that presented the Resolution To Approve Settlement Agreement to the school board in the closed session and that the school board members then voted to approve that. 

After the July 20th School Board Meeting, Attorney Gary Patterson sent a letter to Attorney Philip Ellison concerning the lawsuit that was filed by Mr. Ellison on behalf of the Bridgeport School Board against Marti Sageman.  I wondered why he did that since he is not involved in any way with that lawsuit, except as Mr. Ellison points out in his response to him that he is a witness to the lawsuit?  I am not a legal scholar but to my simple mind it seems like Mr. Patterson has a conflict of interest in the drafting of the resolution and in the letter he sent to Mr. Ellison.
Here is the letter sent to Attorney Philip Ellison by Attorney Gary Patterson and also Mr. Ellison's response.  Click on the pictures to see a larger image:




At tonight's school board meeting the board discussed not using the Masud Law Group any longer for their legal needs.





Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Oops - Sometimes I Fail

Sometimes I can't keep up with everything going on here in Bridgeport.  There was a DDA Board Meeting today and I totally forgot about it. Sorry!!
Bridgeport Township is very good about sending out emails through their email program.  You can sign up on their website - http://www.bridgeportmi.org/   They send out notices of the upcoming meetings, the agenda's for the meetings, the minutes of the meetings afterwards.  I can't find a email about this months DDA meeting but I should have still remembered about it.  They will probably post the meeting minutes on the website - http://www.bridgeportmi.org/index.php/2013-02-01-18-52-47/downtown-development-authority.html

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Bridgeport School Board Meeting August 10th, 2015

On the agenda:
- Superintendent Search Firm Presentations
A. Metro Bureau begins at 0:55
B. Michigan Association of School Board (MASB) begins at 28:22
C. Carl Hartman begins at 1:14:00
- Citizen Participation begins at 1:24:40
- Agenda Adjustments begins at 1:32:39
- Payment Of The Bills and Minutes begins at 1:33:45
- Personnel Report begins at 1:37:06
(There is a break in the video at about 1:42:48 because I had to change batteries)
- Further Discussion On Superintendent Search Firms begins at 1:53:01
- Board Member Comments begin at 1:54:05



First up on the agenda was a presentation by three different search firms that are vying for the contract to do the Superintendent search.  I thought the presentations by Metro Bureau and the MASB were both very good presentations.  I was a little more sold by the Metro Bureau, several others I have spoken to were sold on the MASB.  I think they both are a good choice. Board President Jay Bruns was hoping to make a decision that evening on which firm they would choose.  Later in the meeting Vice President Pat Nelson made a motion to table it until September to give all the board members time to review the choices thoroughly.  I was glad to see that done.  I can agree with getting a head start on this process, but since Interim Superintendent Carol Selby has a one year contract, I am not sure what is the big hurry to do it now.  I hope when they do start the search they will look at any internal applicants that may be qualified and interested in the position.  Attracting a good applicant to this district will be hard with all the problems they have had, with the DEP and the Priority School Status.  Someone that is already in the district and knows the problems and the strengths of the district might have a good chance of success.

There were three speakers during the Citizen Participation segment.   First up was John Rhines.  I wish more residents put in the time and energy that he puts in to working for the benefit of this school district and community.  He did call out Jay Bruns for the statements Mr. Bruns made at the July 20th meeting that he felt questioned his integrity.  Mr. Rhines showed a large folder full of the documents that he has to back up all the statements he has made while speaking at the podium.  Looked like a folder full of "The Truth" to me.
Next was Donna Moore representing the Bridgeport Spaulding Athletics Association.  They will not be able to open the concession stands during sporting events at the schools because they do not have enough volunteers.  They need board members for the association and volunteers to help man the events.  I am sad to think that there are not members of this community and parents that will step in to help out.  You can view their Facebook page here - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bridgeport-Spaulding-Athletics-Association/860244367343664
Last up was Amanda Adams.  She is a Bridgeport resident and school alumni.  She talked about and asked for the board to give some clarification on the subject of the separation agreement with Jennifer McDonald and whether the board members knew or didn't know about it all.  I think there are many Bridgeport residents that are wondering about and would like to know the truth about this.  They didn't know, they did know...  They were "generally aware" of it... Yeah, Whatever.......

During the Personnel Report segment there were some new hires approved.  There was a long debate about one new hire that was not approved.  Complicated issue with valid points on all sides of the debate.  It sounds like this is a needed position and I hope they can work something out.

During the Board Member comment period there were some great comments made by Mrs. Tedi Morris and Mr. Dempsey Allen.  Their comments were an example of why I think so highly of both of them.  I was surprised by Mr. Long's reaction to Mr. Allen's comments.  I didn't have the impression that Mr. Allen was talking about the vote that night for the new hire that was not approved, so I don't understand why Mr. Long reacted the way he did?

The next board meeting will be held August 24th.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

33rd Annual Great Lakes Rendezvous August 14-15-16, 2015


They have moved their event to Davis Park Island here in beautiful downtown Bridgeport this year.   Hoping to see lots of our Bridgeport residents come out and support them.  If you have never been to one of their events you are missing out.  It is a very interesting and fun event.  You can click on the photo to see a larger version.  They will be having many events and the canoe race will be Saturday the 15th at 2pm.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Bridgeport Township Board Meeting August 4th, 2015

On the agenda:
Public Comment begins at 3:30
Unfinished Business -
- Parks & Recreation Update begins at about 5:00
- Fire Station Renovation Status begins at 13:18
New Business -
- Set Public Hearing Date to create IFT District - begins at 21:51
- R-15-14 Relocation of Watermains - MDOT begins at 23:30
Board Member Comments begin at 27:11


Sometimes going to all the meetings for Bridgeport Township and the School Board can be boring, sometimes stressful and sometimes very enjoyable.  Last nights meeting was one of the enjoyable nights.  It was a short meeting with a few laughs and a positive atmosphere.
Parks & Recreation Director Bill Wheeler gave a update on some of the events that have taken place this year and more that will be happening. Coming up on August 14th through the 16th there will be the Great Lakes Rendezvous held at Davis Park.  I love that event.  I used to go years ago when it was held out in the Freeland area.  Really looking forward to it coming here.
Fire Chief Pat Nelson gave a update on the repairs on the fire station and more updates about the Fire Department and staff.
Board member comments and the comments from Rose Licht Township Manager are always informative.  Lots of things going on and coming up here in Bridgeport.  Just a few mentioned are the Stream Bank Erosion Project that will be taking place this month here in the Cass River along Fort Rd area.  The Bridgeport Police Department was able to obtain a Humvee from the military program.  This will be used for severe weather times.  Thanks to Bob Miller from Miller Auto Body Shop for donating his time and labor to paint the Humvee.  Bob Miller and Chief Duffet did all the work on it, and Quality Auto gave them the paint for the project "at cost".  This is a good deal for Bridgeport.
Township Supervisor Augie Tausend talked about which townships require the residents to pay for the sidewalk repairs and which ones don't.  Like he says it would be great if the township  had the finances to pay for the repair and upkeep work.  This is one of those issues that I see both sides of.  The Libertarian side of me just screams NO that's not right; The Community Member side of me says let's all pitch in and do our part and keep our community looking good and a great place to live.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Truth Or Lies? Part 2 - Allegations Against The Bridgeport School District

I finally have some more time to continue to address the abuse allegations made against the Bridgeport Spaulding School District in the Title VI complaint filed by the Detroit Board Of Education with the Department of Justice.
Part 1 post on this subject can be viewed here - http://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2015/08/truth-or-lies-allegations-against.html

First let me address the photos that were included in the complaint filed.
- One photo shows a woman with her hand on the door knob of a door.  That photo proves nothing.  You do not see any child involved there.  There is no date or time stamp on that photo so there is no way to prove when it was taken.  None of the photos provided in this claim show a date or time stamp.  It is claimed that the white teachers at Bridgeport used discipline that was not applied to any white students, only the African American students that were sent to Bridgeport after the closure of their Buena Vista schools.  They claim that room is a closet that the BV students were locked in.  I read a response from a Bridgeport resident that said that "closet" is actually a room "where kids who are having behavior problems and are expressing it in a violent way are sent to help them calm down. .... In the one shown in the picture, there's a bean bag chair and some soft, squishy balls. The child can throw these balls at the wall until they calm down or they can sit in the bean bag chair until they calm down."  They claim that this was part of a award winning program that was closed down recently.  I plan on trying to find out more information out about this room and program and will share it in another blog post.
- Another photo shows 4 youths standing against a outside wall of Martin G. Akins School here in Bridgeport.  The claim says that African American students from the former Buena Vista schools were "being forced to stand outside instead of receiving instruction in the classroom for imagined offenses".  According to people from Bridgeport the reason why students stand or sit against that wall outside is -  "As for the other picture that is the elementary/middle school and that's how the kids have been disciplined for years during recess if they pushed, shoved, or were fighting they were told to sit by the wall. "  I saw posts from Bridgeport residents, including current students, that said either they or someone they had known had been forced to stand or sit by that wall during recess because of misbehavior.  Children of all races have to do this, not just the students from BV.  This has also been going on for years before any children from BV were transferred to the Bridgeport schools.
- The last photo in the claim filed by Detroit BOE shows a a door with a tall skinny window in it, and inside you see the back of a man standing in the room and on the floor you can see a foot or a boot lying on the floor.  That is it.  That means nothing.  They claim that BV students are forced to lie on the floor for punishment and claim this photo is proof of that.  This photo does not prove that to me.  There could be so many explanations for all of these photos other than what they claim is behind them.
Bridgeport is a small township and if these kind of things were going on in our schools, people in this township would be talking about it.  Believe me, it would be talked about!  I have never heard one word about anything like this going on and neither has anyone that I have talked to about these allegations.

In the claim they say that the anonymous teacher and witnesses were afraid to come forward because of fear of retaliation.  If someone really felt that the students from BV were being abused, did they ever try to speak to anyone in the Bridgeport School District to try and put a stop to it?  If they were really afraid of retaliation, they could have gone to other local sources to try and stop it.  
They could have gone to a School Board meeting and made a public presentation to present their evidence.  I think most people here in Bridgeport know that I video tape the meetings and post them on YouTube and on my blog.  Doing a presentation there in front of the camera for all to see would have protected them from the risk of retaliation.  If I saw evidence that supported their claims, then I would have been in full support of them!
They could have contacted any of the local police agencies if they felt the children were in danger of abuse.  That would have been investigated and I am sure that they would have protected the identity of the informant.  We have the Bridgeport Township Police Department, the Saginaw County Sheriff's Department, and the Michigan State Police Department.
They could have contacted any of  the local media outlets and shared their story.  I am sure their identities would have been protected then also.  The schools in our area get a fair amount of coverage in the local media and a story like this would have probably been a big story.
They could have gone to sources like the Saginaw ISD or maybe the Michigan Department of Education.  What about the Michigan State Board Of Education?  What about any of our local politicians?  Did this anonymous teacher or witnesses ever try to contact anyone locally?  
If I felt that students were truly being abused that would have been my first course of action and I would not have been worried about myself, only for the safety of the students that were supposedly being abused.

This is a area that I am not comfortable even going to, the discussion of race.  Decades ago I saw some true Southern racism in the deep south of the US and that is something that has left a lifelong  impression on me.  The talk of race or racism is disturbing to me, but since race plays the major role in the claims against Bridgeport then I will go there now.
Lets go back to the first statement in this claim - that Bridgeport is a "predominately white" school district.  I have already shared the facts to disprove this claim.  Let me share them again here:
From the MI School Data website - https://goo.gl/QXLybS
Look up the Bridgeport Spaulding Community School District and it shows that the
- African American students are 53.14% of the student population
- White students are 24.41% of the student population
- Hispanic students are 15.76% of the student  population
- Students identifying as two or more races make up 6.4% of the student population
This is for the student population of the school district.  I do not know what the percentage is of African American teachers here in the Bridgeport School District.  
I do know some of the staff and school board members in Bridgeport that are African American.  First we have Mrs. Carol Selby the current Interim Superintendent of the Bridgeport Spaulding School District.  Anyone can read my blog posts and see that I am a big supporter of Mrs. Selby, and I am not the only supporter she has here.  At the Bridgeport School Board Meeting held on April 13th, 2015 there was a petition presented to the school board from the Bridgeport Education Association asking that then Acting Superintendent Selby be given a contract that would keep her on through the end of the 2015-16 school year.  This petition was signed by 70 members of the BEA.  That might be surprising if you truly believed that the "predominately white" Bridgeport school district was biased against African Americans.  It is not surprising to any who know the truth about the Bridgeport School District and especially those who know Mrs. Selby.
We also have two other lovely women of color here that I come in contact with through the board meetings.  They are both outstanding women, Melissa Cabine and Robin Johnson.
We then have two members of the Bridgeport School Board that are African American.  Mrs. Tedi Morris and Mr. Dempsey Allen.  I think very highly of both of them and I believe that others do also.
I may not always agree with every decision or action taken by these members of our school district, but I will never doubt their integrity or their desire to do what is best for the students here in Bridgeport and the Bridgeport School District.  I also believe that if these claims of abuse against former BV students were actually taking place here, these members would have done everything in their power to stop it.

Lastly I want to address what I feel was very reckless actions taken by the Detroit BOE, the author of the article on Addicting Info website,  and the Go Left America organization.  It doesn't appear to me that any of these people or groups did anything to verify any of this information that was provided in this allegation against the Bridgeport School District.  A comment made by someone from the Go Left America group on a post on their Facebook page on the post where they shared the news article from Addicting Info, says "It is not for us to decide, it is only for us to give what citizens wish to share out of concern to others to decide".  This was part of their response to my concerns that I had posted over the news article and the basis of this information.  This response reminds me of the saying "Kill them all and let God sort 'em out".  I find it disgusting and extremely irresponsible.
Did anyone involved in the gathering, sharing or posting of this information have any concern of the damage that this kind of allegation could have upon the students or the Bridgeport School District?  If this claim is found to have been made in error because of someone's misunderstanding or even possibly if the basis of this claim turns out to be intentionally falsified to hurt the Bridgeport School District, what happens to the students and district?  Can the damage be undone then?  If the story turns out to have no merit or is proven intentionally false, will the Detroit BOE, the author at Addicting Info, the groups Go Left America and Save Michigan's Public Schools, will they be so quick to jump on that story and share it all over the internet?  Will they even care at that point about what happens to the Bridgeport Schools and children?



Saturday, August 1, 2015

Truth Or Lies? Allegations Against The Bridgeport School District


When I first read these outrageous allegations I was literally dumbfounded, then I was angry!
I thought why give this any credibility by even discussing it or sharing it?  The problem is that these allegations are already being shared on the internet.  This story is out there and being read by people that know nothing about the Bridgeport School District or our students and staff.  Sadly most of them will too willingly believe it for whatever reasons.

The Detroit Board of Education has filed a Title VI Complaint against Governor Rick Snyder and the State of Michigan.  How does the Bridgeport School District fit into this?  Contained in their complaint on page 77 is this statement about the Bridgeport Schools:

"IV - Teacher Photos Submitted of Disparate Discipline to African American Buena Vista students in Predominantly White Bridgeport School District

The School Board acquired photos from a teacher.  The Summary Complaint is not able to use anonymous witness statements from individuals who do not at least have documentation.  We have received documentation from witnesses that we also cannot use because the documentation would not protect the identity of the witness, which would mean the person might still be retaliated against.  In this case, the teacher is taking photos of white teachers disciplining black students in a disparate way because they are black.  The students, we were told, come from Buena Vista, the school district which the Governor dissolved.  Now students must travel farther, to an area where they are not welcome.  The teacher states that the students complain of being harassed and traumatized.  This includes being forced to stand outside instead of receiving instruction in the classroom for imagined offenses.  They are also locked in a closet as another form of discipline and forced to lie on the floor.
If the students are not welcome, and disciplined so that they miss instruction, they are being denied the right to a free public education.  If they are being harassed and disciplined differently because of their race, this is a violation of Title VI.  We are forwarding the information for investigation."

You can view the entire complaint filed here - http://www.joomag.com/magazine/title-6-complaint/0870604001438292163?short


These allegations were gathered by the Detroit Board of Education with help from the organization Go Left America, and people like the anonymous teacher from Bridgeport.
Did the Detroit BOE and the Go Left America organization ever bother to actually verify any of the information from this anonymous teacher?  Did they ever talk to anyone else here in the Bridgeport School District?  Did they truly believe these allegations, were they duped perhaps by a disgruntled employee with a grudge?  Or did they not even care if these allegations were true or false because they conveniently fit their political agenda?  These are questions that I am sure others besides myself will also ask.

These allegations may seem legitimate now to some because they are included in the complaint filed with the Department of Justice.  They must be true right or a organization like the Detroit Board of Education would not have included them in this official complaint?  That is how some naive people will think.

The first I saw of this complaint was in what I felt was a Hack Job news article posted on this website -  http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/07/30/detroit-school-board-files-massive-complaint-against-state-for-abuse-against-students-of-color-images/
This article also contains several of the alleged "abuse" photos.
Sadly this article is also being shared on sites like the Facebook page of Save Michigan's Public Schools - https://www.facebook.com/SaveMIPublicSchools
And the Facebook page of Go Left America - https://www.facebook.com/GoLeftAmerica

Readers of these sites are now sharing this article.  It has been shared hundreds of times now.  I would hope that any readers will take the time to check facts and ask questions before just blindly believing these allegations.  The first thing mentioned in the compliant filed and this news article is that Bridgeport Schools are "predominately white".  That is a very simple fact to verify, or in this case disqualify, by looking at the MI School Data website - https://goo.gl/QXLybS
Look up the Bridgeport Spaulding Community School District and it shows that the
- African American students are 53.14% of the student population
- White students are 24.41% of the student population
- Hispanic students are 15.76% of the student  population
- Students identifying as two or more races make up 6.4% of the student population

When the first "facts" about Bridgeport stated in the complaint and article are incorrect, how believable does that make the rest of the information?  No one reporting these allegations could bother to even verify something as simple as this?

Now that this story is out there this will become the new "Truth" about the Bridgeport School District.  Two years from now, maybe five years from now, someone will mention Bridgeport School District and maybe a comment will be made like "Oh isn't that the "white" school district that abused all those "students of color" that they didn't want?"

Bridgeport students, staff, residents all need to speak up and let everyone know that these allegations are false!!  Unwitting people reading this garbage will believe it unless someone stands up and defends Bridgeport!!  Go to the sites listed above and politely tell everyone that it is not true.

Contact the Detroit Board of Education and tell them that this is not the truth about Bridgeport!  Maybe if enough people from Bridgeport make their voices heard they will listen.  Here is the link to their website with the contact information - http://detroit.k12.mi.us/board/members/

Click here to read Truth Or Lies Part 2
http://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2015/08/truth-or-lies-part-2-allegations.html