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Schools
School race suit stays in Clearwater
By THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published May 30, 2007
CLEARWATER - A class-action lawsuit alleging Pinellas schools have failed to properly educate black children will go to trial in Clearwater as planned, under a compromise reached Tuesday by a Pinellas judge.
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Nelly N. Khouzam said she would direct that the jury pool for the trial include residents from throughout the county. Normally, juries who sit in the downtown Clearwater courthouse are drawn from north of Ulmerton Road, where the black population is about 5 percent compared with nearly 15 percent for the southern half of the county.
The plaintiffs wanted the trial to take place in the St. Petersburg Judicial Building in downtown St. Petersburg. At that location, according to the plaintiffs' attorney Guy Burns, more members of the city's black community might be seated as jurors and could attend the trial.
Khouzam said it was the first time that someone asked to move from one Pinellas courthouse to another.
She said of concerns about the racial makeup of the jury: "That's a very compelling reason that the court is concerned with."
In reaching her compromise, she said: "This is a very important case for everyone."
The trial was scheduled for the downtown Clearwater courthouse because Burns' law firm filed the case there in August 2000.
The plaintiff class is composed of the 20, 000 black children who attend, plus those who will enter, Pinellas public schools.
Also Tuesday, Khouzam moved the trial from July 9 to a yet-to-be determined date this fall.
The original lawsuit, which came to be called the "Crowley case, " had three lead plaintiffs. One died, another moved to Georgia and a third, William Crowley, has withdrawn. Crowley was listed a plaintiff on behalf of his son, Akwete Osoka, then a 7-year-old student at Sawgrass Elementary School in St. Petersburg.
The suit alleges that the child, who is black, faced academic problems that were "typical of those difficulties commonly faced by students of African descent."
It also alleges that Pinellas failed to provide an adequate education to black students, in violation of Florida law and the state Constitution.
[Last modified May 30, 2007, 01:57:35]
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by b
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06/17/07 04:32 PM
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Khouzam is just another politician, look at alot of her other cases that she's ruled on, I am sure you will see a pattern, whatever will give her votes and the least amount of bad press.
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by teacher
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05/31/07 09:52 PM
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I feel with such a high percentage of black students failing to meet standards, the problem is not solely in the home. Schools must also be responsible to increase achievement for all students. There are many areas for improvement in the system.
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by teacher
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05/31/07 03:39 PM
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As a teacher, and a product of the 1970's Pinellas County "busing for equality" lawsuit,I can tell you it didn't work then and it isn't working now. People of all ethnic groups need to take responsibility for their own actions or lack thereof.
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by a teacher
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05/31/07 12:03 PM
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Those of us who sit in classrooms every day can tell you no one group is asked to sit in corners or face the back or otherwise kept from the GROUP lessons. However, there is one group in many classes that don't do homework, attend open house, etc.
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by a teacher
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05/31/07 12:00 PM
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You nailed it Milton! The children are all sitting in the same class getting the same lesson in the same way. If some are succeeding as well as others maybe we should look at what's not the same outside of the classroom, in the home and neighborhood.
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by James
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05/31/07 12:09 AM
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To Rich I ask what "parents?" Don't you mean to say "parent" - since 90% of black kids in Pinellas are raised by a "single" mom (read: unmarried, uncommitted, uneducated, promiscuous, lazy, etc.)?
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by Milton
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05/30/07 10:53 PM
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So why aren't the white parents suing as well. After all, their kids were sitting in the same classrooms as the African Americans. As I black man, I'm insulted by frivilous lawsuits.
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by Bryan
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05/30/07 08:43 PM
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I agree with "Jo." Toss this case and save the legal fees. If they don't like the education they're receiving, move out of the area!
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by John
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05/30/07 08:35 PM
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Yet, again, reverse discrimination. Now we have to selectively, select jury pools. I thought it is supposed to be random selection. These children, and their parents (which are mostly children, too), need to grow up and fend for themselves!
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by JG
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05/30/07 04:09 PM
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If I read the below comments correctly then I should C a lot of families including wht ones being sued because the state of FL ranks at the bottom in the nation in educating kids.Not just the minorities.Continue the fight until Equal rights R Equal!
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by David
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05/30/07 03:07 PM
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I agree with Rich -- this one is on the parents for failing to get involved in their children's education. It's amazing that the judge IS still in office. This case has been around since 2000 -- let's throw the case AND the judge out! Tax waste!
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by Gilbert
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05/30/07 02:10 PM
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Remember these 2 phrases Afr. Am. parents: You must ASSIST your child in achieving the educational standards and you must INSIST they maintain those standards! I am Afr. Am., so again WE must take care of OUR children. Not the courts nor the system.
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by Dan
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05/30/07 01:38 PM
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So this is a lawsuit to prove black students are not smart enough to compete with white students? Sawgrass is very mixed - what issues was the black child facing his white cohorts were not? I suspect the problems were AT HOME!
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by Ellen
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05/30/07 12:00 PM
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So we are supposed to make things easier for one group of students because of their race? How about they study more and play less video games?
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by Jo
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05/30/07 10:25 AM
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Your tax dollars at work. This case needs to be tossed out. DON'T WASTE ANY MORE OUR MONEY LISTENING TO THIS BS.
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by Rich
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05/30/07 09:28 AM
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The School Board should counter sue the parents for failing to provide adequate educational support in the home. If a child does not do well in the classroom, it usually has more to do with failures of the parents than failures involving teachers.
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by RuthieGix
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05/30/07 08:51 AM
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So the lead plaintiff quit (real comittment), and his lawyer is looking for a new plaintiff. This does not look good for the litiigants, and so be it. The lawsuit's premise is stupid and is insulting to Pinellas County educators.
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by bob
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05/30/07 06:59 AM
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i can not believe this judge is still in office.
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