DPS leader wants more Arab American students
By Nick Meyer
04.04.2010DETROIT – Detroit Public Schools’ Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb met with The Arab American News Publisher and spokesman of the Congress of Arab American Organizations (CAAO) Osama Siblani on Tuesday, March 30 at the Fisher Building in Detroit to discuss plans to attract more Arab American children to Detroit schools.
The district has seen a sharp decline in enrollment in recent years as nearly 100,000 students have left since 1997 according to Crain’s Detroit Business, but Bobb recently announced a $540 million plan using federal money to make a series of sweeping changes and improvements.
Bobb made his intentions clear early on in the meeting, which was organized and attended by Arab American DPS employee Dr. Therese Smith.
“Our outreach to your community is that we want more of your kids, that’s the bottom line, I can’t say it any more eloquently than that,” Bobb said.
In order to get more kids to come, Siblani said that parents’ concerns over security and drugs must be addressed by DPS.
Bobb said that DPS has allocated $41 million in security for the coming months.
“We want to change the whole public safety department top to bottom and bring in more seasoned veterans who understand Detroit communities,” he said.
Bobb said plans are in the works to invest in a new headquarters for public safety, put more security technology in schools, and to begin conflict resolution programs to help students learn ways to settle disagreements in a peaceful way.
In addition to attracting more students to DPS, Bobb laid out his academic goals for the district.
Currently, DPS students graduate at a rate of 58%, but Bobb has set a standard of 98%by 2015, which is 9 points higher than the national average of 89%.
The dropout rate is 27%, much higher than the national average of 9%, and the goal for 2015 is 3%.
The ACT score average for DPS is 15 with the national average at 19, but Bobb wants to see the score come up to 21 by 2015 as well.
Bob used a sports analogy to further explain his lofty academic goals.
“No one who qualifies to go to the Olympics goes without the desire to win a gold medal, not even the Jamaican bobsled team from a few years ago,” he said.
“We want to invest in 21st century teaching and learning and be supportive of teachers to give them the tools they need to succeed.”
Bobb also expressed interest in learning the cultural traditions and values of the Arab American community. Siblani extended an official invitation to Bobb to join CAAO at a meeting and/or dinner sometime in the next month in order to meet with Arab American leaders, parents, and students.
Bobb said his time in Santa Ana, California’s school system in a dynamic community of Hispanic, Hmong, Vietnamese and Samoan immigrants was one of the most personally enriching experiences of his distinguished career, and he looks forward to learning about the various cultural aspects of the Arab American and Muslim communities so that DPS can better serve them. Currently, a sizeable and growing population of Arab and Muslim students live within Detroit’s borders.
Siblani said that educating local Detroit communities, teachers, administrators, and others about Arab and Muslim culture is of the utmost importance. He suggested that Bobb hire a knowledgeable adviser on the subject to his staff, which currently does not include any Arab Americans. Bobb was receptive to exploring that idea in the future.
He said that Cleveland School in Detroit, which is now Detroit International Academy, made changes to accommodate Muslim students from diet and dress code perspectives and also had prayer rooms as well, which is a model that can be applied to future schools if need be.“I want to do my best to learn about the culture so that I’m not trying to be respectful and end up being disrespectful,” he said.
It is bad enough that the dropout rate in Detroit is almost 3X the national average, but the schools are also willing to accommodate Islam. With the high dropout rate, I wonder if Muslim kids are learning anything but Islam.? This will result in Islamic ruled ghettos, as we see in the Sweden, the Netherlands, and the UK, etc. In regards to Islam, we are heading down the same road as Europe. It is time to stop catering to Islam, and end all Muslim immigration. If not it is just a matter of time until they takeover.
If they said they would accommodate Christians like that, the ACLU would have them in court yesterday.
You got that right Joel. Our enemies were allowed to gain far too much power within our borders.
While at the same time laughing behind our backs.
That too. This notion that we must accomodate all foreigners is absurd. They need to assimilate, or be shown the door.
What as ass-backward notion.
This is the #1 danger in our society. Let's just keep accommodating all those who hate us and want to destroy us. Lets just vote in Sharia law and start the bloodshed. When did we lose our balls as a nation and as a people?
Dude I am a Muslim, and also an academic, and i think that you are an idiot. It is fools like you that fuel religious wars! all of my beat friends happen to be non-Muslims. My advice to you is, if you have nothing constructive, or helpful to say-then SHUT THE HELL UP!!
If I am such and idiot, debate me on the Islamic scriptures. You come off as a real nice guy, if cannot deal with freedom of speech that is your problem.
Another half billion blow on rotting Detroit. Now the Muslims will get a cut of that humongous pie. What could go wrong?
I found this on YouTube. He makes a comment about arselifters thinking they know it all. Which might explain why they aren't interested in learning anything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BENDZC67OcU
Detroit is a ruin. Years ago, before the liberal racist black mayor, Coleman Young exercised his version of affirmative action, the population was 1.8 million. Now there are less than 900,000 there and most are of the "empowered" and "entitled" variety that is the backbone of Obama politics. In late October, "Devil's Night" (Oct 30) every year, one could read one's paper in the light of the flames of burning abandoned houses for years and years. The school system is a shambles that depends more on federal and state money for support because, of course, the "entitled" and "empowered" don't pay taxes and never have. Detroit used to be the murder capital of the nation too, but I guess the population is so low now that Washington D.C took the title. There are muz in the Detroit are. The largest arab population outside the middle east lives in the Dearborn area….that's a suburb of Detroit. From what I hear, the arab muz kids are the most obnoxious pukes the schools have ever seen….even worse than the black gangstas. Really a bunch of rude assholes.
Obama will piss on himself to dump a bunch of taxpayer money on his two favorite peoples…..arab muz thugs and black gangstas. Go to YouTube and search "Detroit" and take a look at what kind of shithole racist liberal crooks can make out of a formerly thriving city. Coyotes, packs of wild dogs and even deer and bears have been seen inside the city limits and whole former neighborhoods are gone! yep, a real shithole. Muz will feel right at home, and they won't even have to convert it into a shithole to feel comfortable….it already is one.
LOL! You'd think they (the arselifters) were there before.
Someone should tell the blacks what the koran says about them.
From what you say, Detriot might regain its title of murder capitol of the world.
Dept of ED will shut them down if we scream loudly enough. they shut down the TIZA Islamic Jihad school… but we have to stay vigilent!
Let Canada have Detroit. It fits better over there. and by all means lets do all we can to please these rag heads.
I tried to donate brand new books to the Dearborn high school that show Israel in a positive light like A Case for Israel and classics like Exodus, but they were rejected. The explanation I got was that 90% of the families were Arab. After I asked if the race of the students mattered when deciding to accept free books (from a list of 20 or 30) she decided she had nothing else to say. I tried to appeal with her that the school had a responsibility to give these kids an American quality education and that she had the best chance to mitigate the hostility to no avail. These students are descendants of immigrants who brought misinformation to our shores, they did not have the luxury of open educations, they got propaganda delivered as fact, so which school system would benefit the most from information they don't get at home? Detroit was the same story.
While we are on the subject of Detroit, there has been a lot of effort to spread propaganda this year by various malevolent groups. Allison Weir spoke at schools last week and Jeff Halper is speaking to the community Monday April 19, 2010 at 7:30 p.m., for example. If anyone is interested in attending, the event is at…
First United Methodist Church
320 W. 7th St. @ Lafayette
Royal Oak, MI 48067
(Ample Lighted Parking)
I plan to attend if anyone is interested in challenging the lies he is sure to spout to a Christian audience on April 19th.
I'm not familiar with either of them. Can you suggest a good web site that backgrounds them?
What you tried was pretty impressive, and thanks for letting us know about this.
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=8&x…
Forgot the Weir link, sorry..
Gary,
Here is some backgrounder on Weir, she is the editor of If Americans Knew (what a liar Alison Weir is)…I wrote a report on her event, it is not a professional report and it is long, but I will post it if there is interest. I attended two of her three talks last week to try and pose a thought provoking question. The MC recognized me at the second event and refused to call on me, saying I see some faces that have had a chance to ask questions, we need to let others have a chance. The MC was Israel hater professor Ann Garcia, wife of Israel hater professor ??? Garcia, he was there too and threw me out of the event because I asked him who the soverein was that Israel was occupying land of.
Here is the malevolent Jeff Halper http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=8&x…
and some video of this Kapo… http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-57496152…
If someone can come up with a question that would appeal to the church and stop his propaganda I will consider asking it at the event. It has to be asked with a Christian audience in mind and assume the target audience knows nothing more than the lies he just told, since he is speaking at a church that may have uninformed audience.
You are welcome Christopher, I took a chance that you would not mind letting people know that a liar is going to be in town (my town) that needs to be ridiculed.
Michael,
Thank you for that. Here's another article that might interest you –
http://frontpagemag.com/2010/04/05/evangelical-le…
Michael,
Thank you for that. Here's another article that might interest you –
http://frontpagemag.com/2010/04/05/evangelical-le…
Detroit school or any other school no Religion, I believe if islam is
going to be taught, So should King james bible, should be taught.
That way student have a Freedom of choice, This America.
need to teach sewing, cooking, metal,wood shop, and classes we
use teach in school.
Not just computors,
GOD BLESS AMERICA