Pearl River School District v. U.S. Dept. of Education

I no longer live in Pearl River, but my wife Mary still works there and each Thursday she brings home the "Our Town" Newspaper.

It's a great little paper. Always has been. Their editorial page is as strong (stronger, actually) than that of most major dailies - certainly stronger than that of the Journal News or my own (Orange County, NY) Times Herald-Record.

Unfortunately they don't post their articles and op-eds online, so... bear with me:

This week's lead editorial is titled, "Damned If You Do; Damned If You Don't," but it might as well be titled, "Obama's Jack-booted Thugs Set Loose On Pearl River."

I'll digest the article as best I can:

"Pearl River has, at taxpayer expense, gone to federal court to reverse a determination by the federal Department of Education that a civil rights violation has occurred in Pearl River. While no criminal penalties are involved, Pearl River could lose all or a portion of federal education funding and face further federal intervention in local education."

"The troublesome case of the Pearl River Union Free School District v. U.S Dept of Education illustrates what happens when an accused organization is presumed to be guilty of a civil rights offense and forced to prove its innocence."

* As opposed to being presumed innocent until proven guilty. (Bill)

"The case began at a home basketball game between Pearl River and Ardsley on February 18, 2011. Allegedly a racial slur was shouted at an Ardsley player as the team took the court."

"We say allegedly because, in court papers filed by the Pearl River School District, no one could be identified as shouting the alleged slur and no one but the complainant, the player's mother, initially reported the [alleged] slur."

"[In response to the accusation,] according to court papers, [the Pearl River School District] took the following actions:

Reviewed the videotape of the game; interviewed 31 witnesses, including Pearl River staff, coaches, spectators at the game, as well referees and Ardsley coaches.

No one recalled hearing any slurs nor did a video recording of the game reveal any slurs whatsoever."

"In response to the complaint, Pearl River further agreed to: Interview the complainant; interview the student who was [supposedly] the target of the alleged racial slur, and; interview additional witnesses who were present at the game."

"The goal of this investigation was to either identify the person who [supposedly] shouted the alleged slur and take immediate steps to ensure that no such harassment would occur again, or, equally as important in our [editorial] opinion, to determine that no slur had indeed been made and thus lay the matter to rest."

* Sounds reasonable, right folks? (Bill)

"The Federal Department of Education investigates complaints... The Pearl River School District is responsible for formulating and enforcing policies to discourage such [alleged] behavior, set standards of conduct, and deal with violations appropriately. This the district has done by entering into a Resolution Agreement with [Obama's] D.O.E. in which Pearl River agreed to review and revise harassment policies , to resolve policy compliance and grievance issues, and to distribute the revised policy to parents, students, and staff."

* OK, folks... here's where it gets hairy; here's where "Obama's Jack-booted Thugs" come into the picture. Read on! (Bill)

"Disregarding the agreement forged only two days prior, and acting as prosecutor, judge, and jury rolled into one, the [Obama] D.O.E. unilaterally determined that a racial slur had been made after [supposedly] reviewing the tape - a tape the district contends contained no such slur."

* Hey... if it turns out the district is lying... I'll gladly eat my words attached to this digest. But from what I'm reading... and from what I'm about to add... I doubt that this will be the case. Read on! (Bill)

"Citing a blog posted by the complainant as evidence, the D.O.E. also made a determination that Pearl River's investigation was incomplete and insufficient. In making that determination, the D.O.E. only interviewed the complainant and his sister and one Ardsley resident."

"The Pearl River lawsuit alleges that the D.O.E. ignored the preponderance of evidence that led to the district's conclusion that no slur had been made. The suit also alleges that the D.O.E. violated its own policies and procedures in taking this matter so far."

"Here is the glaring inconsistency on the part of D.O.E. and what appears to be a contradiction of its own policies. The agency reviewed the tape and determined that the tape does not support the accusation. Yet the determination was not withdrawn."

* Again, folks... if there's a slur on that tape then fine. Then the district is lying. But if there were truly any chance of this... why in God's name would the district sue and thus risk criminal perjury charges being filed against said officials? (Bill)

Anyway... here's the bottom line from "Our Town":

"We don't know what the D.O.E.'s objective is in ignoring the terms of the Resolution Agreement... Regardless of whether a slur had been made or not, the district agreed to address any policy issues that had not been already clearly defined. We [also] do know that in the first 33 months of the Obama administration the D.O.E. launched 30 compliance reviews as compared to 22 during the entire eight years of the Bush administration. Most involve Title 6 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964..."

"Different societies have developed different codes of justice. Based on English Common Law, American justice emphasizes due process, burden of proof, and the presumption of innocence. ... The Napoleonic Code presumes guilt in criminal cases, combines the roles of magistrate and prosecutor, and requires a defendant to prove innocence. ... In some countries, such as [Communist/Fascist] China, the legal system functions as an extension of the political system, designed to carry out state policy."

* Folks... fellow Pearl River school mates... I don't want America to follow the path of China - or even France for that matter. (Bill)

* This is an outrage. I urge you all to print out this posting (or if you have access to the actual "Our Town" issue photocopy or cut it out) and send it to your member of the House of Representatives, your two U.S. Senators, Governor Cuomo, and President Obama. (Bill)