By Patricia Morris
Another problem with this case being back in court is this has now gone so far beyond race. It now shows it is about class and money, who will get the greater share of the money, and who will see to it being done this way, and who will pay for those who will get the greater share and benefit. The NAACP has pushed, and continues to push to have a Federal Forensic Compliance Audit done; one of this type that has NEVER been done in this school system, because our research shows the TPSS has money, and plenty of it. Of course they have Legislative Audits done, but these types of audits are not as thorough as the Forensic Audit is.
A former school board member questioned why this type of audit had not been done, and on the night of the question asked, I thought Mr. Kolwe was going to have a heart attack, because he turned so red in the face, and immediately began to ask the board member to tell him (Kolwe) what he (board member) wanted to know and he would tell him. Of course, the forensic audit was never done, and this particular board member was unseated.
This school system has a serious problem with accountability and transparency, and has always been so, but is something sorely needed.
What some of the current school board members and the superintendent do now is continue to attempt to discredit the NAACP and its President in continuing to mislead the public into thinking it is the NAACP's fault they are in the position they are in now. This is not true. We simply questioned why some things are continuing to happen. Instead of coming to the table to settle this, the school system and some of the board members continue to view this as their being torn down, and continue to threaten employees using unconventional means of causing the employees to think they will become unemployed if some of the current board members are not re-elected to office. We get these types of calls all of the time. The answer is simple. No one controls your vote except you. It is your constitutional right to vote as you please, and be able to do so without outside pressures or influences.
If you are afraid, and continue to be so, then what we have now is what we will have for the next four years, and it needs to stop and be fixed. We can no longer see our schools go in the direction of continued failure. The teachers need to be able to teach their students without fear. Money being spent on attorneys from both sides need to go in the classrooms with the students and teachers. The parents need to be assured they will have a proactive part in their child's education. We all need to realize we are in this together, and without each other, our children will continue to fail in a school system that continues to plummet. Schools in New Orleans are a perfect example of what can be done when people work with each other, as opposed to against each other. We can no longer condone politicians who work for us, the taxpayers, when in fact, their own personal interests and agendas continue to surface, and who want to continue to work with something/someone that is causing massive failures in this school system; simply stated, it is time for positive change to happen, lest we become St. Helena Parish.
The proverbial "Handwriting is on the Wall." If you want to see things changed for the better, please join all others in voting for positive change, and placing candidates in office who are willing to come to the table of settlement to reach an agreement on what should be done to settle this decades old lawsuit, and stop wasting money needlessly on attorney's fees from both sides on something we, the citizens of this parish can settle in having school board members on board who know reaching a settlement agreement, and complying with the settlement agreement is the right thing to do.
However you decide, simply exercise your right to vote, because one vote does make a difference. We do not need a massive building plan, and we certainly do not need any new taxes. If you do not vote, you risk the chance of being saddled with higher property taxes, even if you do not have children in this school system and own huge properties. You must decide who has been truthful, and who has not.
The GTPB NAACP does not support a school being built in Pumpkin Center. There is no need for one, and this is the brainchild of the TPSS and not that of the NAACP as is now being said. We are not interested in bussing as you are being told by some of the administrators and school board members, and a former superintendent, but the TPSS knows that if their plan is implemented, and the massive tax is passed, the programs in their plan would require bussing, simply because all of the programs they want in certain schools will not be in all of the schools across Tangipahoa Parish. For example, if a child in Kentwood wants to learn how to become a welder, a very lucrative and a high salaried job, they will have to be bussed by the school system from Kentwood to Ponchatoula, and vice versa, if a student from Ponchatoula High School wants to learn how to be a dancer, or a cook - they must be bussed from Ponchatoula to Kentwood. It is that simple, and this is their brainchild and not that of the GTPB NAACP. This idea was hatched when the school system was meeting to formulate a plan.
Finally, the administration of the TPSS knows what they have done. They can no longer blame the NAACP for their ineptness in continuing to mislead the public, and keeping board members in place who will continue their methods of having a majority vote to promote their own agendas, and that of the current superintendent. It is time for positive change to happen in this school system, and that time is now.
The choice is yours; you decide.
By Patricia Morris
If anyone's vote is threatened, this is illegal, and you simply need to call and report it to the FBI. Simply ask the former Chief of Police in Independence about doing such things. The FBI will pick up the threat from that point. If anyone attempts to pay you to vote a certain way, this too, is illegal, and should be reported to the FBI as well. Until we stand up and say enough is enough, and we will no longer be intimidated for exercising our constitutional right to vote, much of what you see happening will continue to happen. Those who do these types of things are more afraid than they appear to be; simply because they know when caught, they will go to jail for doing so.
There was a news story that said the deadline for registering to vote was a couple of Fridays ago. A school board candidate challenged this in going to the Secretary of State's Office, who cleared up the matter in stating that the deadline for registering to vote for the October 2, 2010 Election is 30 days prior to an election. When this matter was presented to the Tangipahoa Parish Registrar of Voters Office, the response was, "I made a mistake."
It is this and other types of shenanigans that is continuously done to keep things as they are, and it should not be done. A similar thing happened to an NAACP member's son who registered for the first time to vote, after reaching the age of 18. This is wrong, and it needs to stop.
Finally, DO NOT believe the rhetoric and intimidation of being told lies to keep the black and white communities separated. This is the type of alleged thing that was done when the Ministerial Alliance met with Kolwe and Link and their being asked to separate from me, and they would be given a black principal at Hammond High School. Together, we can make positive change happen for all of our children. Look at the facts presented. Certainly, enough proof has been presented, with the links to verify that the information presented is accurate for you, the voters to verify for yourselves. DO NOT let what is being said about race be a determining factor in what your decision will be. It is no longer about race. It is about class and money, and was always the case. DO NOT continue to be guided into the wrong direction because there are those who want to protect their special interests and agendas when children suffer in this school system, and teachers have a hard time getting what is needed in their classrooms to teach the children. It is just within the past year or so that teachers have begun to see come to fruition some of the things they have always needed placed in their schools/classrooms. This should have been done years ago, but was not. Nonetheless, as it is being done, do not be misled again into thinking this system is monetarily broken. It is not.
The school system is administratively and some school board members broken, and has been since forced integration in 1969. It is time for positive change to happen and to see it happen now to fix the problems that plaque and ail our school system.