14 to be charged in DPS corruption case

[Richard]

If pointing out the obvious lack of controls and accountability makes me an "insensitive asshat" in your eyes, so be it. Do you really think it's OK to just hand out gift cards, Lowes or otherwise?

Directly to the teachers I would say yes,If the classroom needed painting and some of the students offered to help then Lowes and paint it would be.

It would not only help in the situation but give the students some pride in thier surroundings.You cannot buy that.

Gift cards from Staples,why not?
Teachers have been using funds out of thier pocket to help those that need.The last thing on a teachers mind should be fretting about basic tools.

The public needs to demand more and set a higher standard for their children,when they become complacent the wolves will feast,they do not care about anybody else but thier own pockets.

[Richard]

http://detroitk12.org/board/resource...09,%202015.pdf

This is a good read,page 3 in particular.

The PDFs of the board meetings.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Wesley, I think you are a little mistaken in your thoughts. First, let me state that I am not arguing that salaries are adequate at DPS or that legacy costs don't impact the employment and education situation in Detroit. But lack of money does not drive corruption; greed does. Poverty is plausibly an argument for crime if you are engaging in said crime to literally put a little food in your mouth. Such is not the case here.

As for solutions, I say dissolve DPS entirely, and let all Detroit education money follow the kids. They could go to suburban schools, private schools, or anywhere parents want to send them. DPS staff could even keep their schools open, run by the good teachers that would attract students. I think freeing good teachers to run their own place could be wonderful. I've thought for ages that we don't need to spend a lot of money to deliver the lousy education that DPS has been providing for most kids for decades. Money should not be spent to rescue DPS, it should be spent to rescue kids from DPS. There is too much corruption, legacy problems [[incuding old timey union contracts) shackled to the legs of Detroit's schools. Free the kids to go anywhere else.

Then you've got a whole new issue, as most suburban districts don't want Detroit kids in their schools. Already heard about quite a few incidents at BloomfldH's, and Birmingham districts concerning this.

[river rat]

The Answer.

I am certain that all the money that went to those charged was given to poor children in the form of school supplies and lunch money. How cynical of everyone to think that they kept the money for themselves. After all the NEA [[Teachers Union), always has what is best for the children in their negotiations and they never leave the kids on their own to strike.
When they go to trial it is likely a jury of their peers will find great pity for them and they will either be acquitted or given a slap on the wrist. This is the way of juries in the City of Detroit.

Despicable. This school system is so broken, there is no reasonable probability that it can ever be repaired. The idea of having the money follow the child proposed by a member of the forum might work IF the parent had the responsibility and capability to evaluate a school[[s) and the desire to educate their child properly. And the schools would have to exist - they don't.

Decades of corruption, overspending, wildly expensive pensions, oversight and accountability absence, parental disinterest; they all lead to one conclusion.

There ain't no answer.
There isn't going to be any answer.
There never has been an answer.
That's the answer.

-Gertrude Stein

[dtowncitylover]

Then you've got a whole new issue, as most suburban districts don't want Detroit kids in their schools. Already heard about quite a few incidents at BloomfldH's, and Birmingham districts concerning this.

Yeah if you want to see Detroit's racism come flare up, just try putting Detroit kids into Oakland or Grosse Pointe schools. An old white guy complained about the "Harper Woods Negros" causing trouble at GP South. Busing, which this effectively is, is not and never will be the answer.

[Richard]

Meh,I am not much for the Feds stepping into a states or cities business but this is a no win situation all the way around.

When you read the boards minutes going back 5 years it is clear this is at an impass and something needs to be done hard and fast and started with a clean slate.

[Dr Jeff]

For years Detroit has had a problem with incompetent administrators. I have a friend who is now a consultant after a career in public education in Los Angeles. He was in Detroit several years ago observing and reporting his findings about the state of education in the city. In one high school, one of the principals told him [[he was wearing an expensive suit, watch and bracelet) that young black males needed to see a black man who had "made it". My friend told me that he had never met a person less qualified to lead a school than this man, who was more worried about his appearance than how to educate young adults. Out of the eight schools he visited, he found only one where the principal left her office at class break and went into the hallways. She knew students by name, spoke with them and then visited classrooms. He thought maybe she did this for their benefit but was delighted to find out from the staff that it was a regular occurrence. He told me that she earned her pay and was a gem in the middle of a lot of fool's gold.

[Wesley Mouch]

The Answer.
...
There ain't no answer.
There isn't going to be any answer.
There never has been an answer.
That's the answer.

-Gertrude Stein

What a terrible thought. And how untrue.

Its only true if you keep your eyes closed to new, and can't let go.

[SDCC]

Last month DPS – Detroit Pitiful Schools – was given ~ $49 million. These funds were to pay teachers for the remainder of the year. Low and behold, DPS administrators have once again mismanaged these monies, and the district will, once again, run out of money in June. These administrators can’t count, and are a combination of incompetent fools and criminals.

Meanwhile in the Federal Court System – the second home of DPS administrators, Clara Smith, the now disgraced former principal at Thirkell Elementary-Middle School in Detroit, left the Federal courthouse last Thursday. She pleaded guilty to accepting $194,000 in kickbacks; Smith is facing 46 to 57 months in prison, however she has agreed to sing like a canary, by entering into a cooperation agreement. Smith’s sentence could be reduced if her cooperation [[statements) lead to, or aid in, the successful prosecution of others. The judge is not bound by any of this, and has the final say on the matter, as guidelines are only recommendations. Smith left the court, adorned with so much bling on her wrists, I couldn’t even see her wrists. She sped off in a new Cadillac.

Not to worry; when she gets out she can apply at Detroit Community Schools – also known as – Kilpatrick Public Schools. Another quasi Detroit educational system [[I use that term loosely) that employees non-certified administrators, and felons.

To date: nine principals and one administrator, plus Norman Shy himself have cut deals in the case. However, three principals are following the Kilpatrick school of law, and may take the asinine option of a Federal trial.

[Zacha341]

What a mess indeed. Is it just me or is it impossible to find a photo of Norman Shy the owner of the 'supply' company involved in the 14 cases? There are pictures of his former million dollar home, but a photo of him?

[SDCC]

What a mess indeed. Is it just me or is it impossible to find a photo of Norman Shy the owner of the 'supply' company involved in the 14 cases? There are pictures of his former million dollar home, but a photo of him?

http://www.normshy.com/

No pic of him, his resume is on his website

[Honky Tonk]

What a mess indeed. Is it just me or is it impossible to find a photo of Norman Shy the owner of the 'supply' company involved in the 14 cases? There are pictures of his former million dollar home, but a photo of him?

His last name says it all.

[Honky Tonk]

Last month DPS – Detroit Pitiful Schools – was given ~ $49 million. These funds were to pay teachers for the remainder of the year. Low and behold, DPS administrators have once again mismanaged these monies, and the district will, once again, run out of money in June. These administrators can’t count, and are a combination of incompetent fools and criminals.

Meanwhile in the Federal Court System – the second home of DPS administrators, Clara Smith, the now disgraced former principal at Thirkell Elementary-Middle School in Detroit, left the Federal courthouse last Thursday. She pleaded guilty to accepting $194,000 in kickbacks; Smith is facing 46 to 57 months in prison, however she has agreed to sing like a canary, by entering into a cooperation agreement. Smith’s sentence could be reduced if her cooperation [[statements) lead to, or aid in, the successful prosecution of others. The judge is not bound by any of this, and has the final say on the matter, as guidelines are only recommendations. Smith left the court, adorned with so much bling on her wrists, I couldn’t even see her wrists. She sped off in a new Cadillac.

Not to worry; when she gets out she can apply at Detroit Community Schools – also known as – Kilpatrick Public Schools. Another quasi Detroit educational system [[I use that term loosely) that employees non-certified administrators, and felons.

To date: nine principals and one administrator, plus Norman Shy himself have cut deals in the case. However, three principals are following the Kilpatrick school of law, and may take the asinine option of a Federal trial.

C'mon man, everyone knows DPS's problems are the State's fault.

[Wesley Mouch]

C'mon man, everyone knows DPS's problems are the State's fault.

Not to mention that they are historically underfunded. These corruption problems would go away if the per-pupil funding could be increased. I don't know why the State doesn't properly fund education for the under-advantaged.

[SDCC]

Not to mention that they are historically underfunded. These corruption problems would go away if the per-pupil funding could be increased. I don't know why the State doesn't properly fund education for the under-advantaged.

The state is getting tired of giving money to DPS, which they use to fund junkets, buy expensive vehicles, upgrade and furnish their homes in a style that is inconsistent with their actual pay-grade. DPS administrators have never known the value of a dollar, I wouldn’t trust DPS with lunch money at this point, they have forever lost that trust. Lansing has seen DPS slide into despair – with its administrators running DPS like a junta of a south American country – and would be reluctant, rightfully so, to throw any additional treasure away.
Many [[way more than a few) of these former administrators saw the resources of the city as an opportunity for personal enrichment, and have the same convoluted logic that so many Michigan public officials have had for decades – they won’t get caught. State oversight of DPS lacks sufficient supervision; as the latest rounds of embezzlement occurred while under said oversight, two of the defendants are also charged with tax evasion.
Snyder is not qualified to manage Michigan any more than Darnell Early was qualified to manage DPS; no one person can, or could, effectively “manage” 192 schools. An impartial panel of scholars [[nobody’s cousin or friend), mathematically inclined, and above reproach, would oversee legitimate expenses, it’s called checks and balances. They would have no connections, or history, whatsoever to DPS, or any other equally questionable, or crooked institutions that are in, or around Detroit. It would go without saying that convicted felons, or any blemishes in their histories regarding integrity would be an automatic disqualifier. These panels would forever oversee DPS expenses, DPS should never be allowed to write another check.

Plenty of blame to go around, all the while the options for parents to find a good school have become slim and none, and slim just left town.

[compn]

i just want ONE , ONE OF THE suppliers or businesses that bribed these admins/principals to be held accountable for bribery.

always seems like they go after the little fish with the hand in the cookie jar. what about the cookie jar owner?

kwame got years in prison. what about all those who bribed him? nothin?

no i'm not talking about sam riddle either. big fish. the big money fish.

[Zacha341]

What a templat-ey, generic stock-art crapola of a website! The kind you see with fly-by-night types. I'm surprised the domain name has not expired.

http://www.normshy.com/

No pic of him, his resume is on his website

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Not to mention that they are historically underfunded. These corruption problems would go away if the per-pupil funding could be increased. I don't know why the State doesn't properly fund education for the under-advantaged.

SDCC, I am reasonably sure Wesley was being sarcastic.

As it is, anyway, money in and if itself is no answer to Detroit's public school performance. New Jersey courts ruled that the state's schools had to spend as much on poor-district students as rich-district students. Results: much more money spent; no improvement in poor-district schools. DPS should be abolished. That isn't the fix to Detroit education. But then many different fixes can begin. We should be worried about improving kids' opportunities for education, not the system. No one system solves all problems or helps all kids. Kids from different homes and neighborhoods and with different aptitudes and different challenges and different interests will not all follow the same model, even if all corruption were rooted out. Free teachers from too many rules and restrictions. Allow schools to offer different services to different kids. Allow parents to put their kids in the schools that suit their child's needs. A kid living with 5 siblings in a home run by an overburdened grandmother with no time to read to him and no dad to look up to does not necessarily have the same needs as a kid from an affluent nuclear family.

I think that the actual structure of DPS should be abolished in its entirety. The government money spent per pupil should follow the kid to the school of choice. And leftover money [[note: many private schools charge tuition less that the per pupil spending on public schools) should go into a college fund for that student. Any remaining "public" schools should be reincorporated as individual charter schools, with wide latitude for the staff on how to run their affairs, and answerable to a board of parents and teachers. If a kid goes to a focused and creative charter, a rigorous private school, or a superior suburban school, said kid would be better served than by current DPS system.

Options and opportunity will help kids find the right place for them to learn, and would kill off the corrupt and slow-moving, kid-killing & money-wasting DPS. And such a choice system would end, fairly quickly, the "bad school stigma" that keeps a lot of families out of our city.

[Honky Tonk]

Not to mention that they are historically underfunded. These corruption problems would go away if the per-pupil funding could be increased. I don't know why the State doesn't properly fund education for the under-advantaged.

Right. More funding. There are teachers and administrators that still haven't got their piece of the pie yet. Don't stop the bleeding, just order more blood.

[SDCC]

i just want ONE , ONE OF THE suppliers or businesses that bribed these admins/principals to be held accountable for bribery.

always seems like they go after the little fish with the hand in the cookie jar. what about the cookie jar owner?

kwame got years in prison. what about all those who bribed him? nothin?

no i'm not talking about sam riddle either. big fish. the big money fish.

Norm [[Norman Shy) who owns more than one McMansion in Oakland county - the media has been knocking on his front doors, but nobody home, probably on vacation.
He has agreed to a plea bargain, but no details yet, and I'm pretty sure he hasn't formally agreed to it in court. If Smith is facing 46-57 months, then poor old Norm should be looking at approximately 3 or 4 times that much time.
Shy orchestrated and facilitated this conspiracy; he enticed others into it, and were it not for the fact that he was in the position that he was in, none of this would have transpired - he was the Godfather.

[Zacha341]

Yep, and as Godfather, I am certain there were more 'buffers' than those known so far!

Shy orchestrated and facilitated this conspiracy; he enticed others into it, and were it not for the fact that he was in the position that he was in, none of this would have transpired - he was the Godfather.

[Gannon]

Pretty sure the corruption culture existed long before Mr. Shy arrived on the scene.

He might be an enabler...and even orchestrator of the target of the current investigation...but he is not the Godfather of it all.

[Zacha341]

I know, I was just having fun with the 'G-father' construct!

[Honky Tonk]

Norm [[Norman Shy) who owns more than one McMansion in Oakland county - the media has been knocking on his front doors, but nobody home, probably on vacation.
He has agreed to a plea bargain, but no details yet, and I'm pretty sure he hasn't formally agreed to it in court. If Smith is facing 46-57 months, then poor old Norm should be looking at approximately 3 or 4 times that much time.
Shy orchestrated and facilitated this conspiracy; he enticed others into it, and were it not for the fact that he was in the position that he was in, none of this would have transpired - he was the Godfather.

Unless you can show me where he held a gun to everyone's head and made them an offer they couldn't refuse, it's a bit silly to single him out as the bad guy. These were all grown adults in a position of trust, and they chose to work the system for their own personal gain. I bet every one of them has a "Just Say NO!" sticker somewhere in their office.

[Honky Tonk]

I guess 49 million wasn't enough......

http://www.freep.com/story/news/2016...nday/83798520/