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WHAT’S INSIDE Give ObamaCare time to work (Page A-5) It is hard to believe that so much time has passed since President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act. There are those who unfairly believe it should be moving along faster, says Paul Bridgewater.
April 1-7, 2015
michiganchronicle.com
Volume 78 – Number 29
Coalition: Elected board, no EAA By Bankole Thompson
The Education Achievement Authority (EAA) created by Governor Rick Snyder during his first term in office to help the lowest performing schools has been besieged by controversy and scandals leading to calls for it to cease to operate.
CHRONICLE SENIOR EDITOR
The Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren, made up of stakeholders of diverse backgrounds, has completed its set of recommendations to address the future of the Detroit Public Schools, which has seen deficit after deficit over the last decade.
The education coalition in its recommendation is calling for the EAA to be abolished as well while urging a change in state law for The report is coming after a Darnell Earley charter schools to become more 90-day period of preparation and at a time when DPS has lost thousands of transparent and accountable. students to suburban school districts. The The report specifically is calling, for the group is strongly recommending that the first time, the creation of the Detroit EduDPS be returned to its original form of an cation Commission (DEC) whose members elected board instead of an emergency man- will be appointed by the mayor of Detroit. ager controlled type of system. Many edu- Though the commission will have no role cation activists have long decried an emer- in how DPS operates in terms of budgetary gency manager for DPS, especially since the state takeover of the school district. See COALITION page A-4
DAVE BING, former Detroit mayor, Robert Bobb, former DPS emergency manager, and Rev. Jesse Jackson campaigning in Detroit to attract students to DPS. – Andre Smith photo
Debate rages on drug testing for welfare recipients
Dance competition (Page B-1) We Are STARZ dance team from the Oak Parkbased STAR II Center for Dance has been chosen by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the Detroit Pistons as the inaugural #MIKidsCanDance Contest winners.
Milllions of cardholders unprotected (Page B-4) When it comes to financial services, many consumers are surprised by the range of fees attached to their transactions, reports Charlene Crowell. Consumers are protected, but not in the case of prepaid cards.
By Zack Burgess EDITOR-AT-LARGE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE
FLOYD DENT and his attorney, Gregory Rohl, during a news conference last week to highlight the merciless beatings he endured at the hands of three Inkster police officers led by William Melendez. Melendez has been repeatedly sued in federal court by his victims and indicted by the Justice Department in 2003 for allegedly planting drugs on them. He walked away free.
Shame on Inkster police Attorney General Schuette should open an investigation
By Bankole Thompson
sideration; and, finally, the accused lawbreaker is tried, not by his peers, but too often by men who would rather punish ten innocent Negroes than let one guilty one escape.”
CHRONICLE SENIOR EDITOR
New gastropub opening downtown (Page C-1) An announcement was made recently that Dennis Archer, Jr. and Christopher Brochert, with partner Ken Karam, will be opening the Central Kitchen + Bar in the First National Building. The gastropub is scheduled to open in July.
In his seminal work, “The Souls of Black Folk,” W.E.B Du Bois renders a scathing critique of the American criminal justice system when he wrote, “Daily the Negro is coming more and more to look upon law Bankole and justice, Thompson not as protecting safeguards, but as sources of humiliation and oppression. The laws are made by men who have little interest
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Bill Schuette in him; they are executed by men who have absolutely no motive for treating the Black people with courtesy or con-
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“This is the war on the poor. Are we going to drug test other people who receive tax dollars? I don’t think so,” Coleman Young II (D) said after the bill passed in the Senate. “We’re going after a law that has been found unconstitutional in Florida and other states.”
See INKSTER
They also found that Blacks were more vulnerable to welfare sanctions when they had a history of being sanctioned in the past.
POLICE page A-4
African Americans may be particularly negatively impacted by this new law for several reasons. For example, in 2009, researchers determined how and why race influences sanctioning under welfare reform and found that African Americans are significantly more likely to be sanctioned by the welfare system than Whites.
In addition to this research, Blacks may also be more impacted by these welfare changes since they are more likely to use illegal drugs. In 2010, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that 9.5 percent of Black adults use illegal drugs,
See DRUG
TESTING page A-4
24 Cass students set for paid internships
They made their first album in 1976 and it’s been over two decades since their last one. But the fans of Frankie Beverly and Maze are exceptionally loyal. Wherever the “silky soul” band is performing, those fans will be there.
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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed new legislation in December to enact a drug testing program for adult welfare recipients. The one-year pilot program will be implemented in three counties that have not yet been determined.
In view of Du Bois’ assessment, words cannot express the brutality and the dastardly acts of Inkster police officer William Melendez, who with the assistance of two other officers, subjected Floyd Dent, a Black man, to all forms of human indignity during a traffic stop on Jan. 28. You would think Melendez was an agent of the medieval oligarchy or he was living in the 1950s and 1960s when laws hardly
The Michigan State Police is investigating the case of Melendez, an agency whose dismal record on hiring African American troopers has come under fire lately. Out of 1,134 officers only 59 are Black. We keep our fingers crossed and hope that the State Police stays with the facts and nothing else as the tape has shown. Anything else would be an insult.
Frankie Beverly Maze: Hall of Fame (Page D-1)
As the unemployment rate steadies, and people throughout the state and the city of Detroit recover from a horrendous recession, individuals receiving some form of public assistance may find themselves facing one more hurdle as they look to feed themselves and their families: drug testing.
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Ilitch Holdings, Inc. has created an internship program for students at Detroit’s Cass Technical High School. This new, paid internship program will provide Cass Tech students with hands-on experience at the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings, Little Caesars, Olympia Entertainment and other Ilitch companies. Students will benefit from professional skill-building opportunities and activities in a variety of areas, including event management, marketing, public relations, information technology, finance, manufacturing, research and development and human resources.
– Andre Smith photo
“We are really excited about this partnership with our friends and neighbors at Cass Tech, a nationally recognized school of excellence,” said Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings. “The Cass Tech students selected for
this program will play an important part in the continued growth of our city as they work and learn alongside Ilitch organization professionals who are committed to Detroit, its neighborhoods and its people.” “This internship program with the Ilitch family of companies is a unique and valuable opportunity for our students,” said Lisa Phillips, Cass Tech principal. “Showing our young people that good and exciting jobs are within their reach is a great way to help build and promote our community.” The program consists of 24 internship positions. To qualify, students must be at least 16 years of age and have a GPA of at least 3.0. The 10-week internships will begin on June 22 and continue through August 28. Enrichment opportunities will include meetings with Ilitch company executives, profes-
See INTERSHIPS page A-4