You are well aware of the glaring deficiencies in the distribution of administrative positions within the hierarchy of the Detroit Public School System, but specifically within the Central staff. According to a recent census, which reveals the racial and ethnic count for the City of Detroit, it is obvious that educators of Slavic descent are not represented in these positions in proportion to the total number of Slavs, which, in this case, is approximately one-third of the population of the city and predominantly Polish.

Furthermore, there are many capable teachers and other employees on the staff of Polish or Slavic descent from which to select such candidates for promotion.

Let me, once again, refer to the published Guidelines for Regional and Central Boards of Education of the School District of the City of Detroit, Section E (Personnel), pt. 3, p. 28 entitled "Fair Employment Practices:"

"All personnel policies and practices of the Central Board and of each Regional Board shall be in accord with fair employment practices as determined by state and federal civil rights legislation. Such policies and practices shall also maintain the concept of staff balance as prescribed by the policies of the Central Board. No individual shall be discriminated against because of race, creed, sex, or ethnic origin, but within each group of employees, there shall be a broadly representative cross-section of the city's population."

It is clearly evident that this broadly representative cross-section of the city's population is not represented at the Central or Regional levels in administrative personnel, nor are you adhering to state or federal civil rights legislation when it speaks to these matters. So far staff balance has been interpreted to mean a minimum of 50% of all positions for Blacks with no regard for other ethnics, minorities, etc. in respect to promotions of other privileges.

This matter has continually been brought to the attention of each general superintendent since January 1971, and each one, in turn, agreeing to remedy the unfairness, but never fulfilling their promises. You are aware that at least two cases have been brought before the circuit court charging the Detroit Board of Education with discrimination towards Slavic employees in regards to promotions.

On the basis of this knowledge, we would like to see constructive and positive action taken within three months in order to begin to remedy this offensive inequity by filling one-third of these administrative posts with educators of Polish and Slavic descent following the same balance of staff policy as is applied to Blacks.

Since there will be a vacancy for an Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Development (Dr. McDaid's position) by September, is there any reason why anyone from the Polish staff could not be promoted to this post? Each retirement or vacancy in the near future should be treated the same way until this level is reached.

In addition, the following positions must receive immediate consideration: Deputy Superintendent-one; Assistant Superintendent-four, and Divisional Director-eight.

Also, the following positions should be filled soon, or in the foreseeable future and should be given high priority:

(1) Department of Federal, State and Special Programs (Assistant Superintendent), and

(2) Divisional Directors: Vocational Education, Social Studies, School Libraries, Mathematics and Science.

An ad hoc committee can propose a list of names of available educators worthy of consideration for each of these positions.

Within the next five years, the Board should undertake the responsibility to fill the required quota of one-third at all levels of administrative and supervisory positions with educators of Slavic descent.

Also, in Region 6, a predominantly Polish community, there is not one Slavic person on the administrative staff of Region 6. Whenever we address ourselves to the balance of staff policy, we must consider fair representation of all minorities, especially where specific ethnics are concentrated.

Dr. Jefferson, here is our stated proposal which you requested of our members, who met with you last May 12th. Although I submit this report to you in my name, all of the names below mine have endorsed it. After considering our report, we would appreciate hearing from you and sharing with us your remedy in order to rectify the imbalance of a reasonable representation on the Central and Regional staffs.

Respectfully submitted.

BENEDICT S. MARKOWSKI,

Central Board Member and

Chairman of Region 6.

KAZIMIERZ OLEJARCZYK,

President, Polish-American Congress,

Michigan Division.

VLADIMIR BEZDEK,

Secretary, Czechoslovak National Council of America,

Masaryk Chapter, Detroit.

WILLIAM KOLODCHIN,

President, Ukrainian Congress,

Committee of America.

JAN SKLENAR,

Social Studies Department Head,

Chadsey High School.

GREGORY C. BIESTEK,

Corresponding Secretary, Polish-American Congress,

[EXHIBIT No. 28]

Michigan Division.

Mr. President and Members of the Central Board of Education, for almost six years, representatives of the Slavic communities have been bringing to the attention of the Board the continuous, deliberate and blatant discriminatory policies of the School Administration. On January 19, 1971 we appeared before the Board and presented charges of discrimination, supported by statistics. The then Superintendent Dr. Drachler and his Deputy Mr. Arthur Johnson admitted that the problem existed and promised (and I quote) : Appropriate and effective remedial measures.

However, nothing was done and after Dr. Drachler's retirement, the new Superintendent and his Executive Deputy only intensified the existing discriminatory practices and policies.

On April 8, 1975, we appeared again before the Board and confronted the Board with statistics clearly showing the results of the continuous discriminatory policies of the School Administration.

Our charges were never answered by the Board.

When Superintendent Dr. Wolfe retired, we supported the election of the present Superintendent. With the help of the votes of the white ethnic members of the Board the first black Superintendent in Detroit's history was elected. After his election and the resignation of the Executive Deputy Superintendent, we offered our continued cooperation. We believed that this was a great opportunity to unite the entire community. We expected that the new Superintendent, coming from the largest ethnic group in the city would appoint as his Executive Deputy an educator from the second largest ethnic group. But the new Superintendent soon forgot our support and, being safely under contract, chose to continue the discriminatory policies by appointing another administrator from his own ethnic group as the new Executive Deputy Superintendent.

Mr. President, let us consider for a moment the situation being reversed. Imagine our Slavic community as the largest ethnic group in the city and the black community as the second largest. A new Superintendent is elected from our group and he in turn would appoint as his Deputy another educator from our group. What would be the reaction from the black community? We would most certainly be called racist (and maybe the community would face a riot). But if a similar action is taken by the representatives of the black community is it not racist? Of course it is.

Instead of having a united community behind an integrated team of top administrators, we have a bitterly divided community with not one administrator of Slavic descent in the rank of Deputy or Assistant Superintendent. In spite of this we have met with the Superintendent twice and presented a plan for immediate and long-range steps to remove the existing discrimination. This plan, we learned, was rejected by the Board. We even offered to help find qualified educators who, if promoted, would temporarily forego increases in salary until

the financial situation of the city is improved. That, too, was rejected. Again, the new Superintendent and the new Board chose to ignore the needs and the very existence of the second largest ethnic grouping in the city, the Slavic communities.

Mr. President, we are here today to announce publicly how we will respond to the discriminatory practices of the Board:

1. Together with the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights we are supporting the pending court case of one of our educators who is charging the Board with discriminating against him because of his Slavic origin.

2. We are advising our communities to cast their votes against the millage proposal on November 2, 1976. We cannot and will not support with our tax dollars the discriminatory policies of the Board.

3. This city and its schools need the support of the suburbs and the entire State of Michigan to survive. Under present conditions we must oppose any such help so long as the discriminatory policies continue. We will so inform the Governor and the Legislature. We will also notify our representatives in Congress and ask them to withhold any help from the Federal Government to the Detroit public school system so long as the Board of Education continues to violate so flagrantly the federal civil rights laws, the laws of the State of Michigan, and guidelines set up by this Board itself.

4. Our communities will continue to relocate our children from this racist school system, leaving the city's schools to those who want them to be racially segregated.

We are sorry that such actions are needed. But after waiting patiently for almost six years, we cannot accept the role of second class citizens. We have tried our best to save this community, but we were rejected by the anti-Slavic majority on the Board.

The responsibility for the continued re-segregation of the once multi-ethnic Detroit Public Schools and the demise of this one great cosmopolitan city will rest squarely on the shoulders of this Board. Thank you, Mr. President.

Presented at a public meeting at the Board of Education of the Detroit Public Schools on September 28, 1976, by Kazimierz Olejarczyk, President, Michigan Division, Polish American Congress, Peter Vicko, President, Czechoslovak National Council of American Masaryk Chapter, Detroit, and William Kolodchin, President, Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

[EXHIBIT No. 291

POLISH AMERICAN CONGRESS, INC.,
MICHIGAN DIVISION,
Detroit, Mich., December 1976.

COMMUNITY RELATIONS BULLETIN

SLAVIC COMMUNITIES AND THE DETROIT MILLAGE PROPOSAL

For the past six years, representatives of the Slavic communities have been bringing to the attention of the Detroit Board of Education the continuous, deliberate and blatant discriminatory policies of the School Administration. Our charges of discrimination were based on Section E-Personnel, Part 3-Fair Employment Practices of the Guidelines for Regional and Central Boards of Education, adopted October 26, 1970 in accordance with Public Act 48 of 1970 State of Michigan which states:

"No individual shall be discriminated against because of race, creed, sex, or ethnic origin, but within each group of employees, there shall be a broadly representative cross-section of the city's population."

Despite the fact that almost 30% of the city's population is of Slavic descent there is not one administrator of Slavic descent in the rank of Deputy or Assistant Superintendent. In our last presentation to the Board, on September 28, 1976 we announced publicly how we would respond to the discriminatory practices of the Board. When we pointed out to the Board that we had been waiting for six years for Board's answer, the Board's President, The Reverend Darneau Stewart told us that six years is not a very long time to wait.

It was only after this arrogant answer that we informed our communities about the failure of our negotiations with the Superintendent and the Board and advised them as to our position on the millage proposal. However, there was no organized action against the millage on our part. The facts are that our offer to cooperate and to help unite the community and improve the faltering educational standards were rejected. We offered the help of our educators, who are presently held in low administrative positions because of discriminatory promotional policies. They were ready to accept additional responsibilites without any increase in their present salaries. This offer was also refused.

Instead, the Board followed the familiar route: More money is the only solution. The millage was endorsed by the media and an unprecedent propaganda machine was set up by the Board. The hypocrisy of the Board is shown in the leaflet appealing to senior citizens to vote for the millage. The leaflet has pictures of white persons only. The appeal was even translated into Polish. We are touched by the concern for the white ethnics when the Board needs their tax dollars.

We do not control the electorate of this city. We did not spend any money on any campaign material. But we believe that sufficient number of citizens would have joined us in rejecting the millage proposal as the only solution to the school problems. The defeat of the millage should be considered as a message to the Board, that the majority of Detroit citizens oppose discrimination against any group which contributes to the declining educational standards caused by the built-in incompetence of the administrative bureaucracy prepetuated by discriminatory promotions to satisfy the political rather than educational goals of the new majority of the Board in total disregard for the needs of the other ethnic groups, especially the Slavie.

After the millage failure the Board is turning to the State for help. We only hope that the State Board of Education and the State Superintendent as well as the Governor and the Legislature will carefully investigate the sad state of affairs in the Detroit School System. It is not the Detroit ciitzen who has failed, but it is the Board and the administration who have failed in their responsibilities, to provide the best possible education for the tax money presently available.

We are ready to testify before any impartial investigative body which would inform the people of Detroit and Michigan as to what really caused the millage defeat.

[EXHIBIT No. 30]

JUNE 14, 1977.

MADAM PRESIDENT: The Slavic communities are presenting today their position concerning the message of the General Superintendent known as "A Call to Action!". We would like to deal specifically with the situation in our High Schools. If you have read the Superintendent's message, you know that it sounds beautiful. Unfortunately, the Superintendent knows very little about the real situation in most of our High Schools. The fact is that nothing that the Superintendent suggests is new, not even the name of his message which he borrowed from the Catholic Conference held in Detroit last November. Nothing can be accomplished. Madam President, because the administration has lost control of most of our High Schools. We needed an outsider, the Reverend Jackson, to tell us exactly that.

For many years, the administration ignored the legal requirement of a minimum of 900 hours of education per school year. Our class periods are only forty minutes. But in reality we do not have these forty minutes available for instruction. The teachers are required to keep numerous records, take attendance, report tardiness and make many announcements required by our complicated administrative system with directives coming from the various departments, divisions, and offices of the central, regional and school administrations. Many classes are cancelled for students' extracurricular activities. So, instead of forty minutes, we have no more than about thirty minutes on the average for instruction. What can be accomplished in thirty minutes? Not much, Madam President. The textbooks are designed for fifty-five minute periods and teachers cannot cover the required material.

The next basic requirement for success is attendance. There is no uniform policy. Some schools have their own, but mostly just on paper. In general we can say that attendance is, in fact, optional. Many of our students are visitors in the classroom. We are not saying that they are not in school; some are. But they are rather selective in deciding which class to attend, when to go and when to leave. According to the recent ruling of the Office of Legal Affairs, the student does not have to attend regularly, and his grade can be based only on his performance when he is in class. This ruling is in conflict with the Uniform Code of Student Conduct which, under Student Responsibilities 1. Participation,

states: "Students must report to school and all scheduled classes regularly and on time

."

If the Board Members could find time to visit our High Schools (and we mean an unannounced visit), and if they could stay in the building for one school day and just observe, we believe that it would be quite an eye-opener for most of them. We are certain that such a visit would help them to understand the problems better than attendance at conventions and conferences in more pleasant places around the country.

At the same time the Board Members would finally realize that the top administrators are not telling them the truth, and are actually covering up for one another. In visiting our High Schools, the Board Members would have an opportunity to observe a rather unique situation, which could be described as some kind of coexistence between the administration and a part of the student body also know as "The Mob". Such a coexistence is based on a kind of tacit agreement that "The Mob" would be given a free hand in the halls, corridors, stairwells and lavatories, and in turn the administration would expect "The Mob" to tolerate the faculty to function in the classrooms. As a result of such coexistence, there is open smoking, drinking and partying in the Mobcontrolled areas of the school building frequently leading to violence.

On such a visit the Board Members would note that the school bells are mostly for the teachers. They do not disturb the students. Being late to class or skipping is probably the students' interpretation of the right of "Free choice". The requirement of wearing I.D. Cards is the latest gimmick initiated by the School Center administrators which was unfortunately taken seriously by the Board Members.

Now, Madam President, let us look into the classroom. As we indicated before, we have approximately thirty minutes for instruction for those students who care to attend. In order to satisfy the 900 hour requirement, the students would have to take seven classes. Unfortunately, this would have very little to do with improving the quality of education. We have so-called "required courses" and we have so-called "electives." However, the Principal can substitute an elective for the required course with the exception of Government, which is a state requirement.

In other words, we do not really have any standards for graduation. The teachers of electives are actually forced by the system to lower their standards. because otherwise students would not take the classes and the teacher could be transferred as the result of cancellation of such electives. The administration sometimes even invents courses under various fancy titles to attract the students. promising indirectly that the credits are easy to acquire. This is the crux of our problem: We are requiring credits for graduation but not education.

This is what our system is telling the students: You need 160 credits to graduate. The administration has substituted numbers for education and this game is played to perfection. Our system is actually discouraging students from working hard. Why should they? They can always take one of the so-called "Mickey Mouse" courses and get credits to graduate. No wonder that we are graduating students who are unable to read, write or do simple arithmetic! However, the system is successful in providing the students with credits, the teachers with students, and the administration with statistics. If some teachers are trying to maintain some standards, students are avoiding them. And again, the system cooperates by permitting the students who are unable to get an "easy" teacher to take the course in summer school or evening school. If our standards in day schools are low, then our summer school and evening school programs are educational farces. Here not even teachers' qualifications as established by the North Central Association are observed. Students of different subjects are often put together in the same class. Here we are playing the Numbers, Game to the fullest and the students know it.

The recent recommendations by the Curriculum Committee on High School Graduation Modification is only characteristic for the system. Again a lot of beautiful words, philosophies, and quotations. But if we look closer at the report we will find very few specifics. The committee followed the well-established patterns and came up with a new term: "Problems of Living." The report accuses our High Schools of being traditional and preparing students only for college. We wonder if they are really talking about Detroit High Schools.

Are we really preparing our students for college? Nothing could be further from the truth! Our standards are so low that our students going to college find themselves ill-prepared and colleges are complaining about that. We strongly