Update: If I understand the latest news reports, I believe that this woman is presently out of jail. I think she served nine days now, and one day was forgiven for time served related to this case previously. That story (with apologies from and for the judge, which I am not clear are justified): here.
Kimberly writes: A very sad and serious matter. A mother in Ohio, Kelly Williams-Bolar, was sent to JAIL, based on her attempts to get her children into a better and safer school district. The woman and her children are black. The school district is mostly white, with an all white school board. The children’s grandfather actually lives in the better district. Full story with some commentary: here.
Action alert, with petition link and phone numbers at bottom of this post.
As some of you know, I worked as an education advocate for several years. I witnessed first hand the interaction between education law, federal rights, school lawyers, and families who are poor and/or black and brown. There are many horror stories on Long Island. But, I have not heard of one where the mom went to jail. I also know from my experience, that there are some very strong federal laws that protect people who are homeless, so that they can get educated in their new or home district. It appears to me, that a case could be made – at least morally, but perhaps legally on paper – that these children had a right to either be a resident with their grandfather, thus giving them a right to attend that district OR to claim that they were actually homeless, because their mother could not afford to keep their household in tact without the various maneuverings she ended up doing.
Regardless, the system let this family down. There should not be one school district where a mother is frightened to send her children or afraid that they will not get an adequate education, and then another Shangri-la district, with safety and success, housed and run by white people, that leaves out the poor and colored folk. It is not right. Unfortunately, it is the current reality in many cases. But, no judge should be so stupid, racist, and heartless to send a mother to jail as she tries to address the situation for her family. Read more »
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, children, Education, News, politics, progressive politics, rants, social & economic justice, US Politics | Tagged: Copley, Copley-Fairlawn School District, Education Law, education system, Judge Patricia Cosgrove, Julia A. Schafer, Julia Schafer, Kelly Williams-Bolar, Ohio politics, Patricia Cosgrove, public education, race issues, racism, school law, school residency, school residency issues, school taxes, systemic racism, White Privilege | Leave a Comment »
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From today’s University of South Carolina Daily Gamecock: Tom Clements, South Carolina’s 2010 Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, wants today’s students to think of themselves as activists. “Challenge authority and question authority,” Clements said. “We need you guys here in South Carolina to be involved on campus.” Clements was the keynote speaker at the Environmental and Social Justice Activism in South Carolina conference that was held Jan … 