The Formal Title VI Complaint of the Detroit School Board
I.
Introduction:
School districts in Michigan receive Federal funds. The State of Michigan receives Federal Funds.
According to the 2010 Census, The City of Detroit has the highest concentration of minorities of any city
over 100,000 people in the United States. The Detroit School district has the largest number of special
education students in the state.
The Detroit School District was established in 1842. Michigan was one of the first states to establish a
public school system. Even earlier, Thomas Jefferson believed the nation’s students should be educated
alike, regardless of location or class. Detroit created one of the best funded districts in the nation.
The Detroit School Board, many citizens, civic leaders and civic organizations across the state believe in a
pattern of discrimination, and an pattern of retaliation, creating a hostile educational environment, and in the
last 180 days, Governor Rick Snyder through his Emergency Managers, and others working under his
authority, have violated many statutes and laws including Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Section 504,
Title II, Title VI, Title VII, IDEA and EEOA through many actions against voters, tax payers, residents,
parents and students in Michigan.
At the time of this writing, many organizational leaders and groups across the city and the state have signed
a Vote of No Confidence in Emergency Manager due to the discrimination and retaliation which we believe
has occurred.
We believe these discriminatory and retaliatory actions have had an adverse impact on Detroit and other
minority communities in the state. We also believe that citizens of many races have been harmed and
retaliated against for speaking out. It should be noted that many of the complaints have been filed
anonymously because of the general fear complainants feel based on the power of the Governor’s office and
the rumor of alleged retaliation by authorities that has already taken place over the last few years, and is
taking place currently.
Retaliation for advocating for children, closing schools and leaving them open as eyesores, seizing other
schools for competing districts and forcing the poorest students in the country who have the most
challenging educational hurdles into the worst schools with teachers who have less than a year of training,
dismantling the best schools in the district – like Davis Aerospace and Oakman Orthopedic Elementary, has
promoted a climate of fear and disrespect toward minorities, had an adverse impact on the fabric of
neighborhoods, damaged the psychological health of minority residents and created conditions which
negatively affected learning, undermining the ability of students to achieve their full potential.
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