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Letter to the Dispatch
by Judith Powell
March 19, 2006

This letter is in reference to your Editorial dated March 10, 2006, entitled Bogus Complaint. The article was written by either John F. Wolfe, Chairman, Publisher, and CEO, Michael F. Curtin, Vice Chairman, Michael Febrile, President, Benjamin Marrison, Editor, or Glenn Sheller, Editorial Page Editor, all of which were absent from the Columbus School Board meeting, which was held Tuesday, March 7, 2006. Since your Editorial was primary written about myself, I thought it befitting that I correct your many errors. The article was not signed, which leads me to my first question, Who wrote the article, Terry Boyd, perhaps?

I understand the difference between an accurate journalistic article and an Editorial. Let’s focus on the latter; an Editorial. This denotes your opinion and or feelings. Being the Editor of a newspaper, facts, creditability, and accuracy in reporting is paramount. This clearly was not the case in this article.

The local television stations were present at the School Board meeting, hence, not one of them reported any racial remarks being said to Groce, by any one in my party, or myself. Boyd was the only one that reported we made racial remarks toward Groce. If this were true, certainly the news media would have caught that on tape. Boyd is playing the race card. I must ask myself why, and who will profit from this action? Boyd is using the old Jim Crow mentality. He is posturing himself as, “Look Master I’m on your side, I’ll say whatever you want, even to the extent of selling Black people out and lying on them. This serious act of lying to the citizens of Columbus is enough for us to ask for his resignation. The last thing this city needs is a race riot, and it appears this is what his game plan is. Any elected official that is caught playing the race card should be removed from office.

Dispatch reporter Bill Bush, who interviewed me at the School Board, wrote in his article, entitled, “Shorter day OK’d at noisy meeting”, March 8, 2006, Powell said, “The protest was not because Groce is white. Our main complaint is she is not qualified to sit on the school board. She has never associated or affiliated herself in any means with the black community.” It is imperative that the disenfranchised, the under class and the lower class are represented, with fairness and justice. This is not the case in the Columbus Public School and many schools around the nation. The most needy children are unheard and without a voice, hope, future or dream. These are they we represent and speak for. They are the most in need and certainly without a voice or representation from the school board or social services.

Who ever sits on the school board controls the lives and future of children, that’s why were are concerned. We demand answers to our questions:

What has Groce done for the inner city kids? Has she taught in any inner city schools, or volunteered her time in the schools? In order to correct a problem, one needs the skills and tools to identify the problems. Those abilities will not be captured by living in the suburbs, away from the inner city way of life. Has she ever tutored black student, in order to have working hands on knowledge of their strengths and or weakness?

Why are these questions important? The School system is a total failure, that’s why. Where does the current members live? Do they really care about the inner city?

Boyd stated, some candidates had well known axes to grind. My question is, axes to grind with whom and for what reason? Seventeen other candidates all have an axe to grind? Prove it! In order for his charges to be valid, name names and state the occurrence. We have many qualified people who live in the inner city that have run for the board time after time, with years of dedicated service to our children.

The Board has forgotten that they were elected to uphold the community concerns and represent us, the taxpayer’s. They need to stop using this board as a stepping-stone for other political offices. If the board is not being the voice for equality, social change and par excellent in education for the children then clearly they should resign.

Let’s examine more facts about the School Board. Republican Justices, Andrew Douglas and Paul Pfeifer, along with Democrats Alice Robie-Resnick and Francis Sweeney said, “We admonish the General Assembly that it must create an entirely new school financing system. Their decision ruled that the Ohio’s current method of funding the public schools violates Article 6, Section 2 of the Ohio Constitution, that reads, in part: “The General Assembly shall make such provisions (to) secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state.” Six years ago, the Ohio Department of Education put the Columbus Public Schools on Academic Emergency. Little has changed in the past years; we are still in Academic Watch, with more that 50% of blacks students dropping out of school. What major improvements have the School Board made? As far back as September 1999, and extensive curriculum audit, conducted by Phil Delta Kappa informed the Columbus School Board, “There is a giant monster in this district that is being ignored and enabled, and it is ‘race.” A 52% drop out rate amongst black student. With 62% of the student body being black, you need board members, teachers, and staff who understand the history, culture, language, and dynamics, of the community they serve and have a vested interest in the success of students in that district. The Dispatch reported on February 23, 2006 that Groce said she lived on the west side of Columbus, and attended private schools. My question is, has Groce ever been inside of an inner city school? What difference can she make? If you don’t know why students are transferring out, ask Stephanie Hightower, (Former President of the School Board), why she moved her son. You don’t need Groce who is a former pollster to do an analysis on this. The School Board has an Accounting and Auditing Department already. Dispatch reporter Bill Bush talked with President Boyd, who said, “We expect this candidate to be a board member for all of the children. We do not expect her to segregate her vote or her focus, because none of the board members have done that.” I say, perhaps they should!! Let’s focus on the most imminent problems facing this district and the inner city schools, such as: How can the children compete in a global market place, when they are illiterate, undereducated, unable to compute, read, write and lacking in critical thinking, math and the science?

We need dedicated School Board Members who will investigate, the twenty million missing dollars that the current board refuses to examine. Superintendent Harris, gave herself a $43,000 pay raise, for what, when teachers and staff are being laid off, student are being dumbed down and drugged up. That money could have been the salary for a teacher for the whole year. Prisons are built on the third grade reading scores of children, as we all know. Everytime a student is put into Special Ed, the school systems receives and additional $5,000, on top of the $7,000 to educate the student. This is a money many industry. The stigma of being a slow learner will follow that student the rest of their life. Putting them on Ritalin and other drugs is not the answer for their education. This is used as a control factor, for the benefit of the system, not the student.

Former Director of Instructional Technology Sherry Bird Long, who the Columbus Dispatch disclosed stole more than a quarter of a million dollars then steered work to her husband’s firm E-Z Enterprises and expedited payments to the family business. Found guilty of the charges, she was not sentenced to jail time, her penalty is to pay back $40 a month, which means she will be making payment for the next 124 years. This was our taxpayer’s money. Boyd these actions are intolerable.

Over the past 15 years, the suburban schools added $3.4 BILLION in city property to their tax bases, leaving Columbus school districts with less than 64% of Columbus’ tax base in its area. Long Term trends suggest that the mostly minority district with disproportionately lower-income student will grow poorer. School Board meetings are held at 3:00PM while parents are at work. When working parents come to the School Board meetings, their questions and concerns are NEVER ANSWERED. Feedback is NEVER PROVIDED TO THEM! The Urban League hosted a Town Hall meeting for the black community when Boyd was running for office. He promised to make a positive difference in the life of black students. Yet cutting 500 jobs, closing 12 Schools, and cutting the budget by thirty-seven million dollars is not correct answer. Taking an hour out of the school day for middle and high school student is a determent to their education, their lives and certainly to their future earning power. Another lie and broken promise from President Boyd.

Little girls are being raped in the public schools and the School Board members did nothing, until they were forced. Drugs are being sold and distributed in and around the schools, yet you say, I am out of order and showed intolerance to Groce. I owe her nothing. I am in the pockets of NO MAN. What I displayed at the Columbus School Board is intolerance for corruption, racial profiling, and the killing of children, through a system that cares nothing for them. My behavior is called RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION.

With eighteen candidates applying for the Board seat, former teachers and educators, the question remains, what made Groce the best candidate, and what were the guidelines used to hire her?. Perhaps the School Board never heard of hiring outside Consultants. The article said Boyd should be commended, for what we ask? I say Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely. Bill Moss was correct when he said, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.”