Glad to see some good and some use come of the abandoned books. Am agape at the psych records.
What this waste means to the children who are no longer attending those schools, as well as the millions of others whose schools don't have funds to provide decent books and other resources ... it seriously brings tears to my eyes. I hope your focus on this does bring action; in the meantime, your theft is nothing in comparison to what kids are being robbed of.
Keep it up! These things should not go unnoticed.
speechless. what wastefulness. i would love to take a peek at some of those library books.
the books are really only the tip of the iceberg. the kindergarten classroom was filled with toys: a play kitchen, creative playthings blocks, bags of plastic food. The art rooms in all these schools are still filled with paper and paints and other art supplies.
I am looking into the possibility of salvaging more and possibly donating it to something like the Georgia Street Community Center. my kid doesn't need any of this stuff, but there are plenty of kids in this city who do.
I would just like to get to it before the scrappers ruin everything.
Thank you, thank you, thank you on behalf of kids I will probably never meet for protecting them when they system failed them. I can't begin to think of what could have been done if these records had fallen into hands other than yours (and probably is happening in other abandoned schools).
The pictures made me cry. I stared at one for a long time, trying to figure out why the colorful covers of all the books had been "whited out." When I finally scrolled down and saw the snow in the next picture and put it all together, I nearly sobbed. This looks like something out of a war.
many sites are visited because of the glance it gives us into the life of the blogger. A glimpse of their living room sofa, some anecdote about their kid, whatever. It's fun, mindless reading and I partake of it from time to time.
However, I visit your site because it gives me a glance into the lives of many people, people that wouldn't otherwise have a voice.
thank you for letting me experience these things vicariously through your site.
I truly enjoy coming here and I feel empowered by the belief that people like you are still out there that care.
Oh wow. The disinterest in the old students is just so heart-wrenching to me. Makes me sad. These are CHILDREN people!?! I don't know how you do it.
Kudos to you for destroying that stuff. If only for future identity-theft.
And I thought Dallas had problems. Oh wait, it will only get worse if that crook of an ex-mayor from Detroit sticks his nose into politics in his new home town! Argh!
Oh my God.
You probably don't realize it, but you and your family are the kind of people who will be remembered for your good work.
well done.
The office to contact about loose SSNs is that of Attorney General Mike Cox. He succeeded at having the records removed from Greater Detroit Hospital when no one else seemed to care. Also, the Michigan Department of Community Health will be interested in those psych files.
Like others, the photos and story brought tears to my eyes, especially that no one cared about the stories about the kids.
The descriptions of vintage ephemera however made the altered art artist in me want to send you a postage paid envelope to send me some of those old check stubs and attendance records!
Thanks for doing the right thing, even when no one else would. On behalf of those children, thank you.
I feel fear for our culture as a whole when I read about this - it happened here, what cities are next? But, the scariest thing is the ignorance most of us have that this can indeed happen, it has happened; and the apathy - those who know about it don't seem to care.
Please keep up your work! Show and tell.
It's like a massacre. You hear about one death, one case of abuse, and it's heartbreaking to think of that person and his family, so similar to myself and my family. But you see a whole mass of tragedy and it's a different kind of sorrow. A helpless sense that no one is safe.
No returned phones calls. Someone else was supposed to fix it. It's always someone else's problem. It's always someone else's job to fix it. Sometimes I really, really hate rugged individualism.
I hate waste. Good for you.
Like many, I come to the site because you are a talented writer and photographer with a fantastic perspective.
Now you're actually coming out as a take-charge activist/rabble-rouser.
Thank you for the work you're doing and the painstaking documentation. Maybe others will be motivated to take similar action or raise their voices in a similar fight.
I am a middle school teacher in a northern suburb of Detroit. Good for you. I am appalled every single time I hear the parents, teachers, school board members, union, city and district officials of DPS, etc. on the news or in the papers complaining that nobody cares for their kids or that they need more help, more money. They could do what you did. They could go in those buildings. They could at least return your phone call. They could start somewhere small.
Surely you could get Two Men and a Truck to donate a truck and driver, a few friends to donate arms for carrying, and then tip off a local news station that you're about to load up a huge library full of books from one abandoned school and deliver them over to another that could use them? With a few phone calls to set things up with the receiving school, you could not only put the books into the hands of kids who need them; you could potentially get a big enough media stink over the story to get people who "aren't responsible" to take some action too. One would hope. (Though I suspect you already have plenty of local media contacts, email me if you want suggestions for some people who might be able to put you in touch with people.)
If your attempts to work within the system continue to be ignored, what about finding a good plaintiff's side attorney to file a class action re violation of student privacy rights, etc.? I would consider this to be a last resort (I would hate to see the beleaguered Detroit school system possibly having to pay attorney's fees, punitives, etc.), but it might be that a demand letter from a well-known plaintiff's attorney might get the school district's attention when nothing else does.
Lastly, can't think of a way to say this without being sappy, but I also join the other commenters in praising your efforts.
I want to take a step back here and emphasize that I definitely don't consider myself any kind of hero for doing this. let's be honest: I am a criminal.
What I did was against the law and it was far from an easy decision to make. ultimately I did it because I felt it was more of a crime to allow those records to fall into the hands of someone who might hurt those kids.
I am far more ashamed of stealing the books (again, a crime) but I simply could not stand the thought of those beautiful books turning into what I have seen so many beautiful books in these schools become.
I hope to find a way---legal or illegal---to get more of these supplies into the hands of kids who need them. until I find a way to do that, I don't deserve anyone's praise.
I think that Detroit's horrific school situation is the canary in the coal mine for school districts all over the country. I'm appalled at the lack of care that you have found in the administrators there.
Thank you so much for bringing us these stories and images. And I certainly hope you take as many books as you can.
What a terrible thing. Thank you for trying so hard to make someone sit up and take notice of such a breach of privacy and ethics. It's also a terrible waste that those responsible for education our children didn't see the value of trying to relocate much of the resources left to rot to other needy school districts.
I'm running for a school board seat in my town this year and I hope to never see such horrible waste.
Thanks again for doing the right thing.
I always think of you in a cape. Kinda Robinhood-esk. I'm not sucking up though. I just really enjoy your adventures and information. I hope you find avenue to give these things away, such silly waste.
Incredibly well done with the books and the records. And what a great post about it as well. I've only been reading your blog for maybe a month now, but I'm loving it and learning a lot. Your posts like today's make me wonder (and I apologize if this is addressed in the archives or other comments), have you been to see Mr. Motts' fine work at http://www.opacity.us/ ? There's a matching thread that seems to run through both of you - not the whole cloth - but a sparkly thread for sure. Thank you!
Every time you write about these schools I want to cry. They are going to close the school my daughter attends after this school year ends. It is a school that holds only Kindergarten classes, 7 in all, and it is such a wonderful place. Budget cuts have made it necessary to move those classes to the elementary schools. I sometime feel like those buildings have souls, that they have absorbed the laughter and lightness of children for so long that when they go silent, the building weeps for its loss.
Thank you for trying to save what you can...and for writing about it.
All this time you've been showing us the abandonment in these schools and I never considered the possibility of private student records like that just laying around. That's pretty appalling.
About the library books... why didn't they give them away when they closed the school? This is what I can't fathom. Why not open the doors and let children come in and take any books they wanted? Or toys. Or art supplies. Obviously corruption that runs so deep as to pay a company to "secure" an abandoned school in this manner isn't really focused on re-purposing anything whatsoever to ease tax burdens or better the education in the city, but why isn't donation a viable alternative?
When I graduated from fifth grade, our library was being prepped for a remodel and the librarian had a several carts full of books they were getting rid of. We each got to take one book we liked to remember the school by. I still have mine.
I know that kids in Detroit don't have much sentimentality going on because they're in survival mode, but damn it every kid should own a book that they love. Seeing entire rotting libraries just makes me think about all those kids who don't.
Isn't school supposed to be the safe place? The thought of my child's records, including social security number, medical history, IEP, etc., being treated in such a way is absolutely horrifing.
I sub in a school district in Oregon, and we are required to shred everything that has personal information, even if it's something as innocuous as a list of kids that ride a certain bus. If it has a child's name, it gets shredded. District administrators should be ashamed of themselves.
Also, the waste is appalling when so many people right now are down on their luck. There is a school for homeless children in my community that would be ecstatic to have these books and supplies. When you have nothing, these pictures show riches beyond belief.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
You are a good person.
You are, I suppose, technically a criminal but if we adhere to the spirit of the law perhaps not so much.
I like MommyTime's idea. Or perhaps a book sale, or selling the usable items on EBay in order to buy TP and light bulbs for the other school who is in such desperate straits. If schools are asking for private sector aid then it seems only right to conjure that aid from the education system's waste if at all possible.
So tragic and sad. Your pictures give me chills.
i always wondered if you took things- b/c i would not be able to be in those schools and not carry out armfuls and armfuls of anything useful- to use myself, to donate, to craigslist, to sell, whatever. i know technically it's stealing (although in our family we call it rescuing- which is also accurate, as if not rescued for re-use, than ruined and lost forever- morally unacceptable for us) but as someone who likes to discuss morals and ethics and such, i think you are well within your boundaries of *not* being a criminal here. the true crime is, obviously, the loss of millions of taxpayers dollars and the potential of all of those goods to be used and enjoyed by children who seem to desperately need it.
as an educator, i am shocked and saddened that art teachers and kindergarten teachers and librarians walked away from the resources that they had probably spent years caring for and nurturing children with. as someone who knows the barest knowledge w/r/t counseling i am horrified that any guidance counselor or administrator would leave any type of student record intact- passing the blame to someone else who "should have" done it only goes so far. the lack of accountability is disheartening to say the least.
well done, jim, well done. go get those creative playthings blocks, and don't let the scrappers know they're worth more than the steel!
Jim, I would characterize your efforts more along the lines of civil disobedience, rather than "criminal"! I think MommyTime's idea is great. I would also think lots of people would support a field trip to help get things that could be of use or with privacy issues out of that school (or others). I am not local, but would surely consider flying in for it. And what's the worst that could happen? The police arrive? You could pre-empt that by contacting local media and letting them know what is happening. I'm sure they'd be all over it. Highlighting civic waste + do-gooder citizens = media gold! Would love to help if you go any of these routes. Best, Jessica
Kudos for the beginnings. I love reading your blog, and although I have the proper regard for the law from my German blood, I also have that spirit of civil disobedience. Good on you.
stunning. both the apathy and the abandoned resources. and the photography.
I had wondered what had become of that photo with the smashed computer monitors. I remember you posting it awhile back with a cryptic description saying you were seeking more information about something.
These pictures always break my heart.
These pictures, and your words about them, are heartbreaking. Thank you for posting them, and for bearing witness.
I admire you and all of the work you do highlighting these issues. Sometimes knowing what the right thing to do is tough when we have to choose between two things that both seem wrong. I think you did the right thing.
You say you are not a hero and don't deserve praise. None of that really matters, does it. But in my opinion, you can hold your head high.
Jim, I know it makes you break out in hives to have people tell you they admire you for this because it feels like words and photos are such dwarves in comparison to what else could be done. Which is true, to a point. I think your story here (yours, literally - your involvement) is just beginning, and the punchline is not your art of uncovering these places and their stories.
I appreciate this so much because there's not much soul on the internet, especially on personal blogs. So much of it is about a single person, maybe mildly entertaining but not the kind of content that makes us sink teeth more deeply into our convictions (or maybe loosen others, or see a different point of view). You do this so viscerally, in a way that's not cheesy and doesn't involve LOL cats or the word 'meh' or video of a guy eating 25 live scorpions.
You make me less embarrassed to be a blogger. Laughing but totally serious.
Powerful post. Thank you.
This post is one of the reasons I'm a fan.
I've rescued things from Grandpa's basement, books and supplies when they closed out our sewing dept from the college, as well as detritus and treasures from other places. I still have a bantam-weight fighter's red wool robe from the boxing ring ("Golden Glove Champion 1947") rescued from a house our church was assigned to trash out. The family had declined to take it with them and it was dumpster bound. I also kept his scrapbook, also abandoned.
I attribute it to coming from a long line of historians in my family. We just can't bear to see history, in whatever form we find it, go to oblivion. Your sense of distress in taking these things is palpable. However, leaving them behind is the unthinkable.
Those Vice pics were amazing. And depressing. It amazes me that all that "stuff" just sits in the schools and no one claims it or does anything with it.
thank you for taking care of these children when no one else will. as a child whose psychological records were stolen from an abandoned property, i can tell you that you saved these children a lot of potential heartache later in life.
Just out of curiosity - and you certainly don't have to answer, it is private - but isn't Juniper about schoolaged?
Will you and Wood consider DPS, or elsewhere?
While I suppose you can argue that you are a "criminal", it always remains true that sometimes good people do the wrong things for the right reasons. In your case, two wrongs (yours and DPS) may actually make something right. Keep trying.
You make me want to be a better person.
i have wondered if anyone has ever threatened you. i worry about that.
i hope you can get the salvageable toys and books out of there so someone can use them. that they're left there to rot is the actual crime.
Well done; you. That city of yours breaks my heart.
wow, powerful stuff. Heartbreaking too.
Ditto the other comments about trying to organize some folks to get the books and other items out to kids who need them. Network with the Georgia St. Garden... network with other people like yourself. You can't be the only one who cares in Detroit. I know you have your hands full with 2 little ones too... but you're doing good work here. Bringing attention to waste that doesn't need to be wasted. Why if the school district needs money didn't they scrap out the copper etc.? It doesn't make sense to me.
Would you consider scanning and posting any of the old check out cards from the library books?
Sheesh. Taking me back to Fletcher, here.
Don't really think any validation of the ridiculousness of this situation is needed in regard to your findings or the legality of it all. The thing that shocks me is that I think about how many people come across these records & still they are there. That is the thing that makes me love The City so much, I think. The vulnerability of so much, so many, people & things, in a place that is so hostile. The hostility is what is almost advertised, yet the vulnerable are still not protected, but somehow persist.
I wonder if anyone else has destroyed records due to the same motivations as you. I'd like to think so. Note: new club to start...
You did as you hope someone would do for you or Juney & Gram. That's the ruler, I say. Not to get all God on you, but ... "Love & justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else."
If you find any Flora McFlimsey books, I'll pay you for them!
The books made me weep. The psych folders stunned me. Bless you for shining light on this dark place, and for caring enough to make your voice heard.
As I looked at the pictures I could hear the still chirping smoke alarms. That image puts a chill in me.
Thank you for caring.
goddmanit. You make me want to drive to Detroit, knock on doors and start kicking people's asses. I'm going to start sending this shit to my contacts at the US Dept of Education. Like Arne Fucking Duncan. (ok, not really a contact, but still.)
Keep up the good work/God's work.
Jim- maybe your friend, Mark Covington, would be interested in helping to retrieve some of the usable books to distribute in his neigborhood or use as part of his garden project.
Those books need a loving home...keep taking them. I am just flabbergasted at the lack of confidentiality with student records. Thank you for doing what you do.
I'm in for the field trip!! Robin Hood and his Merry Men (and Women). If people can change a neighborhood with a garden, why not one abandoned school at a time? Why not call home-boy Michael Moore to start a new documentary? Seriously. My son is a film maker and we just used an abandoned school here in GR for a location and I was surprised at the stuff left behind in this day and age of "No Child Left Behind".
This is something I ask all the time when confronted by appalling levels of incompetence/illegal behaviour by *mumble mumble* cities and their relevant agencies that I regulate. "They were represented by counsel, how the fuck did they get this far into this mess?"
I don't know what happens-I don't think people start off not giving a crap or has horrible employees-I think the mentality sets in over time, somehow.
I am continually awed by your findings. Keep up the good work. I hope this gets national attention.
Bravo! Bravo! I applaud your criminal mind. That's using common sense in a world that seems to have none!
Last week my boyfriend and I visited The Chinati Foundation in Marfa TX on our bicycle trip cross country. There is an installation by Ilya Kabakov of a forgotten Russian schoolhouse and we both found it really funny after following your blog.
So you must have been none too surprised by Connie Calloway's revelations last night. Or is she just playing the good guy to try and get her job back? Time will tell I guess.
We're in Edmonton, Canada, but we watch the Detroit stations so we can get our TV two hours early. I catch the news every so often, and that was quite a show last night.
And the discussion of law vs. ethics begins... now. I think you came out on the right side of it all. Especially with the psych records.
Has the charter school movement caught fire in Detroit? It is very popular here in DC. It seems like charter schools would be a great place to funnel all the school supplies. If not, I wonder if Georgia Street could create a lending library within the store. Or something like that.
I very much like the idea of you as Robin Hood - a criminal, no doubt, but one on the side of the downtrodden and of justice. (Does that make Wood Maid Marian and the kids/dog your Merry Men?)
You know, another option is to sell the stuff on eBay (or Etsy or a garage sale) and use the money to fund Detroit projects at donorschoose.org. I just looked and there are 52 projects in Detroit schools looking to get funded. http://www.donorschoose.org/dono...ommunity=7844:
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I see waste like this, the recourses that were once poured into making this middle school library, meanwhile there school kids right now how do not have enough books in their classroom and library. Why is there such an uneven distribution of wealth. Yes, I know we're a free market economy (even though we subsidize some pretty profitable industries, but that's a whole other story), not an "evil socialist state" but if we have the funds and recourses to pay $45 million to a guy who can hit a baseball very well, we surely should be able to provide all kids with math books! Incredible, unbelievable, eye-opening post. Thank you.
I didn't even know this happens. There are children in schools that don't even have enough books for each child and these are just left to rot. This is a violations of more than one kind: violations of privacy and so much more. Very, very interesting. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. BTW: I came over from Maternal Spark.
You're a good person to destroy that information. It's so sad to read about how these things have just been left behind.
I love all the suggestions, but you kinda already have a job. One option might be to involve a suburban church- there must be some big ones there, in affluent pockets? Get them to do the legwork and maybe the government admin will allow something like true salvaging to occur.
I emailed a church I know in west michigan... maybe somebody could provide you more bodies and louder voices.
PS Out here there's a "Dutch Army", but it's really just devotees of a certain coffee chain. Too bad it's not a real force, seems they'd be perfect for the task.
I read this (and your previous posts re the DPS) with tears in my eyes. I am sitting here waiting with baited breath for my son's school allocation (good school or excellent school) in the UK state school system. Whilst in Detroit 47% are illiterate and all these books lie rotting?! It's criminal.
Ditto with the records - kudos to you for doing the right thing. Why didn't these records transfer with the kids?!
I am aghast, and I second the ideas in the previous comments - a few people, a truck and a lot of media stink might get the DPS to do something proactive - but even if it doesn't, at least the books will be used. I really can't believe the level of corruption in the US.
If I didn't have two small kids and no $$ for the airfare, I'd be flying over to help. Let us know what happens.
It's posts like this, Jim, that make me like you so very much. To think you drew us in with your photos of Juney back in the day and now here we are. I would not be able to resist the stacks and stacks of books, myself - but surely using them is better than them sitting there, ready for rot. Surely the good you've done by destroying private information cancels out a wee bit of theft. I also hope you'll find a way to channel some of these wasted resources to those who need it. You're one determined man.
ps I know it is a bit cliche but it seems to work sometimes - start a Facebook group about the situation? Viral 'marketing' works...
Jim, I agree with Michael Newton about the show with Connie Calloway the other evening. The board pisses away the school's money and then tries to blame it on her; this is a perfect example of their ineptness and unbelievable wastefulness. Please be careful--I could just see them trying to go after you for bringing attention to this mess; just like them to deflect attention away from themselves.
it would be interesting if they came after me, given that I tried so hard to get someone's attention before I actually went in and took matters into my own hands. I wrote this post fully aware of that possibility.
the truth is I think they still don't even care enough to come after me. and if they do, I will turn it into a PR nightmare for them. technically, the district violated the law by not securing those confidential student records.
Sadly, Artsnark, local media attention on these sorts of incidents has become so regular that it no longer causes outrage. it is now expected. there is a film crew from Dan Rather Reports in town and I'm sure they'd love to see some of the photos I took of the psych evaluations. the buffoons running the district are not accustomed to national attention.
Jim, I know you are a lawyer, I know that technically what you did was illegal, but to call yourself criminal for doing the right thing is preposterous.
Could you submit this information to Readers Digest for “That’s Outrageous”? I am not sure if the story has to be conventionally published for them to reprint it. Maybe that would give you national (or perhaps even international) attention in addition to the Vice story?
Could you perhaps mobilize that fellow Mark Covington and the Georgia Street Community Garden to gather people together to collect the books, toys and supplies for redistribution at the store they are developing? I know that salvaging (which is what you are doing, not stealing - hah, now I am thinking like a scrapper) for profit is technically wrong, but what if it could help make something right? Give it away, ask for donations - just don't let them be wasted.
Please Jim, pick up everything that you can before it is too late. And thank you on behalf of all those children that you are protecting by destroying those records before they end up in the wrong hands.
Jim,
I'm a former Detroiter (actually grew up in the city) and have been following your blog for a while.
These posts about the abandoned schools, their libraries, and the student records are just breaking my heart.
I know first hand about the indifference many Detroit public school administrators have paid to their troubled districts. Thank you for alerting us all to these sad stories, reports that need to be publicized.
I've sent a link to your blog to a family friend, who belongs to Highland Park Baptist Church. Although the church moved out to Southfield years ago, it's still very involved in projects to rebuild parts of Detroit. Our friend has agreed to discuss the library book situation with members of his congregation. If you get an e-mail from someone at Highland Park Baptist Church, you'll know it came via a reader of your blog.
Thanks for the wonderful pictures of my home town, even those showing the effects of this economic avalanche.
Melissa
I have no words. Such a shame!
The thought of those records sitting there, unprotected, rendering vulnerable kids even more vulnerable, makes me sputteringly angry and frustrated.
this post made me cry.
I think FEMA needs to send some people out there to help manage this disaster before it gets any worse.
I know it would be unprecedented, but waste and chaos like this is a result of the sudden economic and other blows that city (and others like it) have taken in the past decade or so. How is that different or less worthy of aid than tornado victims?
As usual, this post is wonderfully written and I admire your actions and the spirit in which they were taken.
Good on you for taking the responsibility for this!!!
Thank you for protecting those kids.
Elise
Oh, your post made me cry. Both for the stories you're rescuing (after harming humans and animals, harming a book is third on my list of the unforgivable) and for the work you're doing to make someone accountable for the abandoned records.
Too much in this world is forgotten and left to wither and rot. Thank you for caring.
I'm glad you're putting those library books to good use.
The rest of this post just leaves me speechless.
Read this article and thought about you and the books in the library:
http://overlawyered.com/2009/02/...-vintage-books/
How sad is it that thousands of these vintage books are being destroyed due to cheap Chinese imported toys?
This reminds me of a discussion I listened to in the car on 702 Talk Radio this afternoon. Basically about Dutch research that has shown that when an environment deteriorates people will show less respect for it and even start to behave criminally (that's not aimed at you!). I suspect that the inverse would be true also and that it is possible to influence people positively but don't know if the numbers would be as impressive. It is always heartbreaking to see how quickly things that took years to be built up can be destroyed. Or do we just choose to ignore the early signs of deterioration?
Welcome fellow community activist!
Don't forget to buy socks to go with your new Birkenstocks. And if you're thinking of becoming one of us guerilla gardeners, be sure to get a pair of Crocs as well.
Seriously, keep up the good work. Spreading the word is a powerful aid.
PS I really am a community activist here in Dorchester MA
I'm so glad you destroyed those records. How awful.
As a librarian how do you think I feel seeing the pipes fought over and books like.. that.
And for book salvage may I ask, have you inquired with the public library at all? I run our school system and we are always fighting like cats and dogs with the public system. They might join your cause. I'd like to think you could find an interested librarian somewhere; if you can't please don't blog about it as it would be too painful for me.
Public libraries tend to have networks with child care centres, early ed programs and various and other means to reach people who need..... books.
I have no words for this either. As a lifelong metro-Detroiter, however, this does not surprise me. I am offering any help you may need to try to help this situation.
This post really touched me! So poignant and tragic, yet you've made it more hopeful by seeing and recording and salvaging. Thank you! 
I am so proud of you for doing what you do. I want to help you. I live near Detroit and am going back to school for my Masters in Ed. soon. Please email me so I can help you. This is so important! I remember riding in my parents' car as a child, through Detroit, crying at the sadness and decay of such a beautiful town. But, even more than the architecture, I cry now for the people who suffer. Detroit must be seen by this country. This is the worst atrocity the US has seen and most people do not know it exists.
It makes me so sad to see, and yet, the saddest is that it's happening all over the nation, and world.
My daughter goes to a public elementary school in Scottsdale. Yes, THAT Scottsdale. Parents were recently asked for donations of copier paper and toilet paper. And teachers have been discussing schedules for cleaning bathrooms themselves because they just fired the part-time janitor, and the full-time janitor (who's there 6am - 6pm) doesn't have time to do it all.
Our children should be treated better, and teachers should not have to clean bathrooms during recess.
Thank you for trying to bring this to the attention of as many people as possible.
I can hardly stand it. It makes me feel queasy. I am so glad you are working on salvaging some of this so it can be used, as it should be.
Oh, how shameful and disgraceful and sad. But thank you for sharing the story and calling attention to it.
Thank you for doing something when no one else would. Thank you on behalf of these kids.
This is beyond heartbreaking. I wish it were surprising... I taught in Flint for a couple of years, and suspect that the same could happen there.
Wow, what memories this post brings back. I grew up in rural Kentucky and the old school that my parents and I had attended was abandoned when a new school was built and a similiar situation happened.
I remember going with my parents and looking through old records and finding their old achievement tests, all of which were strewn about on the floor. The group pictures of the graduating seniors were left hanging in the hallways...I remember how sad it was.
Love your blog. I've learned a lot about Detroit from your explorations and writing, so thanks! My family and I moved here a bit over a year ago so that I could do my dissertation research on Detroit techno and house music. Detroit is a great city!
I also take books from abandoned places all the time. The way I see it, is that it's better than letting them rot. And I just love old books. What school was this?
what waste. and those are not just papers sitting around, those are PEOPLE! Children! I can only imagine that if books and IEP records are left to rot and wither away,what is happening to the children who once read those books and whose entire lives are spelled out for all to see.
I work in schools and am appalled by the lack of confidentiality. You mention that some of these kids are still in the school system. These files and info are supposed to follow them to better inform their educational supports. Especially with IEPs, that school district can get dinged big time.
Good for you for stepping up. I applaud you.
I'm gobsmacked that this can happen. Thank you for sharing. I'm so happy to have found your blog today.
Eva,
"Yes, I know we're a free market economy (even though we subsidize some pretty profitable industries, but that's a whole other story), not an "evil socialist state" but if we have the funds and recourses to pay $45 million to a guy who can hit a baseball very well, we surely should be able to provide all kids with math books!"
Public schools are not artifacts of a "free market economy," in fact, they are touted as making kids safe from evil corporate influences in the private sector.
The problem isn't that the books don't exist. In the example here they are being destroyed due to indifference because of "collective ownership." No one is taking a stake-holder's interest because of the tragedy of the commons. The commentator who styled this "civil disobedience" is exactly correct.
That being said, I can understand that, as a licensed advocate and officer of the court, the author might feel that such protest violates his sworn obligations, just as those who serve in the military give up in large part their ability to freely criticize elected officials.
Commenting by HaloScan
