Police break up Detroit Public Schools protest at Capitol

[LodgeDodger]

Last Updated: May 13. 2010 1:00AM

Police break up Detroit Public Schools protest at Capitol

Protesters arrested after refusing to abandon bid to meet with Granholm over DPS issues

Karen Bouffard / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Lansing -- Fourteen protesters face charges after being removed from the Capitol on Wednesday evening in handcuffs by State Police after refusing to abandon a sit-in over issues at Detroit Public Schools.
Police said both adults and juveniles, one as young as 13, were charged with trespassing. More than a dozen officers were called to break up the protest.
Michigan State Police Lt. Chris Kelenske said "we gave them every opportunity to leave. We understand freedom of speech and we want people to express their opinions; that's the American way. However, we can not allow people to sleep in Capitol facilities."
The 13-year-old, a seventh-grader from Spain Elementary/Middle School, had no one to go home with after the adult she was with was arrested. Police were trying Wednesday night to make arrangements for her safe return home.
Detroit attorneys Donna Stern and Joyce Schon, co-founders of BAMN, which organized the protest, were the first to be escorted out of the Capitol.
The demonstrators staged their sit-in to protest DPS Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb's plans for Detroit Public Schools and to demand a meeting with Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Nakia Wallace, the Spain school seventh-grader, linked arms with fellow demonstrators chanting "Robert Bobb should go to jail; our students are not for sale."
Those taken into custody were led out the back door of the building in twos and placed into some of the 10 squad cars parked outside.
Liz Boyd, the governor's spokeswoman, said Granholm "has no plan" to meet with the group.
Lashane Green, 43, brought two of her three children to protest school closures in the troubled district. She is upset the school they attended was closed last year, and her children were transferred to another school that she says isn't as good.
"He's taking the rights away from the parents," Green said. "There's nothing wrong with the schools -- there's something wrong with the money part."
Bobb, the district's state-appointed emergency financial manager, has been battling the Detroit School Board for academic control of the district. An appeals court ruling last week will allow Bobb to proceed with a $540 million academic reform plan that will close up to 40 schools after the end of the school year in June.
The school board has vowed to appeal that ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court.
"We support Robert Bobb," Boyd said.
"Those who want to discuss the actions he's taking need to take their concerns to him.
kbouffard@detnews.com [[517) 371-3660

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100513/...#ixzz0noAS9X8v

Perhaps child endangerment charges need to be filed? I don't like BAMN's methods of placing children in such situations. You cannot tell me those responsible for organizing this protest didn't know what the outcome would be.

[Danny]

Those protesters don't want educational reform. Robert Bobb is the H.N.I.C. of Detroit Public Schools. He's not Napoleon, Maximillian, or Hitler. He's doing as a emergency financial manager suppose to do, cutting and trimming the fat out of the Detroit Public School Board. Granholm is NOT firing Bobb. You can all do a constitutional protest all you want, but is not going to change Granholm or the legislatures minds, just harden their hearts.

BAMN is not a trypical grassroots organization. They can't even win a seat in Wayne State University's Student Board.

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET.

Detroit must change or die starting from the DPS for Neda Agha Soltan's sake.

[Meddle]

Perhaps child endangerment charges need to be filed?

On the Troopers? Maybe.

This should have been a simple 'Cite and Release". Issue a ticket citing them into court and move on. No reason to tie up jail resources over this.

[jcole]

On the Troopers? Maybe.

This should have been a simple 'Cite and Release". Issue a ticket citing them into court and move on. No reason to tie up jail resources over this.

They were repeatedly warned that this would happen if they didn't leave after 5:30. They could have made provision for the children if they wanted to get arrested to prove a point. They obviously were hoping for this to make headlines.

[bailey]

Lashane Green, 43, brought two of her three children to protest school closures in the troubled district. She is upset the school they attended was closed last year, and her children were transferred to another school that she says isn't as good.
"He's taking the rights away from the parents," Green said. "There's nothing wrong with the schools -- there's something wrong with the money part."

Thank you Lashane for clearly illustrating why you people and the BAMN morons should never be afforded an opportunity to speak on or have any direct say in what is going on with DPS.

[kryptonite]

Is she the one I heard on a radio news report last week bellowing "Our childrens is precious"? Now there's an advocate for education.

[jbd441]

They were repeatedly warned that this would happen if they didn't leave after 5:30. They could have made provision for the children if they wanted to get arrested to prove a point. They obviously were hoping for this to make headlines.

Exactly, they put their children is harms way. Thinking with children present bystanders will think they have a child's welfare in mind.

I find it ironic the school board is appealing the court's decision to have Bobb take over the districts finances. Wasting taxpayer money when they obiviously can't balance their own budget.

[SWMAP]

Excerpt from WWJ today:
"Shanta Driver, National Chairperson for BAMN said the governor's actions would only strengthen the groups resolve to fight."

From The Detroit Free Press May 6 referencing the Detroit School Board:
"The board’s attorney, Shanta Driver, had argued that Bobb has no academic authority by law and that his academic and facilities plans will cause irreparable harm to Detroit students.
The board’s attorney, Shanta Driver, had argued that Bobb has no academic authority by law and that his academic and facilities plans will cause irreparable harm to Detroit students."

Isn't it interesting?