CLEVELAND, Ohio- (Editor's note: Below is a response by Kimberly Brown (pictured) to the guest editorial of Larry Woods, who called Brown a hater for her guest editorial to Cleveland Urban News.Com opposing Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's (pictured) education plan and the 15 mill Cleveland Municipal School District operating levy on the ballot for November. Among other provisions, Jackson's plan, which is now state law with Republican Gov. John Kasich's support, replaces teacher seniority with merit pay and hands public funds slated for the majority Black district for charter schools. The Cleveland Teachers Union leadership team, all nine Blacks on Cleveland City Council, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-11), all of the Black state legislators from Cleveland but state Sen. Shirley Smith (D-22), and the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Call and Post Newspapers support the mayor's controversial plan. Community activists generally oppose it and Cleveland Urban News.Com www.clevelandurbannews.com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com have not taken a formal position on the controversial issue but will do so in coming weeks. And the aforementioned Black officials that backed the plan are not necessarily backing the levy, though Cleveland Ward 8 Councilman Jeff Johnson, who enjoys some support from grassroots factions on community matters, is among those that have publicly announced support of it. The mayor controls the schools under state law, and appoints the Cleveland Board of Education).
In a previous editorial Brown wrote in pertinent part that school district officials are not fiscally responsible enough to warrant passage of the levy during a national recession and that the levy is not about children.
And Woods, a consultant for the school district, shot back, calling Brown a hater for her comments. (Editor's note: Cleveland Urban News.Com does reserve the right to edit and shorten editorials, and in this matter did so for more brevity and clarification, and not to push a position pro or con)
In response to being called a 'hater' by Woods, Brown submitted the following response to Cleveland Urban News.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com....
From the Desk of Kimberly F. Brown. To be clear, a plan was created in 2009 on how to fix issues confronting the Cleveland Municipal School District.
Not only have I created an empowered educational transformation plan, I am also the developer of "The 10 step training module of How to Recruit Foster Parents on a Limited Budget" and "How to Rid Urban Cities of Thug Culture," which specifically look at urban schools .
A portion of this plan was featured in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Secondly, the editorial that is printed in Cleveland Urban News was shortened and because of such, readers are not able to get a clear understanding of the editorial.
Finally, it is the levy that is of issue in my editorial, not the plan.
It's not about hate, it's about fiscal responsibility and accountability. Throwing good money after bad is never a wise decision.
Reach Cleveland Urban News.Com by email at editor@clevelandurbannews.com and by telephone at 216-659-0473.