By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper and Newspaper Blog, Tel: (216) 659-0473 Kathy Wray Coleman is  a community activist and 20 year investigative journalist who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. (www.clevelandurbannews.com) /(www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana- Former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin (pictured), who served during the Katrina Hurricane tragedy and caused an uproar when he said then that the city would remain a 'Chocolate City,' was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison following jury convictions on a host  ofcorruption-related charges relative to his time as mayor.

Nagin, 58, faced 20 years, which prosecutors sought, but the judge opted for only 10, saying he is not a danger, and citing his age. He was convicted in February of accepting bribes, wire-fraud and filing false tax returns.

The ex-mayor's fall from grace followed his cerebrated election in 2002 as an agent for change, and another four year term thereafter. He moved to Dallas, Texas in 2010 until his indictment last year on federal charges.

Prosecutors said at trial and at sentencing that Nagin, a Democrat, knowingly defrauded the government, seeking bribes in exchange for favorable treatment. The former mayor, who is Black, continues to claim his innocence and must report to prison sometime in September.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper and Newspaper Blog, Tel: (216) 659-0473 Kathy Wray Coleman is  a community activist and 20 year investigative journalist who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio.(www.clevelandurbannews.com) /(www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, the city's third Black mayor behind Carl B. Stokes, who was elected in 1967, and Michael R. White in the early 90s, who served three four-year terms as Jackson will likely do,  has done it again, winning the 2016 Republican Convention for Cleveland as a host city. And this is behind his win last year with 68 percent of the vote against millionaire businessman Ken Lanci for a third mayoral term , and the year before he convinced Cleveland voters to endorse a 15 mill schools tax levy as the overseer of the city schools under state law.

All three, the late Carl B. Stokes, White, and Jackson, are Democrats.

The win for the majority Black major American city means that it is now out of consideration to host the Democratic National Convention in 2016 via clause in the Dems' contract for consideration. What a clause, though the Dems were not truly courting Cleveland, Democratic Party sources says, and now they can only hope that Columbus, Ohio, which is in the running can nab the DNC. It's mayor, Michael Coleman, is also Black and a Democrat.

Jackson was diplomatic about the accomplishment, but his growth as a mayor showed as he said that the greater Cleveland community welcomes the RNC to Cleveland.

"It was the entire community that was inviting them here," said the mayor at a press conference on Tuesday.

Jackson also told reporters that the convention will strengthen Cleveland's economy and heighten the city's national and international visibility.

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, the Democratic nominee in the race for governor this year against Republican Incumbent Gov John Kasich, said that he is pleased that Cleveland landed a national convention under his leadership as county executive.

"Today we got some exciting news, although it’s not our usual brand of excitement," said FitzGerald, in a press release to Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's leader in Black digital news. " The Republicans are coming to Cleveland for their convention."

From The Metro Desk of Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper and Newspaper Blog, Tel: (216) 659-0473 (www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio-Ohio state Rep. Armond Budish (D-8) (pictured), a former state House Speaker and Minority Leader and a Beachwood Democrat and Democratic nominee for Cuyahoga County Executive who will face Republican Jack Schron in November, recently met with grassroots community activists leaders at the Chateau Mansion in East Cleveland. A millionaire district six county councilman, Schron is the underdog in the heavily Democratic Cuyahoga County.

"I am open to talking about county issues," Budish told the activists, many of whom agreed that the state lawmaker is likely the candidate that some of them may personally support, and possibly after another forum scheduled with community activists before the November 4 general election in Cuyahoga County.

Most greater Cleveland community activists, however, say that they do not like politicians in general, and that Budish will not get a free pass.

The county executive works in concert with an elected 11-member Cuyahoga County Council on issuance contracts, county services issues, and public policy measures in a job that paid $175,000 annually when current county executive-Ed FitzGerald, now the Democratic nominee for the race for Ohio governor, was elected in 2010. It is likely the most powerful job in the county next to the county prosecutor and the judges.

The county executive appoints his administrative team and the county sheriff, fiscal officer, clerk of courts, coroner, treasurer and many more, a change in the county governance structure that voters overwhelmingly approved in 2009.

The new county governance structure scratched a three-member Board of Commissioners and all elected county offices in place at that time, including the now appointed sheriff and clerk of courts, aside from the elected judges and the still elected county prosecutor.

Activists groups represented at the meeting include the Imperial Women Coalition, the Carl Stokes Brigade, Revolution Books, Peace in the Hood, the Women's Federation, Black on Black Crime Inc., the Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network, People for  the Imperial Act, the People's Forum, and Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor.

A lawyer, married father of two grown children and state lawmaker whose state legislative district eight includes parts of the cities of Cleveland, East Cleveland, Euclid, Richmond Heights, South Euclid and Woodmere, Budish, 61, was not necessarily invited to the open meeting that community activists had planned, a tense meeting behind grand jury actions issued  weeks before that followed the tragic killings in November 2012 of unarmed Blacks, Malissa Williams, 30, and Tim Russell, 43. Both were unceremoniously gunned down by 13 non- Black Cleveland police officers shooting 137 bullets following a high speed chase that began in downtown Cleveland and ended in the parking lot of Heritage Middle School in neighboring East Cleveland.

"You were not invited to this meeting," said Gerald Henley, a community activist and former Cleveland school board vice president, to Budish when he pulled up a seat about a half hour into the grassroots discussion. "But since you are here, what is your position on the 137 shots?"

"137 shots."

That is what the fatal 137 shots Cleveland police shooting in late November 2012 of Williams and Russell has come to be known to community activists, and others. It saw a county grand jury, just last month, indict one of the 13 police officers that did the shooting, Michael Brelo, on two counts of voluntary manslaughter, and six police supervisors, five sergeants, and one lieutenant, all of them White, were charged with misdemeanor dereliction of duty. All seven of them have pleaded not guilty, including Brelo, who fired 49 shots into the front windshield of the 1979 Malibu Classic that Russell was driving and where Williams was a passenger. The pair died at the scene at Heritage Middle School.

The activists, and some others, remain passionate about justice prevailing in the celebrated case and say that they are concerned about whether Cleveland police can still effectively protect and serve the community, the Black community in particular.

Budish told Henley that he came to hear activists' concerns on countywide issues and that as to the 137 shots that he "has no opinion."

Longtime community activist Bill Swain, who is White and a member of the grassroots groups Revolution Books and the October 27th Coalition Against Police Brutality, countered and asked Budish if he were truly bold enough to appear before community activists without taking a position on the 137 shots.

Budish said yes and repeated that he had come to discuss Cuyahoga County matters.

One activist said that a no opinion on the 137 shots as a political gesture is at least better than backing police around the tragedy like Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty has done, a tragedy that has caused racial unrest in the majority Black major American city of Cleveland.

Cuyahoga County, which includes the city of Cleveland, is the largest of 88 counties statewide and has a population of some 1.3 million people. It is  roughly 29 percent Black.

Community activist Kathy Wray Coleman, who led the meeting along with community activist Don Bryant, then said that since the group had planned to meet again the following week and already voted, before Budish appeared at the meeting, to protest around the 137 shots, that she would request to refocus the meeting on Budish . She then offered him a complimentary fish or chicken dinner prepared by the Chateau and bottled water, only the bottled water of which he accepted.

Swain got upset, asking if Coleman were really going to refocus the meeting away from police just to accommodate Budish. Coleman responded that activists have grave concerns on some state laws that need amendments to them,  some that impact police, and on how Blacks, women and others will be impacted by the upcoming county executive election. Other activists leaders there agreed with Coleman,  including women's issues activist Marva Patterson and longtime community activist Ada Averyhart, 80, a member of the grassroots groups the Carl Stokes Brigade and Imperial Women Coalition.

Averyhart told the activists to behave in front of Budish.

Then the drilling began on what he might legally do if elected county executive, and also what Budish might legally do and propose as a term-limited lawmaker before his term ends in January 2015.

Activists first asked Budish to push for an amendment or change in the current state law that allows either Ohio common pleas judges or the grand jury itself to choose the county grand jury foreman .They want the judges' authority taken out of the puzzle and say that such a statutory amendment is necessary for due process protections and to rid the process of corrupt judicial influence.The grand jury process around the 137 shots had been tainted by prejudice from Prosecutor McGinty, activists told Budish.

They also had concerns about Blacks being disproportionately subjected to multiple grand juries in the same cases, some resulting in subsequent felony criminal charges on a touch-and-go theory, and without any new evidence, something they said should be addressed under state and federal law, and the rules of criminal procedure.

Budish took notes, and he asked a few questions himself.

"How do you feel about Tim McGinty?" asked Budish, with activists responding that they appreciate the county prosecutor's quickness in getting life sentences in some violence against women cases such as the Ariel Castro rape victims and in the Gloria Pointer rape and murder case.

But they said that they believe that McGinty, a former common pleas judge and former assistant county prosecutor, is overzealous and had prejudiced the grand jury in favor of police relative to its review of the 137 shots by successfully recommending that 12 of the 13 police officers that did the shooting go free.  The activists said they want another county grand jury to convene around the 137 shots, and independent of any prejudicial influence from the office of the county prosecutor.

Budish was also quizzed on what resources he would bring from the county to deal with the epidemic of rape and murder of women in greater Cleveland across racial lines.

"In the wake of the Imperial Avenue Murders, the Seymour Avenue malfeasance and the hike in violence against women, will you promise us more resources and a countywide missing persons unit where police can communicate across jurisdictions by radio and with other technology across the county to deal with the epidemic of rape and murder of women?" asked community activists.

Budish made no promises on that issue, but said he will look in to it.

Asked if he would make excuses for not hiring Blacks initially and later in his top level administration and in other key positions in the county if he is elected county executive, the lawmaker said no. He said that Blacks would be hired, and that diversity in employment has been a hallmark of his career from an attorney to a state lawmaker.

If he wins the race for county executive, Budish will lead Ohio's largest county as the 2016 presidential election nears and Ohio remains a pivotal state.

Pictured are 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH) (in eye glasses), a Warrensville Hights, Ohio Democrat and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus of Blacks in Congress,The Rev Al Sharpton ( Black man in blue-green tie),  U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) (in gold tie), a Rhode Island Democrat, Ohio Governor John Kasich ( White man in blue tie), Akron, Ohio parent Kelley Williams-Bolar, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald (in red tie), the Democratic nominee againt Kasich, a Republican for the race this yuear for Ohio governor

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper and Newspaper Blog, Tel: (216) 659-0473 Kathy Wray Coleman is  a community activist and 20 year investigative journalist who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. (www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (D-11), a Warrensville Heights Democrat who also chairs the Congressional Black Caucus of Blacks in Congress,  has introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives titled the Core Opportunity Resources for Equity and Excellence Act (CORE), proposed federal legislation designed to address persistent achievement gaps between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students by requiring states and local school districts to provide core resources, such as math, science social studies and English,  equitably. The legislation, says Fudge, is partly in response to unconstitutional public school funding formulas across the country, including in Ohio. See the text of the bill here. Read more about the CORE Act here.

And though it is clear that respective state legislatures seemingly bear the larger burden of providing all children with equal access to a thorough and efficient public education under their respective state constitutions, Fudge said that Congress also has a responsibility to seek to eliminate the achievement gap between minority children and their White counterparts and to deal with educational inequities that serve to foster dual school systems throughout the nation based upon a child's zip code.

“All of our nation’s students must be assured fair and equitable access to quality resources for core learning, yet the evidence is clear, we have failed millions of students," said Fudge in a press release to Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's leader in Black digital news. "

"The CORE Act is one step forward in righting that wrong,” the congresswoman said.

United States Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), a Rhode Democrat and a Harvard Law School graduate with a distinguished military career,  introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

A report  published by a federal advisory commission to the U.S. Department of Education in 2013 illustrates the magnitude of achievement gaps in America's public schools.

Black, Latino, American Indian, native Alaskan students and English language learners attend schools with higher concentrations of inexperienced teachers, according to the report. And one in five high schools nationwide lack a school counselor. The report also shows that roughly between 10 and 25 percent of high schools across the nation do not offer more than one of the core courses in the typical sequence for high school math and science, such as Algebra I and II, geometry, biology and chemistry.

"Equal opportunity is at the center of America’s promise and potential," said Fudge, whose 11th congressional district includes parts of the cities of Cleveland, a majority Black major American city, and Akron, Ohio, a city some 30 miles south of Cleveland.

"We cannot maintain a competitive edge in the world when we forsake this principle in our public education system," said Fudge.

“Senator Reed’s introduction of the CORE Act in the Senate, which is identical to legislation I introduced in the House, seeks to address this shortcoming," the federal lawmaker said.

The Ohio Supreme Court in DeRolph vs. The State of Ohio deemed Ohio's public school funding method unconstitutional in 1997  and on other occasions since the landmark ruling in which the court ordered the state legislature to revise its unconstitutional school funding formula that the court says relies too heavily on  property taxes, creating property rich and property poor school districts in violation of the thorough and efficient clause of the Ohio Constitution.

The DeRolph case includes a core of school districts from across Ohio, though Cleveland schools was not among them, that were fed up and successfully sued the state of Ohio.  But money talks and rich school districts have successfully lobbied the Ohio legislature to ignore the court order for a funding formula revision.

The current school funding formula in Ohio allows school districts like the neighboring Cleveland Hts-University Hts. School District and Shaker Hts. schools to spend some $20 thousand annually per student while Cleveland spends about $16 thousand per kid. The affluent city of Beachwood spends even more per student. Yet, Ohio's poor students are judged, berated and penalized based upon the same yard stick on standardized test and other measures required by the Ohio State Board of Education.

Children in rural Ohio are affected too, some even more drastically in schools without running water.

The nation's educational inequalities against its children can soundly be examined in  the popular book by Jonathan Kozol named Savage Inequalities, a study that draws its name from an investigation of the gross inadequacies of America's public school system in select and impoverished school districts across the country such as East St Louis and New York City.

National Civil Rights activists such as the Rev Al Sharpton, a MSNBC political  commentator and president of the National Action Network, have also called for the state legislature to do right by poor children and revise its unconstitutional school funding formula.

"Yes I do, " said Sharpton, when asked by Cleveland Urban News.Com Editor Kathy Wray Coleman at a press conference in Akron, Ohio on whether he believes that Ohio Gov John Kasich should push the state legislature to comply with the state Supreme Court's order to revised its unconstitutional school funding formula . That press conference, held at a Black baptist church on Akron's largely Black west side in 2011 followed a fiery speech on Ohio's and the nation's discriminatory school funding system by the Civil Rights leader for Kelley Williams- Bolar.

A Black single parent, Williams-Bolar, then 42-years-old and an Akron public school teacher's aide and college student seeking to become a school teacher, made national news after she was jailed for nine days three years ago. A Summitt County Common Pleas Court jury convicted her of felony crimes for falsification for using her father's suburban address to send her two daughters, one a third grader at the time, and the other in junior high, to a neighboring affluent White school district away from the Akron city schools, and away from the housing project where she and her family live.

Though Gov Kasich partly pardoned Williams- Bolar, who appered with Sharpton on the Dr. Phio Show during the height of the controversy,  by reducing the felonies for lying on school applications  to misdemeanors, the issue of unequal education for children in Ohio and elsewhere throughout the country still lingers as a serious problem, research reveals.

A Republican, Kasich faces Democratic nominee  and current Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald in this year's race for governor. But neither candidate has been credibly called to task on the school funding issue by the mainstream media, Ohio teachers unions, policy makers, or by Black leaders, Black parents, and the Black community.