Firing of HPS Superintendent just more controversy surrounding school district

HOWELL – The big news in Howell last week was the firing of Howell Public Schools Superintendent Theodore Gardella after just a year on the job by the school board at a rare Friday afternoon special meeting.

The surprise vote was 4-2 at a meeting called to address extremist rightwing trustee Wendy Day’s baseless allegations on her blog, but hassles with Gardella over the past year led the board to let him go. As a former reporter, anytime a Friday meeting is called my suspicions are raised, but with all the controversy surrounding the board since early June when Vicki Fyke, the co-founder with Day of the defunct anti-gay hate group known as the LOVE PAC - (Livingston Organization for Values in Education), circulated an e-mail saying Gardella would be fired there was no way the meeting would be a secret.

Apparently, Day was feeding info to Fyke gleaned from closed executive sessions called to discuss Gardella’s evaluation at his request, and it must have been clear the writing was on the wall. I have not heard one good word about Gardella from anyone but Day, and that makes him suspect in my book.

There has been lots of controversy surrounding Howell Schools in the last three years, but all of it can be traced back to Day’s arrival and that of the so-called “LOVE” group.

“LOVE” raised its ugly head back in the spring of 2006 in response to a diversity flag they mistakenly claim is a gay pride flag that they claim promotes and endorses homosexuality. Day was then elected to the board shortly after that, and she and LOVE immediately tried to impose their extremist agenda on the district.

In January 2007 Day tried to get a Bible course in the high school, and it would have been supplied by North Carolina-based National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools - an affiliate of The American Family Association, the most well-known anti-gay hate group in America.

In the fall on 2006, Day, Fyke and her group began a book banning crusade that ended with an embarrassing FBI investigation and national embarrassment. The group then launched a successful smear campaign to oust long-time Superintendent Chuck Breiner, who spent 13 years here, nine as superintendent; he left in March 2008 with a very generous severance package.

Day is admittedly anti-public school, and she has made her dislike for teachers and unions very clear. She also makes some pretty outrageous claims on her blog, claiming, an “underground group of Howell business owners and political officials has been working to control this district all along. They have a vested interest in making sure there is a good contract for the Chamber regarding the Balloonfest and Homeshow.”

Although the chambers of commerce are traditionally extremely pro-Republican, I have to defend them. The Home Show is held at the high school in the spring, and it features local businesses that pay school taxes.

The Balloonfest, also put on by the chamber this past weekend, is held on the grounds of the high school, middle school and 9th grade campus. It normally draws a 100,000 people from all over the state to Howell, and it leaves a good impression and they spend money in local businesses.

So, we have book banning giving us a bad name, and the Balloonfeat giving Howell a positive reputation. Which one do you choose?

Now, apparently, there is a move to recall three of the four board members who voted to fire Day's superintendent. Why three and not all four is a little unclear, but it may have something to do with how the replacements are chosen.

Paperwork was filed with the county clerk to start the recall attempt of board President Edwin Literski, Vice President Jeannine Pratt and Trustee Debi Drick, but not Trustee Ann Routt, who also voted to fire Gardella.

I am not a fan of recalls, and they have been routinely abused to circumvent the normal election process; as is this misguided recall abuse. A recall against people for making a vote you disagree with is simply wrong. They should be reserved for the elected official doing something wrong, illegal or immoral; not for a vote you disagree with. That is what elections are for.

The solution is to not sign a petition if the recall language is approved, and to vote against Day’s opponent – not recall her – next year when her term is up. The board will run smoother, and we will have a board member who supports the district and wants to make it better. Day can go back to organizing her fake “tea parties.”

Anti-gay hate group fights against protection against violence for gays

LANSING – It’s amazing the hoops right-wingers will jump through to deny rights to the gay community.

We saw a perfect example Wednesday at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee where Republicans voted against House Bills 4835 and 4836 known as the hate crime bills. The bills would increase the penalties for crimes committed because of person's bias toward another person or group based on race, disability, gender, religion, sexual orientation or other reason. The rub for right-wingers is that it dares to protect gays, a group that has suffered the most violence in recent years.

The measure was approved during the last Legislative session in the House, but, like most bills, died when the Senate failed to take them up.

As usual the hearing brought out the anti-gay hate group the American Family Association (AFA) led by homophobe Gary Glenn. He said the bill should not include protections for homosexuals or transvestites. He presented his usual biased and debunked testimony, like the bills will censor people and religious expression. He continues to use the debunked example of a grandmother in Philadelphia arrested for a hate crime.

Brian Mackey, Washtenaw County prosecutor and spokesperson for the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, testified in favor of the bill. He prosecuted one of the first hate crimes when the law went into effect in the early 1990’s. He said the bill in no way infringes on the 1st Amendment’s freedom of speech or religion.

“This takes no one’s rights away from anyone, and it hurts no one,” he said.

Glenn claimed the bills are only intended to make the gay lifestyle acceptable and mainstream. Mackey denied that.

“I don’t base my decision on who I prosecute on what the Triangle Foundation says,” he said. “I’m bound by the law, and that’s how it should be.”

Unlike the current law, the bills would ensure the conviction would be based on the perpetrator's intent, not on the actual status of the victim. Mackey said it’s the offender who makes the choice, not the victim.

“I can be attacked by someone who mistakes my sexual orientation,” he said. “Mr. Glenn can be attacked by someone who mistakes his sexual identity.”

Mackey brought up Livingston County’s racist past it cannot shake with the story of former resident and Klan member Robert Miles, who lived in rural Cohoctah Township north of Howell, in the 1970s and ‘80s. Mackey prosecuted an associate of Miles’ who helped him tar and feather a pro-integration high school principal. On the surface, it might seem like a harmless prank until you realize why it happened; to intimidate more than just the principal.

Mackey used another example of simple graffiti that is just destruction of property, but if the person wrote something like “Hitler didn’t finish the job,” then the person has assaulted the entire community.

“You should be convicted for what you really did,” he said.

What’s really telling is the numerous groups in support of the bills, and they include the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, The Michigan Department of State Police, the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, The Triangle Foundation, the Mt. Pleasant Area Diversity Group, The Women’s Commission, The Advisory Council on Asian Pacific Affairs, The Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board, The Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, the Michigan Protection and Advocacy Services, The Anti-Defamation League and the Grand Rapids Community Relations Committee.

Those in opposition, just two: the American Family Association and the so-called The American Decency Association.

The bills were passed out of committee, and should be taken up in the House very soon.

Anti-gay hate group does not want gays to be protected from intimidation

The anti-gay hate group the American Family Association (AFA) of Michigan is busy spreading misinformation and insisting gay people not be protected from intimidating and hate crimes.

The AFA, led by homophobe, Gary Glenn, has had their supporters flood Michigan legislative offices with letters written by the AFA railing against House Bills 6340 and 6341 that addresses hate crimes. The bills were approved last week by the House before it broke for its two-week break, and it now goes to the Senate for consideration. The AFA falsely claims it supports censorship, it discriminates against religion and it gives gays special treatment and protection. Although the bill covers hate crimes committed because of ethnicity, race, disability and gender, it’s the protection it offers to gays that sets them off.

It's very similar to the objections raised about Matt's Safe School Law that would require public school districts in Michigan to establish bullying policies. In fact, it mentions those bills, HBs 4162 and 4091, in the letter.

"As with recent "bullying" legislation, HB 6341 segregates victims of certain crimes into special "protected class" categories -- including "sexual orientation" (homosexual behavior) and "gender identity" (cross-dressing) -- and then doles out special enhanced protection based on membership in those categories."

HBs 6340 and 6341 would increase the penalties for crimes committed because of person's bias toward another person or group based on race, disability, gender, religion, sexual orientation or other reason. According to the bill analysis, "A person is guilty of ethnic intimidation if he or she maliciously, and with specific intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that individual's race, color, religion, gender, or national origin, caused physical contact with another; damages, destroys, or defaces any real or personal property of another; and/or threatens, by word or act, to do one of the fore-mentioned acts."

Also, a person who hung or displayed a noose on property; displayed a burning cross or displayed any symbol that is historically or generally understood as intended to intimidate or threaten would be eligible to be charged. Last year in Michigan, there were 28 convictions for ethnic intimidation under a similar law.

The letter uses a debunk incident as a reason to oppose the bills.

"Such legislation has also proven to be a serious threat to religious freedom in other jurisdictions such as Philadelphia, where a multi-racial group of citizens in 2005 was arrested and prosecuted intimidation" because they read Bible verses out loud on a public street during a "gay pride" festival in the city."

They are actually referring to a 2004 incident where 11 members of the group Repent America, an organization that dedicates a large chunk of their time to protesting pro-gay events. they are not as bad as the Westboro Baptist Church, but they share some characteristics.

The incident continues to be misrepresented, and it has been debunked on Snopes. What happened was that they were using a bullhorn to drown out a stage performance with anti-gay shouts during Philly's annual Outfest, which led several people on-site to confront them. This then led the police to ask them to move in order to prevent any potential violence, but they refused -- which then and only then led to them being arrested for such charges as failure to disperse, possessing an instrument of crime (a bullhorn), obstructing a highway, criminal conspiracy, and disorderly conduct. Under Pennsylvania's hate crimes law they were also later charged with "ethnic intimidation" -- but in order to receive this additional charge, they had to first engage in behavior that the officers found unlawful.

However, when the charges were contested in court, it was ultimately determined that no hate crime law had been violated, and the charges were dismissed.

That has not stopped so-called Christen groups like the AFA from using the incident to further their agenda. This is not the first time conservative religious groups have misrepresented an incident to further their cause, and the most recent example occurred at Mount Hope Church in Delta Township on Nov. 9 where the church's claims did not match the police report.

The assault of so-called Christians on gays is disturbing, like the banning of gay marriage in California financed by the Mormon Church.

House Republicans do the bidding of homophobic hate groups

You have to wonder exactly why and what Republicans are so afraid of about lesbians and homosexuals.

The discrimination they harbor against the gay community is baffling, and it drives a large part of their agenda. They embrace hatemongers like Ann Coulter and Gary Glenn who are clearly homophobic and discriminatory. The latest example of their discrimination is their opposition to the common sense, anti-bullying bill, House Bill 4162, introduced by Rep. Pam Byrnes, (D-Lyndon Township) and passed by the House almost along party lines 59-50 on March 28. It’s hard to believe 50 alleged elected leaders are kowtowing to the extreme rightwing hate groups and opposing the bill – known as Matt’s Safe School Law - because they say it promotes the homosexual agenda. I know it’s absurd but that’s the claim.

According to an Associated Press story in the Lansing State Journal, “Michigan law shouldn't formally recognize homosexual behavior, conservatives say, nor should gays get special protection. Republicans favor a broad ban against all bullying in schools.”

What caught my eye about this story - other than the ridiculous notion that homosexuals, who often face violent harassment and bullying, should not be protected - is that some of the 200 people who showed up on the day the bill was approved to lobby in support of the bill were from my high school, Monroe High School. I’m proud to be a Trojan.

De'Lea Cheatham braces for abuse every day.
The 17-year-old senior at Monroe High School says she frequently has been yelled at and shoved by other students because she's a lesbian. It began in middle school and has only gotten worse in high school, says Cheatham.
One student who supports the legislation is Ben Mathews, an 18-year-old senior at Monroe High and member of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. Mathews says many students are bullied even if they’re straight but perceived to be gay or lesbian.

Veteran journalist Jack Lessenberry put it best in his blog, and he cut right to the chase. I guess 30 years of journalism experience will do that for you. Lessenberry has worked as a foreign correspondent and executive national editor of The Detroit News, reporting from more than forty countries. His writing has appeared in such national publications as Vanity Fair, Esquire, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Boston Globe. He is also a professor of journalism at Wayne State University, and his freelance columns appear in The Metro Times, The Traverse-City Record Eagle and The Toledo (Ohio) Blade. He also has local ties to Livingston County, serving as the executive of Hometown Communications that includes all the Observer and Eccentric newspapers, as well as the Livingston County Daily Press and Argus before the chain was purchased by Gannett.

Lessenberry said it was a well-written law, and “anyone who grumbles about it imposing state control hasn’t read it. In a civilized society, this bill would be adopted unanimously. But in fact there are those who want to kill or weaken it. “

But there are bigots who are so blinded by their hatred and fear of anyone gay, or who might be gay, that they would rather put children’s lives at risk. There are also those who support the haters for cynical political reasons. Two Republican state representatives are fighting to make sure the bill does not protect people based on sexual orientation.

He calls Gary Glenn and his organization – the so-called “American Family Association” - a hate group. It was Glenn who gave Vicky Fyke, the leader of the anti-gay hate group known as “LOVE” PAC (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) and the former advisor of the Livingston County Teen Age Republicans, the ridiculous idea to have the FBI investigate books in the high school curriculum as pornographic.

They are doing the work of a hate group misnamed the American Family Association. It is spreading the lie that this bill’s real purpose is to “legitimize homosexual behavior and cross-dressing,” and that this will lead to increased cocaine use in children under thirteen.” You can read this garbage on their web site.

The real obscenity and crime is that the much needed-bill will die in the Republican-controlled, homophobic Senate.

School district appears to be caving to book burners

It’s a sad commentary on our world that a small-minded and very vocal minority of community censors may be getting their way, or at least changing the way things are done at Howell Public Schools.

The anti-gay hate group known as the LOVE group - (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) – started a book banning controversy some two months ago by trying to ban a book called “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them.” Since then, they have also tried to ban Nobel Prize author Toni Morrison's first novel, "The Bluest Eye," and an acclaimed memoir written by Richard Wright in 1945, "Black Boy." Both books address social issues of blacks in 1940s America and have been used for at least two years in an American literature class. Local and statewide media quickly picked up on the fact that two of the three authors are African-American, reinforcing Howell’s image as a small-minded racist community.

The so-called “LOVE” group claim they object to the books because of the alleged profanity and references to drugs and sex acts.

After tabling the issue two weeks ago the issue is expected to be taken up Monday, led by so-called “LOVE” member and school board member Wendy Day, at the next school board meeting. However, in a report in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus today it appears the administration is caving and making some concessions to this small, but very vocal minority.

Howell Public Schools is moving toward including more parents in the process of approving curriculum. Marybeth Roose, the district's director of community education and district communications, said the district is planning to add some parents to the Curriculum Council, which approves all new or amended class material.
"Parents will definitely soon be included," she said. "Especially in the book review process."
The council has about 50 members, and while it is a "diverse group," she said, all of the members are either teachers or administrators — although some are also parents as well.
Exactly how many parents will be on the council has yet to be determined, Roose said.

That’s not a bad idea, but the simple fact is this group will not be satisfied with this concession. Any parent can – and always could - opt out of the assigned book and have their child read an alternative title, but that was also not good enough for this group.

To make it to be part of the curriculum, the book and other material has to go through a vigorous vetting process that includes a step-by-step approval process up the chain-of- command. All the curriculum is approved by a group of teachers from the particular school, a district wide subject-specific content committee, a district wide curriculum and assessment committee, the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and finally Superintendent Chuck Breiner.

Does anyone believe adding a couple of parents to the curriculum and assessment committee is going to satisfy this group of censors?

Another well-known anti-gay hate group - the American Family Association of Michigan, led by Gary Glenn – is threatening to sue the Board if it approves the books.

President Gary Glenn said a legal opinion from the national AFA found that distributing a book describing scenes of child rape — as one of the books in question does — violates child pornography laws.
He said he passed that opinion to (Vicki) Fyke, (leader of the so-called “LOVE” group and the advisor of the Livingston County Teen Age Republicans) who may decide to bring it to the attention of local law enforcement authorities.

To most people, comparing literate that won the Nobel Prize to child pornography is totally ridiculous, but not to Mr. Glenn and the so-called “Love” group. I finally got my hands on one of the books in question, "The Bluest Eye," and I am just beginning to read it.

But it just amazes me that our little community is trying to ban a book written by an author who won the coveted and prestigious international Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 for her work. The prize announcement says her work is “characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality." But we don’t want our young people to read her work. That’s just sad.

Homophobia groups wage assault on Constitution

A group dedicated to doing away with the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution’s ban on establishing a state religion that’s affiliated with the biggest homophobic group in Michigan is trying to establish a course on the Bible at Howell High School.

North Carolina-based National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools is trying to establish an elective course that will study the bible in a literary context and as history not as doctrine. This group claims the “program is concerned with education rather than indoctrination,” but its website says it want to return the Bible to public schools.

They are also affiliated with the American Family Association. This is the religious group that hates gays that is boycotting Ford Motor Co. because it advertises its products in publications aimed at gays. Those of us in Michigan thank you for that. The Michigan chapter of AFA is headed by undoubtedly the biggest homophobia in the state, Gary Glenn.

Luckily, this backdoor assault on the Constitution’s separation of church and state is being contested by a group called Michigan Atheists. They might have an uphill battle, judging by this misgauged quote from the rightwing reactionary on the Howell Public Schools Board of Education, Wendy Day.

According to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, Day further contended the atheist group is inaccurate when it cites the U.S. Constitution as mandating a separation of church and state.
"To state it's a constitutional issue is misleading and inaccurate," she said.

Is she for real? Normally I would support the study of comparative religion and the Bible as literature in public schools, and it does not violate the 1st Amendment if it’s done correctly. One of the best courses I took in college was World Religions, and it changed the way I look at cultural, other countries and the world in general.

If this North Carolina group with its agenda is allowed to develop the curriculum for this course I can guarantee it will violate the Constitution.

We have some of the best state universities in the country right here in Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Ypsilanti, Mount Pleasant and Kalamazoo with excellent liberal arts, Religious and Philosophy departments that can provide excellent curriculum. I don’t want to offend my Spartan readers, but the University of Michigan has been described as the Stanford of the Midwest. Why do me need to go to North Carolina for curriculum when we have the best educational institutions in the country in our own state?