Ms. Conaway, I am from the organization, BAMN, that is organizing the protests to save Ferguson Academy along with dozens of other Detroit schools that are threatened with closure and privatization. We need funds to support legal costs for the Ferguson mothers and future efforts. Please include this link for your readers who would like to support. Thank you.

www dot bamn dot com/doc/2011/110415-catherine-ferguson.asp

Great story! Sad to see the school closing. Giving tax breaks to King Snyder's wealthy buddies is more important than education. Republicans should be ashamed! People have to stop believing Republican lies. Undermining this country's future by cutting education clearly shows how uncaring Republicans are about anyone but the wealthy.

I was listening to the podcast this morning and when Rachel started talking about the School and gave the details about it I was amazed that something like that could exists, so unique, why not have it duplicated on other places... then... it came, the realization that this place was being attacked so bastardly it was a tad much.

I am not a US citizen, I live in Mexico, and closely follow US politics and events due to the fact that I live near the US/Mexico Border and over time we have seen how decisions there affect us here.

Its a shame this is happening, such a place is something that should be replicated and supported not destroyed.

Has there been any mention on to why this place is in the list of being closed? did I miss that?

Wish we could buy the school, keep the same teachers, headmistress, and curriculum...with the addition of a class in "Democratic Political Action: Overcoming the Conservative Hegemony". Taught by a certain Rhodes Scholar/Oxford Ph.D.

I've just sent the letter I've reproduced below to the Boston Globe and the Lawrence Eagle Tribune. Perhaps other Maddowblogpeeps can do something similar:

Letter to the editor:

If you are a teen-aged mother or mother-to-be who lives in Detroit, Michigan, you have, until recently had the option of bringing your child with you to Catherine Furgeson Academy, where you could receive a publically funded education designed to create a better life for you and your children. If you were a student there this past week, you may have been arrested for the crime of trying to keep your school open after the emergency financial manager appointed by Governor Snyder, setting aside the authority of the school board, put it on the calendar to be closed.

If you are a citizen of Benton Harbor in Michigan, you have, until recently, been able to petition your duly elected leaders for redress of grievances. Since your duly elected leaders’ powers have been assumed by the emergency financial manager appointed by Governor Snyder, you no longer have any power to affect your city’s policies.

Every news outlet in America needs to be watching ever so closely what is going on in Michigan at this time. The democratic process is being undermined by corporate-sponsored politicians who are beholden only to them. We may have fascism here on the march. Let us not be the frog that is boiled to death because it is not aware of the incremental change in temperature which eventually kills it.

I ask you, as editor of your newspaper, to bring attention to the stealth beginnings of the erosion of democracy in America. It is time to let your readers know about Benton Harbor and Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, Michigan.

Ms. Maddow so almost said it herself! Saint Ronald laid it out and the government is a democracy, ergo the Republican-/Rick Snyder-/Michigan-view: "democracy isn't the solution to our problems; democracy is the problem."

"... i do drool when i think of the pace of change we could acheive under the new law."

change, huh? so maybe that's what President Obama -- who many on the right make references to fascism, socialism, and dictatorships -- should do? #projection

closing (or privatizing) CFHS; how's that whole pro-life thing working for ya'? oh yeah, that's right: they don't care about the welfare of actual children, or even children of children, only fetuses. #probirth

There's a recurrent theme here in comments as the culture war throws reproductive justice and class struggles together. That theme is surprise that conservatives would both be anti-choice and support measures that hurt the people who are most affected by forced-birth policies.

It is time to get over being surprised by this seeming contradiction. It is not a contradiction when you realize that conservative policies are designed to punish people who are born without privilege, be that class, race, gender, or others. Now, we can debate why this is true, to what extent it is true, and how a philosophy of government could be so sadistic. But none of that changes the very clear fact that conservative goals are perfectly logical when viewed in this light.

The more time we spend being shocked, the more time they have to pursue their ends. It is time to accept that

• certain people view the world very, very differently from you or I,
• those people are currently in power, and that
• there is no winning in trying to run their actions through our logic

The sooner we do this, the sooner we are free to directly call out conservative policies for the oppressive strictures they are. We need to stop saying, "That doesn't make sense!" Playing gotcha gets us nowhere. What we need to be shouting is, "That isn't FAIR." WE the people do NOT deserve to be PUNISHED for how we were born, where we were born, or what choices our parents made. WE deserve a FAIR shot at life, no matter how we came into it. Conservatives do not believe that. We need to accept that and move on our own agenda.

They are not really 'pro-life' or even anti-abortion. The are for forced birth, but they don't care what happens to the 'post-born.' They especially do not care what happens to young women of color and their children. Their major concern about abortion is that they want more Caucasian babies because they know they are doomed as this country becomes more diverse. That's why they are working so hard to change the rules and keep the rest of us from being able to vote them out.

As for Kalamazoo - Fred Upton is the congress critter for Kalamazoo - 'nuff said.

Where can we donate money to this cause? My six year old saw the piece and wants to donate the "share" portion of his allowance to these girls. I want to make it possible for him to do this.

I ask with all due respect: What in the sam-fricking-hill is going ON in this country?

Here is a link to a site that says it is taking donations to help cover the legal fees for the girls and also to help save the school.

https://www.bamn.com/1/donate.asp

I don't know anything about the organization, so am a bit hesitant to donate.  I wish Rachel would let us know if this is an OK organization or maybe set up something like she did for the Iraq baseball team because I want to start an email chain letter addressed to all of my women friends and include a link to her video AND a donation site.  The thought of any really good school being closed just makes my blood boil!!  I think a whole lot of women emailing a whole lot of other women can save this school.

My gut tells me that there's another agenda here.  Is this another land grab, like Benton Harbor?  Honestly, I'm beginning to feel like I'm living in a Frank Capra movie - we've got modern-day reincarnations of the Taylor machine, D. B. Norton's goons, crooked politicians, graft, land grabs, palm greasing, a media controlled by corporate interests - and a whole lot of us "little guys" trying to make a difference one issue at a time.

there's another website for donation to help pay these fines facing these young mothers and to help save the school..

www(dot)bamn(dot)com/1/donate(dot)asp

ps, when i tried to post the actual site link, i kept getting a 404 error. please forgive my (dot)ness

How do they think this will save money? These girls will just go on public assistance and the cycle of poverty will continue....sad, sad, sad! I hope they can actually achieve the goals they have learned to set for themselves at this great school, even if it is in some other place, but this is just another roadblock in a life that is already taking a wrong turn. Pathetic of the conservatives to have no compassion or even to understand the fiscally irresponsible implications of leaving these girls with no place in which to be educated.

I remember with horror when one of my coworkers who lived in Detroit told me that her family didn't dare call the cops if she was sexually assaulted or someone was killed in her neighborhood because the cops either wouldn't come or they would attack her.  Her fear was real and her eyes haunted. 

We are going to print out some flyers showing how damaging the EFM bill is. Each person we can educate the better off we will be when the time comes to recall Snyder. The Lansing media says nothing about this bill. When it was first passed they did mention that unions didn't like it. This bill is hardly about unions and I think they said that to throw people off track. The amendments that were not allowed are extremely dangerous let alone the new EFM's are not only paid with tax dollars but with money from corporations. The Detroit EFM makes $425,000 and $280,000 is tax dollars, the rest from corporations. Conflict of interest? I am not sure what the Benton Harbor EFM makes but I am sure he is getting rich. We are being told the state is broke with salaries like these? The following amendments that were not allowed are really important to show just who this bill is benefitting.

Did you know: The Emergency Financial Manager Bill (EFMB) allows one person, with no oversight, appointed by the governor, to come in, sell the cities assets, privatize public services and dismantle your city, townships, schools, etc. as this one person sees fit. The Bill cannot be repealed because it had an appropriation put on it.

Did you know: That Senator Bieda wanted to amend this bill on page 24 by inserting the following: An emergency financial manager shall not do any of the following:

1. 1. Use his or her position to obtain private gain or advantage for himself or herself, a relative, or any entity in which he or she has a present or potential financial interest.
   2. Disclose or use confidential information that is not generally available to the public for his or her own financial benefit or for another person’s financial benefit.
   3. Participate in a transaction that he or she may be substantially influenced if he or she knew or should have known that a relative, friend or associate has a substantial financial interest in the transaction.
   4. Use public funds, time or equipment for his or her own private gain.
   5. Undertake any activity that is a conflict of interest, or would appear to a reasonable person to be a conflict of interest, between his or her private interests and the public duties required under this act.
   6. If the state treasurer determines that a violation of subsection (2)(c) has occurred, the state treasurer may cancel the transaction if the public interest would be served and if an innocent third party would not be adversely affected.

The above amendment was struck down by a vote of 25-13

Senator Hunter offered the following amendment: Amend page 23, line 16 by inserting: The annual salary of the emergency manager shall not exceed the annual salary of the governor of this state as determined by state officers.

This amendment was tied at 19 yeas and 19 nays. Our Lt. Governor Calley had the deciding vote. He voted Nay thus striking down the amendment.

These amendments were struck down for a reason and I don't think it was to benefit the citizens of Michigan.

I think the plan is to take us down one city at a time without public outcry.

I cannot post the link but, more budget cuts target the most needy. Clothing voucher cards for foster children will only be redeemed in used clothing stores. Salvation Army stores and the like will only honor those cards.. From what I understand the voucher cards are not for much money. Foster parents shell out tons more than the state does.

Voters better not sit home the next election. It is only going to get worse.

As I watched the video of children being dragged away because their crime was wanting a chance at an education I couldn't help but remember a quote given to us by Pastor Martin Niemöller who was imprisoned in Dachau from 1941 to April 1945.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a socialist;

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –
because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me –
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

From the text of the book by Milton Mayer
They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45

It may be hyperbole to compare the current state of events to events in Germany in 1933 but if we keep heading down the path we are going then this might one day become our reality. Private for profit prisons, scapegoating a whole segment of our society for our economic woes and an overall tighting of our freedoms and I almost forgot to mention the rise in demagogues preaching the politics of fear and how they can save us from destruction.

Testing.

As a former employee of Detroit Public Schools, I can tell you that for years every elected school board was "licking their chops" at the thoughts of how much they could skim off the budget for themselves and how many sweetheart contracts they could award their friends (with kickbacks for themselves, of course). They all had cars and drivers and took lavish trips for conventions and "study" of other districts. There was very little concern for students. I imagine Benton Harbor is much the same - incompetent people elected for years who drove the city into the ground. The idea behind the financial manager is that once the political body is back on its feet financially, the electorate will again be able to vote for representation. Whether this will come to pass, we will have to wait and see. Mr. Bobb has been in charge of DPS for several years and the deficit has not been erased. It is a shame that he has chosen to close the Catherine Ferguson Academy as one of his cost-cutting measures.

Particularly ironic that the key official is named Robert Bobb. The politics reminds me of Bob Roberts.

The most disturbingly ironic thing is that Gov Rick Snyder is 100% anti choice. Couldn't copy the link but this is what it says:

• Firmly pro-life, which begins at conception. (Nov 2010)
• Embryos are human life; but support stem cell initiative. (Nov 2010)
• Opposes prohibiting human embryonic stem cell research. (Aug 2010)
• Opposes federal abortion funding. (Aug 2010)

So what DO you suggest for options for women if not education and support. Do you have stock in a coat hanger factory or something??

Can we get Stephen Colbert/Jon Stewart to publicize this issue? George Soros; Keith Olbermann; Richard Branson? We need some money to keep this school open! Colbert has a SUPER PAC!!! Let's all donate even if it's just $5: https://www.bamn.com/1/donate.asp

Please post on your Facebook page and anywhere else you can think of!

Are we going to remain static before these abuses from the GOP? i wonder if Rachel can follow up on this issue and the previous ones from the great state of Michigan and find any legal option to stop this madness?!!. or next time we won't be able to write on a blog like this anymore because the GOP-Tea party finds it ...inadequate and anti-democratic. we are losing the most precious gift that our founding fathers fought for: DEMOCRACY. it is vanishing in the hands of the GOP- Tea party...we are losing our nation. somebody stop this

Detroit and MI have much more serious problems. If you live in Detroit (really in Detroit, not somewhere near it) I advise you to move. You couldn't give me a house there for free and I used to love going to MI and even liked Detroit back in the 1980s. Detroit is the new Flint and Flint is still Flint.