Highland Park School Situation Created by Officials Who Stole about $800 Million from Education

House Bill 4445 money goes to people outside of Highland Park

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich., Feb. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- House Bill 4445 that passed through the legislature on Thursday night is meant to grab power and not about helping students.  It pushes a particular philosophical agenda that could leave Highland Park and its parents, employees and children without classes to attend through no fault of their own.

In 2011, Lansing politicians passed legislation that took hundreds of millions of dollars from education at a time that schools and children needed it most.  Now with that money gone, school districts like Highland Park are struggling.  Rather than help them last year by providing necessary dollars, elected officials that voted for House Bill 4445 this Thursday, continued the power grab by kicking students while they were down.

Money from the bill should go to people who are democratically elected to help those children.  Kids shouldn't be moved into different districts in the middle of a school year because it increases class sizes for surrounding districts and places financial hardships on our schools which are already struggling with the unnecessary cuts passed by lawmakers last year.  We shouldn't be patching up their mistakes and making the children pay for it.

This bill is meant to ensure that the votes of Highland Park citizens are stolen and that democracy continues to be threatened and the power grab continues by Lansing politicians.  This is another reason why the emergency manager law hurts communities.

Stand Up for Democracy is a statewide coalition of citizens fighting to restore democracy by ensuring people have the chance to vote on whether to repeal the emergency manager law.  The law is seen as a naked power grab by state politicians that created emergency managers and gave them sweeping powers including the ability to:

- Seize and sell public assets without a court order
- Strip elected officials of their duties without due process
- Close vital public services without a public hearing
- Outsource public services and enter into contracts without legislative oversight

The elected officials who voted against this short-sighted bill should be praised for their effort to help Highland Park students, families and workers.

For more information go to www.StandUp4Democracy.com or call 1-866-306-5168 to volunteer.

SOURCE Stand Up for Democracy