Letter to the editor: At my election night victory party, I promised to work with Pat Morris and the NAACP to defeat the old Deseg plan (The tax, build & delay plan as I called it.) and to craft a new plan that was faster and better. In fact, Ms. Morris was at my party and supported me primarily for my position on this issue. Then, for three years I worked to do make good on this promise. I meet regularly with Ms. Morris and a multitude of other stakeholders to build a consensus behind a new plan. I even attended meetings at Ms. Morriss request I meet with leaders of the Black Community so I could better understand their positions and concerns. Ultimately, a consensus plan was developed. (Consensus meaning that no one on the various sides loved it, but it was acceptable to all sides.) The plan reached so much consensus that both the NAACP and the School Board publicly endorsed it. In addition to being a consensus plan, it is a legally sound plan that desegregates faster and better then the old plan, without the need for passing a new tax. Then entered Nelson Taylor, who had been essentially absent from the process for two years. He was absent despite being ordered by Judge Lemelle to negotiate in good faith on a new plan. After Taylor finally looked at the plan, he offered no suggestions for improvement nor did he object to even one single aspect of the plan. Instead, he filed a motion claiming that the Board should be held in contempt for working on a faster & better plan. He filed this motion despite his filing prior pleading opposing and the old plan. Then, even more amazing, the NAACP joined Mr. Taylor in this claim despite their prior workings and endorsement of the new modified plan. Last week, Judge Lemelle rejected Mr. Taylors Motion for contempt and chastised him for not working with the Board to craft a new plan. So, now that Mr. Taylors most recent delay tactic has been rejected, it will be interesting to see what he and the NAACP will do next. Be assured, the Board is still ready to proceed with the modified plan and bring this case to a close in a way that provides an equal educational opportunity for ALL of our communitys children.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 16:54:13 +0000
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