Posted on 01/17/2006 7:37:34 PM PST by Full Court
Federal Judge U.W. Clemon used the 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast to urge underachieving municipal school systems to merge with Jefferson County's system.
He said it would be unrealistic to expect respected systems such as those of Mountain Brook, Hoover and Vestavia Hills to merge with the county system.
"But it shouldn't be a problem for the predominantly black and demonstrably inferior school systems such as Fairfield, Midfield, Bessemer and Birmingham to consider merging into a countywide system," Clemon said. "The principal obstacle to such mergers ... seems to be the egos of the politicians and the self-interest of the administrators and the school boards," he said.
Clemon, chief judge in the Northern District of Alabama, received scattered applause from almost 3,500 who attended the breakfast. He spoke at the breakfast held at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex's North Exhibit Hall.
Jefferson County Commission President Larry Langford said Clemon's school system idea is long overdue, but "I still don't think it's going to happen in my lifetime."
Other politicians and school board members in attendance doubted whether a regional system is realistic.
Mayor Bernard Kincaid said it is an idea worth exploring, but would need to be examined in-depth. He said one of the difficulties is that Birmingham spends much less than surrounding municipalities spend per pupil.
"Part of that is based on some of the municipalities taxing themselves," he said. "Would the areas he mentioned - Midfield, Bessemer in addition to Birmingham - be willing to tax themselves or are they able to tax themselves to provide more funding?"
Birmingham school board member Willie Maye Jr. said he would be supportive of any plan that's best for Birmingham's students.
Fairfield Alabama Mayor Michael Johnson said such an idea would threaten too many existing institutions and officials connected to those systems.
"All the superintendents would have to give up their jobs. All the school board members would have to give up their jobs, and that's not going to happen," Johnson said after a wreath-laying ceremony at Kelly Ingram Park. "There would be blood on the sidewalks."
In his keynote speech, Clemon also attacked the "conservative Christian" movement, saying the religious right doesn't have a monopoly on Jesus.
"They exert an exclusive copyright on Christ to tell us what God said. Some of us don't accept the copyright claim of Christian conservatives," he said.
Clemon said a conservative Christian revolution has shaped the political landscape the past 25 years and threatens civil rights gains.
The unity breakfast where Clemon spoke was one of several events commemorating the life of the slain civil rights leader, whose birthday was celebrated nationwide Monday.
E-mail: wsingleton@bhamnews.com
Those teacher's union votes are more important than providing quality education, I see.
And of course, more race-hate from lefties on Doctor King's holiday.
"Clemon said a conservative Christian revolution has shaped the political landscape the past 25 years and threatens civil rights gains."
You have to wonder whether he believes that tripe himself, and, if he does, how a person gets that confused.
School vouchers!
Yes. Every day I wake up wondering if Christian terrorists will seize my kids school and blow it up. When I drive, I have to be on the lookout for badges with Bibles who'll will profile and arrest me for not being Christian.
................................................................................................I'm kidding.
Tke it up with the NEA
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1500338
Stupid in America
How Lack of Choice Cheats Our Kids Out of a Good Education
By JOHN STOSSEL
If you would like to drop Mr. Singleton a line and thank him for having the bravery to describe Clemon's tirade against Christains for what it was, his email is wsingleton@bhamnews.com.
If you would like to write the editorial page of the Bham news and voice your outrage at Clemon's remarks the address is epage@bhamnews.com.
He believes it.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-10-05-ala-governor_x.htm
U.W. Clemon is a Democrat hack who has run interference for one of the most corrupt governors the State of Alabama has ever had.
"Those teacher's union votes are more important than providing quality education, I see."
I almost think we need a Constitutional Amendment specifying the personnel that a public school may hire.
One principal, one vice principal, one nurse, X teachers per student, X lunch ladies per student, X janitors per specified unit of floor area, and no one else, ever. School boards shall be unpaid. The duties of the superintendant shall be restricted to ensuring that students' test scores meet criteria, or, if they don't, that failing teachers and/or principals are fired and replaced.
Throwing money at the mess we have now isn't going to help a thing.
This is the same judge who let Alabama Dem. Gov. Seigleman walk free even though the evidence showed he was guilty.
http://suppressednews.com/newsitems/local/EpAZyZykykoDGJlEyF.html
"He believes it."
Well, then, he's obviously unqualified for public office, and should be removed.
We think alike.
See post 12.
His daughter works for a very important company in Birmingham.
Baptist ping
He will never be removed. He is the darling of the white liberals in Birmingham.
Disregarding the voucher question, which I wholeheartedly support, I have a big problem with this article.
What's behind the theory that a unified school district would do any better?
The Los Angeles Unified School district is just plain awful, and there is not even the pretense of local control. Everything comes from the center, and they have made some incredibly bad decisions, including blowing over $100 million on a brand new, state of the art school built on top of major methane deposits. Many think this building is too dangerous to use as a school, and last time I looked, it was still rotting.
Is that what we want?
D
Baptist ping
It's a local push by the Liberals in Birmingham.
They want to take control away from some of the school districts. They claim they just want to take the ones that are failing, but if unification would really work, they would try and take all of them.
"School District" is just a euphemism for the Marxian "School Collective".
Even the Soviet Russians abandoned that idea when they saw what a failure it was.
In American Academia, where Marxism is elevated to a blind-faith religion, we can see in practice the maxim, "It is insane to repeat a process and expect different results."
As for the "Public Schools" (euphemism for socialist indoctrination day camps), no matter how much money you give them, it will NEVER, EVER be enough.
I can promise you that.
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