Political News Feeds
- The latest news releases from Tennessee political parties, candidates and elected officials. If your feed needs to be included here and isn't, let us know.
TN Department of Education Announces School Counselor InstituteEducating the Whole ChildNASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education is proud to announce the fifth annual Tennessee School Counselor and Administrator Leadership Institute beginning next week in Murfreesboro. This year’s theme, “The 360 Approach: Educating the Whole Child,” addresses the critical need of ensuring that our students are both college- and career-ready. read more [Link]
Governor Bredesen, Commissioner Kisber Announce Expansion of VW Supplier in TennesseeSL Tennessee, LLC to Invest $35 Million and Create 300 New Jobs in Clinton NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber today joined with executives of SL America to announce a $35 million expansion of SL Tennessee, LLC, a company subsidiary operating in Clinton, Tenn.. The expansion will create 300 new jobs and add ... [Link]
Devaney Statement on Tennessee Democrat Reps Voting to Raise U.S. Debt Limit Another $1.9 TrillionNASHVILLE, TN – Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney issued the following statement after Tennessee Democrats voted to raise America’s debt limit by $1.9 trillion which follows a vote in December to raise the debt limit by $290 billion: “Tennessee Democrats just don’t get it,” said Devaney. “Once again, President Obama and Speaker Pelosi have won out over hard-working families ... [Link]
Recreation Initiative Program Grant Cycle Announced; Workshop Slated for March 3NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is soliciting Tennessee Recreation Initiative Program grant applications from local governments that do not currently have parks or recreation departments. TRIP grants help communities create recreation opportunities for citizens by assisting with the establishment of a parks department. Applications are due April 15, 2010, and award recipients will be announced in ... [Link]
Print This Post
Jul
8
“Refusal to Resegregate Nashville”
By Amy Griffith | Filed Under Metro Schools, Pedro Garcia, Zoning
A paper apparently written by former Director of Schools Pedro Garcia has been made available to the press by school board members Ed Kindall and George Thompson. I say “apparently written” because Garcia himself has not returned City Paper calls to confirm or deny his authorship. Both Thompson and Kindall, however, say they received this from Garcia, and that Garcia was comfortable with its distribution.
The audience of this paper is not clear. It was written in the weeks immediately following Garcia’s resignation, according to its date. As reported in this story, some of the people referenced in the paper refute how their words were characterized. But Thompson and Kindall indicate they believe it all to be true.
With that said, here’s the paper. It’s undoubtedly a page-turner.
Comments
7 Responses to ““Refusal to Resegregate Nashville””
Comments Policy: The City Paper does not moderate comments before they appear on Nashville City Blogs and bears no responsibility or liability for comments posted by our readers. We do use an automatic spam filter and a dirty-words scrubber to screen out foul language. Comments with more than three hyperlinks may be automatically rejected as spam. Please stay on topic and play nice. Foul language and personal attack are not welcome here and egregious violations may result in your comment being deleted.
Leave a Reply
19 pages!!
Just downloaded. Will comment after digesting text. I just wonder if the word “Hispanic” is mentioned in the document, how many times and in what context(?).
Thanks Amy.
—C.A. Muedas
I for one am very much concerened that the re-segregation of metro schools is designed and intended by some to leave as many black children behind as possible. Regarding magnet schools, many affected families are concerned about minority test scores and grades being overlooked or ignored and deserving students being denied an opportunity to enter magnet school. This phenomenon is reminiscent of times 30 years past, when qualifying blacks were overlooked during Honor Society Induction ceremonies and the award of gold tassles at graduation.
Regarding city schools – already re-segregated inner city school kids have difficulty meeting the challenges of NCLB – not because they lack the aptitude, but because they lack the resources necessary to meet the goals of NCLB.
Five or six years ago, I spoke before the Nashville Board of Education, expressing my concerns about that which is happening now – what appears to be a deliberate effort by certain reactionaries to set black kids up for failure and put as many as possible on prison track by way of overreaching 0 tolerance policies, alternative schools and the juvenile court system. Even then, parents were discouraged from voicing educational and disciplinary concerns to teachers and principals – some even banned from scool grounds for exercising free speech on the subject of inadequate educational opportunities for inner city schools. For example, even then many inner city schoool kids had not been assigned books because there were supposedly not enough to go around. Moreover, in my son’s middle school, computers were not even offered as part of the curriculum although all metro kids would be tested on computers that year. Also, 5th graders were being taught 4th grade review work when schools across town were moving on to math that was more in line with the tests that the children would be required to pass.
Because of my expressed concerns, I was initially banned from getting out of my car to express future concerns or share same with other parents, with the threat of being arrested if I did so. This was based on false allegations upon which principal, teacher and resource officer conspired to agree, despite contrary evidence. Apparently, all that one needs to allege to shut up a complaining parent is that someone “felt threatened” whether the allegation is factual, reasonable or not. Of course, the principal later apologized noting that I was a good example of an involved parent, as she and the teacher had complimented me in the past. Further, she later encouraged me to continue to support my child and others as I had in the past by being involved and supportive of not just mine – but all of the other kids. Only then was I able to attend when my child was scheduled to perform for the public at school.
Interestingly enough, the board member whom Garcia accuses of twisting his arm on racial issues, is the one board member who reacted when my name was called to speak at the board meeting. Anyone who saw the recording noted her squirming and whispering reaction, which raised a question in my mind as to what role she must have played in the attempt to repress my legitimate exercise of free speech. Dont’ believe me? I still have the recording.
I read all 19 pages. Now many questions have been answered. It is always good to know the truth.
Thanks Dr. Garcia for all your hard work and dedication to improve the educational system of MNPS. And also thanks for not letting anyone change your personal values!! I can assure you that many will agree with me.
I don’t buy it consultmicesq. Many is spent like water on public education. Noone is trying to set black kids or inner-city kids or your kids up for failure. I will say, however, that you seem indifferent to whether others’ kids are negatively affected by busing.
I’m interested to hear your definition of “educational opportunity”? You don’t have to have used a computer to be tested on one. You don’t teach a certain math curriculum based on what kids at other schools may be studying. It is predictable that some schools will fail to meet the standards of NCLB. The purported “concerns” of “many parents” do not constitute a “phenomenon.”
I’m glad that you are passionate about your child’s education, and I encourage you to keep working for progress, but there’s only so much that a school system can do . . . schools are a reflection of a community. What reflection do you see in your child’s school?
Yikes, I just read Garcia’s paper and realized that he used almost the same metaphor about schools reflecting a community . . . alas, he and I seem to reach different conclusions despite having a common premise.
consultmiceqs, your comments are not substantiated, apparently you are not following research. The minority kids are not pushed behind, actually they are the majority of the mnps, which means white kids are pushed out of the system. Research shows even after correcting for SES, some minority groups still fall behind, which is explained by the level of parents’ education, attitudes toward education, their involvement in the judiciary system etc. Now, if you consider that we are all taxpayers here, people who are better educated and take education of their children seriously don’t have to compansate for the kids coming from deficient family backgrounds. They have every right not to want their children to go to school with the gang members, or kids exposed to crime and drugs in their regular home environment. Some things cannot be achieved by government force, and where we are today is just best indicator of this.
To the contrary asda, my findings are not only well researched but well documented, as you could see for yourself if you were to commit the time that I did to read the many resources upon which I have relied for a period of six years. For the sake of those who don’t believe or those who are in denial, I have assembled and catalogued my research so that even what I call teeny tiny articles of significant importance – for which certain local publishers are notorious – paint a picture that is worth a thousand words.
While we are on the subject, perhaps someone can explain why prior to the re-shuffling of certain magnet school students to a new and different “magnet” school from the one they had anticipated feeding into, there were segregated meetings of parents – the meeting of black parents being held at Metropolitan Church and parents of other students meeting elsewhere. Even this struck me as odd, since the primary feeder school was fully integrated, as was the original designated middle school. Even then I could not help but to wonder, what the purpose of separate meetings was but, realized the first week of school that they must have been privy to information that the Metropolitan parents were not, as they obviously elected to send their kids to other magnet schools – those which did offer computers as an option, and those that did teach math on the level the kids would be tested on, thereby preparing the kids for the demands of NCLB.
When kids are held to the same standards, it stands to reason that they should have the same required and necessary tools. Do you not agree?