Page Ten THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, July 28, 1977
Students suechoo board
By GREGG KRUPA
A class action suit to be filed
today in Federal District Court
in Detroit charges that the Ann
Arbor school system has "failed
to educate the economically dis-
advantaged children attending
the predominantly white, upper
middle class Martin Luther
King., Jr. Elementary School.
The suit also charges that "a
grossly disproportionate num-
ber" of those black children
have been labelled emotionally
impaired or learning disabled
without careful, unbiased evalu-
ation, taking into account "cul-
tural differences between them
and economicalty advantaged
children at King.'
THREE A-FORNEYS of Mich-
igan Legal Services in Detroit
are representing 14 black stu-
dents of the King school. The
defendants named in the suit
are the Michigan Board of Edu-
cation, the State Superintendent
of Public Instruction, the Ann
Arbor hoard of Education, Ann
Arbor S c h o o I Superintendent
Harry Howard, Pupil Personnel
Director Hazel Turner, and King
Principtl Rachel Schreiber.
Flora Btrke of the Student
Advocacy C e n t e r, a -parents
group formed to give voice to
student concerns, explained that
because King School has a low
proportion of students from low
income famiiles, the school is
not eligible for special federal
services available to about a
half dozen schools in the Ann
Arbor School District, under
Title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of
19115.
"In light of those circum-
stances, what has Ann Arbor
done to on a local level, to help
these kids?" said Burke. "We
don't think it's enough."
IRONICALLY, at the same
time the school system is ac-
cused of being unable to teach
poor children, the system is un-
dertaking a study of the affects
of socio-economic integrati6n on
the learning capabilities of stu-
dents from low income families.
Some educators who have stu-
died the problem contend that
the scholastic performance of
students from low income fami-
lies will increase when the stu-
dents are integrated with stu-
dents from high income fami-
lies.
But lawyers for the 14 students
say that socio-economic integra-
tion is not working at King Ele-
mentary School.
THEY CLAIM almost all of
the students from low-income
families who attend King are
performing significantly below
their grade levels, and that they
are being tracked in special
education categories at a rate
30 times greater than their more
affluent counterparts It the
school.
Officials of the Ann Arbor
Board of Education and the
Michigan Board of Education
said they were not aware of the
suit, and had no comment. them to keep up with other chit-
The lawyers representing the dren at King.
students are seeking a prelimi- The plaintiffs are also asking
nary injunction to halt all label- the Federal District Court to
ing and tracking of the low-in- require the defendants to obtain
come children, until they can be alt necessary federal, state and
properly tested to determine local funds and resources to
whether their academic prob- assure the pupils those educa
lems are the result of econoMic tional opportunities.
or education deprivation. The lawyers for the 14 sin-
THEY ARE also seeking an dents are seeking $2oaaa
order declaring that these stu- damages for each student for
dents have been denied educa- the "malicious and intentionally
tional opportunities because of wrongful action taken agains
the school system's failure to those children already misisa-
provide them with materials beled handicapped by the de-
and other resources to enable fendants"
Marhers rally to protest
Narciso, Perez conviction
(Continned from Page 3)
most of the poison victims
survived.
By the time
we're old enough to
* a have children, we've
been thoroughly sold
on the idea.
e By our parents,
our grandparents,
our friends and
neighbors, the media,
everyone.
It's hard to
remember we ever
had a choice in the
first place.
But there is a
choice. Having a
child is a tremendous
responsibility and
an important decision.
Probably the most
important decision
we'll ever make.
And once it's
made, it can never
be undone.
-' Just remember...
you do have a choice.
So think about it,
and do what's right
for you.
For more information write:
----------.....----.
National
Organization
Non-Parents
808 Reisterstown Road
Baltimore, Maryland 21208;
fd like to know more about i.O f
Tlease send me your free
'Am I Parent-Maierial" package.
address
elty/ataetAip
---. --.......a-- -
,e
Mrs. Perez' husband, Epi-
fanio Perez, showed up at the
rally donned in a light blue
"Support Narciso and Perez~-
Stop FBI Frame-Ups" T-shirt.
The rally ended at 2:30 with
a prayer by a Roman Catholic
priest, Father Basilio David.
He asked God for mercy, say-
ing "We are not blaming the
courts, we are not blaming the
jurors. We know injustice has
been done."
'U' expert
re Ofts
sex info
lacking
go" she said.
Young people are not'o
iced to accept their sexait.
Hacker said, so they are tithe
prepared to handle sititations
when they arise, such as in a
car, at a beach or drive in.
She said if a couple are in
volved in an ongoing relation
ship they might discuss contta-
ception, but with most young
people that is not often the
case.
HACKER CONTENDED dot
in an era of supposed se-at
liberation for females, they
should understand they hae
the option of refusing sex
"Young women should know
themselves, and know they can
say no," she said.
Hacker said she believed that
sex is just one aspect of a re-
lationship, which has been com-
pletely blown out of proportion.
SHE SAID to avoid unwanted
pregnancies and have a society
of people who are well adjusted
sexually, a total rethinking of
sexuality is necessary, starting
in the home.
"The first step," said Hacker,
"is for adults to acknowledge
sex as a legitimate natural
function and learn to discuss it
comfortably with young peo-
ple."
She contended state health
departments should allot fund-
ing to train parents, teachers,
counselors, and other helping
professionals to deal with young
people's questions.
"Once people feel more cen-
fortable about sexuality they
will take more responsibility
for it," she remarked.
"Sex should be recognized a.
a natural part of life," she
continued, "Responsible sex a
acceptable, but irresponsible
narenthosodi unaccentable."