[color="Blue"](We call them lemmings for a reason - marching towards certain doom. Nice comments at the end.)

http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060908/NEWS01/609080308/1002

Paige Ferguson, left, talks with newly sworn-in School Board members
Grady Akins, center, and Vicky Foote, right, who is also Ferguson's mother.

Jackson State Community College President Bruce Blanding congratulates Henning-Rowan, right.

Frank Walker

Jackson-Madison County School Board has majority black makeup after swearing-in ceremony

A new majority

By TAJUANA CHESHIER
tcheshier@jacksonsun.com

For more than 40 years, Jackson resident Frank Walker has been watching the actions of the Jackson City School Board and now the Jackson-Madison County School Board.

In that time, he's had but one prayer - that the racial makeup of the board would change.

Walker was one of the plaintiffs in the city's original school desegregation lawsuit. He watched with a mile-wide grin on his face as four new board members - including three who are black - were sworn in Thursday evening. [highlight]The nine-member board now has five black members. [/highlight]

[highlight]"If they all stick together and vote together, we'll have a better system," Walker said following the ceremony.[/highlight]

Juvenile Court Judge Christy Little presided over the swearing-in ceremony for new board members Grady Akins, Vicky Foote, Anne Henning-Rowan and Linda Pride.

Veteran board members Bob Alvey and Joe Mays also were sworn in after running unopposed in the Aug. 3 elections.

Supporters of education packed the Board of Education conference room to witness the ceremony. Board members were asked to acknowledge their guests, most of whom were their relatives.

"I'm very impressed with the crowd," Superintendent Nancy Zambito said. "It speaks volumes about how important schools are in the community."

Before swearing them in, Little offered the board members some advice.

"Think about the decisions you make as School Board members; they will affect children's lives forever," she said.

[highlight]Although the board is now majority black, Henning-Rowan, said it is a myth for members of the community to think the board's focus will be on black children only.[/highlight] [color="blue"](Ha!)

"I look forward to working with all people," said Henning-Rowan, a retired teacher. "My definition of a successful school system is a diverse student population, personnel and subject matter. Now that the board is reflective of the community, I think people are expecting changes."

And changes will come, Henning-Rowan said, but the focus will always remain on all children.

[highlight]Vicky Foote, who is white, said she's excited about the increase in women and African-Americans on the board. With the new members, the board has five women.[/highlight]

"I think we bring a new perspective, new ideas and solutions," Foote, also a retired educator, said of the new members. "The fact we have so many board members with education backgrounds is exciting, and now I'm ready to get to the children's business under way."

Visit jacksonsun.com and share your thoughts.

- Tajuana Cheshier, 425-9643 [color="blue"](nice Irish name)

Comments

I would demand/comment as follows:

1. JCM should be brought into the % of mix for minorities. NAACP wants all the other schools to be racially diverse but want JCM to be all black. They have laid claim to that school as theirs.

2. Why can't a white female get a job in the Madison Co. School system?

3. Why are only 3 of the 28 cheerleaders at JCM white?

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:07 pm

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Thats an interesting point. Now that whites are in the minority in the school system, how does that affect the court order.

The NAACP is getting exactly what they wanted. CONTROL!!!!!

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:56 am

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You should go ahead and start with your demands. That would make for an interesting thread.

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:47 am

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Now that whites are a minority in the school system, when can we start making demands for what we want?

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:02 am