Herman’s Battle for Justice For Detroit's Children
When Governor Rick Snyder signed the union busting Right to Work law, Civil Right’s soldier Herman Davis saw the beginning of what he knew would be a fight of hard working people against billionaires. “This has been the most corrupt administration in American history. And Snyder is ambidextrous too. He can smile, pick your pocket and poison you at the same time,” says Davis.
With charter school billionaire, Dick DeVos, telling Snyder what to do, Herman Davis feared for the worst for Detroit children. The Detroit Public Schools had already been under state control for seven years when Snyder came to office. The State had nearly bankrupted the district twice. Governor Engler had taken control, then gone on a wild spending spree, entering into unsustainable contracts with the $1.5 billion dollar authority the district had. The problem was, he didn’t stop. During the two years that Detroiters regained control, they realized they’d been forced under water.
One school that was completely rebuilt with bond money was Mumford High School, located in Davis’ well kept neighborhood. Governor Snyder took Mumford from DPS and put it into his controversial EAA school district. The school’s performance plummeted, and so did Herman Davis’ property value. “We live in a great neighborhood here, but people are skeptical about moving here, because we have an EAA school.”
Dividing the district caused the DPS to lose students, and fewer students meant the district struggled to pay the debts Engler created. “The Republicans try to blame us, just like they tried to blame the people of Flint for the water switch, even thought the people of Flint had no say, but under Emergency Management, we had no say either.”
Despite the Emergency Manager, some of the Board members, including Herman Davis remained vocal. Tawanna Simpson and LaMar Lemmons warned Snyder’s EM that sexual predator Charles Pugh should not mentor male students. “The EM shrugged his shoulders,” Lemmons said, adding that the EM dismissed him “as a homophobic troglodyte,” according to newspapers. Yet, the Board was correct, a Federal Court forced the district to pay one of Pugh’s victims $350,000. Bill Seikely, the victim’s lawyer said Pugh was Detroit’s worst kept secret. The problem is, says Davis, “If Snyder made the decision to let a predator into the schools, why should Detroiters be responsible?” His fellow Board Member, Elena Herrada, agreed, “Snyder should pay.”
When Snyder closed down Oakman Orthopedic School for children with special needs, Davis filed a Title VI complaint with the Department of Justice. He believes that Snyder is treating black and brown, and special needs children differently. The case is still pending. Snyder retaliated by threatening Davis with being thrown off the Board.
“Snyder thinks he can close public schools so his corporate friends can make a buck. So, under Emergency Management, we had the guy who poisoned Flint, telling us we could not even use the copy machine, while he was out wasting our money left and right, and allowing a pedophile unprecedented access with not so much as a finger print check,” said Davis.
