DETROIT JEWISH NEWS theJEWISHNEWS.com Arthur M. Horwitz Publisher / Executive Editor ahorwitz©renmedia.us Jackie Headapohl Managing Editor jheadapohl@renmedia.us Keri Guten Cohen Story Development Editor kcohen@renmedia.us Gail Zimmerman Arts Editor gzimmerman@renmedia.us Deborah Schultz Corporate Creative Director dschultz@renmedia.us EDITORIAL Senior Copy Editor David Sachs dsachs@renmedia.us Editorial Assistant Sy Manello smanello®renmedia.us Senior Columnist Danny Raskin dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net Contributing Editor Robert Sklar rsklar®renmedia.us Contributing Writers Ruthan Brodsky Suzanne Chessler Annabel Cohen Don Cohen Shelli Liebman Dorfman sdorfman®thejewishnews.com Ronelle Grier Esther Allweiss Ingber Harry Kirsbaum Lynne Konstantin Barbara Lewis Rabbi Jason Miller Allan Nahajewski Robin Schwartz Steve Stein sports®thejewishnews.com DETROIT JEWISH NEWS frontlines >> letters theJEWISHNEWS.com Letters from page 5 F. Kevin Browett Chief Operating Officer been gone since former Gov. John Engler stripped the State Board of Education of its elected authority over special educa- tion and gave non-elected, autocratic authority to our state superintendent. Fast forward to the revisions released on Feb. 13 and the MDE is proposing the following (partial list of revisions): • Local control for school districts and Intermediate School Districts (ISDs) to determine special education staffing annually. This will increase special edu- cation teacher caseloads and paraprofes- sional assignments to an unsustainable level and at the expense of the students' learning. • Removing parents' procedural safe- guards through a complex maze of chang- es to how students are evaluated and determined eligible for special education. • Removing all transparency from the ISDs "Alternate Plans" that override our special ed rules and create inequity of educational conditions for students with specialized learning needs and their teachers across 57-ISDs. • To be eligible under an Autism Spectrum Disorder a student will have to have "marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors including eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction:' The motivation is that Gov. Rick Snyder promised when he took office he would eliminate all "state rules" that exceed the minimum required by federal laws. The majority of students with disabili- ties can become taxpaying adults and contributing citizens. Use your voice, pen, a postage stamp and attend a public hearing. Say no to the MDE balancing school districts' budgets on the backs of students with disabilities. Iran Maintains Capacity To Make Bomb Material This is in response to the letter "ZOA Misrepresents Iran Negotiations" (Feb. 20, page 6) The first point that the author made is that Iran would halt production of 20 percent enriched uranium, turning it into oxide and thus, making it inoper- able. That is a misstatement. The truth is the oxide is completely reversible, which means that it can reactivate at any time. In addition, Iran retains its 3.5 percent uranium which can be enriched to 20 per- cent in less than a month. Besides that, he mentions that Iran has agreed not to install any more centri- fuges. As of now, they have 19,000 centri- fuges, including 3,000 second-generation machines which are capable of producing and enriching uranium at five times the rate. In addition, Iran has been building centrifuges until the last minute of nego- tiations. How many more do they need? According to commentator Charles Krauthammer, "There is nothing in the agreement that stops the Iranians from producing more uranium or from producing the machines that enrich the uranium:' Arak is a city in Iran that has a heavy water reactor. It produces plutonium, another path to produce a nuclear weap- on. The Iranians are not destroying it, merely inactivating it. According to Reuters: "'They do not need a heavy-water reactor at Arak in order to have a peaceful nuclear program: Wendy Sherman, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, told lawmak- ers in Washington ..:' Therefore, I do not believe that Mort Klein is as uninformed as the author of the letter implies. Marcie Lipsitt Michigan Alliance for Special Education Franklin Dr. Edward Goldberg West Bloomfield kk k A,,,ikoct JEWISH A, coboi\IDATiv \\: To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.djnfoundation.org kfarber@renmedia.us Account Executives Wendy Flusty Annette Kizy Melissa Litvin Ilene Lubin Rick Nessel Sales Manager Assistant Lisa Wren BUSINESS OFFICES Billing Coordinator Pamela Turner Collections Analyst Hazel Bender Production By FARAGO & ASSOCIATES Manager Scott Drzewiecki Designers Amy Pollard Pam Sherevan Michelle Sheridan Susan Walker PUBLISHED BY: RENAISSANCE MMEDIA Chairman Michael H. Steinhardt President Arthur M. Horwitz ahorwitz@renmedia.us Chief Operating Officer F. Kevin Browett kbrowett@renmedia.us Controller Craig R. Phipps Corporate Creative Director Deborah Schultz dschultz@renmedia.us FULFILLMENT DEPARTMENTS magazine Contributing Editors Gail Zimmerman gzimmerman®renmedia.us Keri Guten Cohen kcohen@renmedia.us Keith Farber Sales Director circulationdesklhthejewishnews.com Customer Service Manager: Zena Bosley RD Turn Managing Editor Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@renmedia.us kbrowett@renmedia.us QUICK CLICK ... Vignettes From The JN Archives Adam Mosseri Detroit Jewish News Foundation Fellow Have you heard about the Perfection Mosaic Lodge No. 530, F. & A. M.? On Aug. 18, 1989, in the Detroit Jewish News, Danny Raskin reported in his column "Listening Post" that two iconic Michigan lodges, the Perfection and the Mosaic, would merge. Perfection Lodge 486, a pre- dominantly Jewish organization, first appeared in the Jewish News in 1942 in an article on the Lodge's past master Irving Blumberg, declaring him to be an inspirational community leader. Mosaic Lodge 530 of the Masonic Order first appeared in the Detroit Jewish News in 1945. The topic of dis- cussion was Women's Club activities and how the Ladies of Mosaic Lodge and the men's order held a dinner meeting. These two fraternal lodges' merger was considered the "perfect marriage:' General Offices: 248-354-6060 Advertising: 248-351-5107 Advertising Fax: 248-304-0049 Circulation: 248-351-5174 Classified Ads: 248-351-5116 Advertising Deadline: Monday, 2 p.m. Editorial Fax: 248-304-8885 Deadline: All public and social announcements must be typewritten and received by noon Tuesday, nine days prior to desired date of publication. Subscriptions: 1 year $85 2 years $153 3 years $204 1 year out -of-state $125 2 years out-of-state $225 Per year foreign $300 Detroit Jewish News 29200 Northwestern Highway Suite 110 Southfield, MI 48034 © 2014 Detroit Jewish News ❑ Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.org . Sol Knore Now to Save! hiPOtr dea s 6 February 27 • 2014