MERRY DA-DA...TEACH OUR CHILDREN TO LEARN

Thomas G. Maridada - Superintendent  Pontiac School District

I remember when the School Board was fighting over who to hire to be Superintendent of Pontiac Schools.  Somehow Maridada had climbed to the top of the list when he wasn't even on the short list to begin with.  This began the major rift between two high-profile school board members.  When I saw his picture, his chin perched on the edge of his fist, I thought, "Oh Lord they done found a flaming homosexual to run our schools."  I know it seems that I have given homosexuality a bum rap on this blog, and there is a reason why.  There is a psychology to every "type" of person.  There is a psychology for Black women who marry White men.  Although I'm not married to one, that's my hope.  There is a psychology to people like me.  People have studied my "type" and have drawn certain conclusions about my personality that could or could not be true.  I am a self-proclaimed psychologist and through my 40 years of living have come into my own views of "types" of people.  If my forgone conclusions about Maridada are wrong, you are free to leave a comment, hit me up on Facebook or see me in the streets.  I'm going to give my opinion; and that's just how it is.

I just watch Merry Da-Da on a show with the Khalfani Stephens person from City Hall.  He sat in the meeting with his hands clamped in front of him trying not to look "sweet", but intelligent.  He wants to try and make his obvious feminine mannerisms seem proper or a sign of intelligence or superior breeding.  When in reality, he's just a gay man trying to pass for straight.  He puts on airs of aristocratic beginnings or higher educational background.  Pontiac has made a serious mistake once again hiring this man into the system for various reasons, but I will touch base on a few.

With his nasally voice, he told about how derelict and trifling the citizens of Pontiac are.  He said that it is so disgusting how he has to be witness to the blight the children of Pontiac have to see  everyday.  He says he choses to work in urban communities and is shocked at how much we do not care about our property and what are children have to see everyday.  He was simply appalled at our lack of attention we pay to this problem.  You know?  Those of us who live in "urban areas".  What I got from that rant was his attention to his "choosing to work here".  I think he was saying that we are lucky that a man like him would come to work amongst people like us.  Because he is so special, we need to do things we have never been able to do, like clean up our yards and the areas around our schools.  I don't know where he is looking, but I have never seen our schools looking nasty on the outside.  I vote at Jefferson and live around WHRC, ride past Pontiac High and others and never see them in a state of disarray to spark a rant of that nature.

What I do see is children who can't read, no place for them to study and go after school, or a curriculum that says, "Teach me how to learn".  What do I mean by teach me how to learn?  Students must know how to learn.  You are given a school district, not to "widen their border", but to create an environment conducive for learning.  The infrastructure of the building are only important for three things, heat, coolant, and shelter.  That it, and it should be well lit.  With the way other schools are ahead of us in their education, a trip to Europe is a none issue.  We have to begin to teach our students and raise money not for trips and shuttling parents, but for books and qualified teachers.  Most of our teachers are sub-standard and the ones who are able to teach are afraid to do their jobs.  With the students being held to social and economic differences than other students of the nation, trips are futile; Mr. Maridada.   We need to widen their educational abilities and leave the superficial things in the background until we build a solid foundation of educational furtherance.  Leave the parents where they are, no matter if that's uninvolved.  Our students are suffering now, and the real focus should be on education.  That's your job and not creating things that make it appear that you are doing well at your job.  Those test scores are the proof of how you do your job and not fancy trips.

Let me tell you that you need to mind your manners.  You don't come into a city and tell them that they are dirty, don't care about their children or property and ask them to pay you.  You seem to think that you are going to rescue us, but all I see is trips, which brings me back to the psychology of a homosexual.  They believe strongly in personal appearance and how they look, dress and present themselves to other.  Most of them are a "hot mess" beneath the facade, but they look good.  It's hard to be gay and they cover that with decorating themselves, instead of having to appear as they are.  Now , he is working on the same thing for Pontiac.  It would seem with all his snooty remarks he says, he has issues with being diplomatic.  He needs a serious attitude adjustment, but he dresses nice, and talks nice and I guess he thinks that would replace his supercilious demeanor towards the people of  our city.

I think he eluded to the citizens as being petty, when he said we should, "pick up the paper, even if we didn't put it there."  In the same steed as Tyler Perry, these people who are confused, misunderstood and misguided want to take out their misgivings on the rest of us and make us believe that we are the reason for our troubles, because we are simple, lazy, unappreciative and poor.  Um, excuse Merry Da-Da, but there is an economic crisis going on in America.  You need to take your Ivy League education and pick-up a newspaper and see what's going on.  Understand that as Blacks and of an "urban" population we feel an economic decline first and are the last to feel the  positive effects of it's growths.  That's Economics 101, and that's not from an Ivy League school, but from Oakland Community College-Auburn Hills.

We don't need you coming here with your uppity and flaming ways, and creating an atmosphere of progression, but to create a reality of education.  We also don't need you to team-up with others like you who steal, molest and exploit our children.  I'm going to take them to London and France.  Yeah right, why not take them to the library and teach them how to use it or a computer.  Why not move for grants to change the way they learn by hiring more sufficient teachers or better yet, teach those you have to teach more effectively.  To show you the shape our schools are in, when the people who leave here join surrounding areas their test scores and grant qualifications are lessened.  Our students are so under educated they actually slight other districts programs.   Ask around, it happened in Waterford and Auburn Hills.

Merry Da-Da needs to get focused on his real goals and that's educating our students.  For now, until we raise the standards of education and perform like other schools in Oakland County, he needs to add a French class to his curriculum.  If he wants them to know that there are places beyond these borders, have a Diversity program or highlight different States every week in the schools and hold a program or something.  Right now, our students need a solid foundation on education.  Things as simple as how to write a sentence or not use a preposition at the end of one.  Simple, fundamental educational techniques that are lacking in our children, and they are children; a "kid" is a young goat!

I met up with an old PCH classmate at OCC last winter.  He was trying to complete a LPN Program and the math was almost destroying his chances.  He was so disgusted and announced, "They graduated us so dumb. Theses kids from Rochester and Troy are kicking my ass."  He was feeling the effects of a sub-standard education amongst children who had gotten a sound education.  He wasn't unintelligent, because he said he had acquired a tutor and was learning.  He went on to say that his diploma didn't mean anything in the scheme of furthering his education.  He didn't have an introduction to the simplest math equations of Calculus or Chemistry.  If a child can't even identify those kinds of concepts, how can we support them in higher education.  One thing Merry Da-Da said that I do agree with all those slogans are nothing without the tools to make them a reality.  A whole 20 years later, well 22 years later Pontiac is still lagging behind in education.  How can we expect our children to be doctors and lawyers if they can't understand the rudimentary foundations of upper math and grammar.  It takes a lot of math and science to be a doctor and a whole lot of reading and comprehending to become a lawyer.  With a strong foundation of how to learn and the introduction to the courses the average mind can catch on.  Our students don't get that here and haven't for a long time.  What are you going to do about that Merry Da-Da? 

This is what we get Pontiac, more of the same bull...  People making their own kind of environment and suiting their own purposes and not that of our community.  I knew that when he said, "I don't know I let....deal with that...I sure don't want nobody being Superintendent."  That sounds just a bit controlling and power hungry to me.  Someone who doesn't want anyone all up in his mix, and he'll stay out of yours.  Well, that negates the concept of "checks and balances".  A real Superintendent has his hands in everything and should speak on everything that has an adverse effect on the children of this city.  He should also know what's going on amongst the different organizations and groups.  Their is always a degree of delegation, but everyone who deals with this School District of Pontiac should answer to him or someone who answers to him and can keep him abreast of issues and particulars of that entity.  Letting them run their own show would leave him holding the bag.  Wouldn't you think?  What if something went wrong?  That means that he would appear like Donald Rumsfeld when he found out about the prisoners at Abu Ghraib.  He was so clueless, he was forced to retire a buffoon.  Why doesn't Maridada care?

He's part of a group that is working to turn Pontiac right into what it use to be, and rob this city and our children blind.  allow them to be pimped and prostituted by organizations and other organizations that come into our city and do business.  When it is found that someone has been using our students for personal profit, what will he say?  "I don't have nothing to do with that, because I let them run their thing and I run mine.  I don't ever want anybody telling me how to run my thing.  So, I stay out of theirs."  Likewise, with Mr. Maridada we don't want another situation like the Kevein Fowlkes fiacso.  I have always liked Kevin and I respect his family, but we know that Kevin was working on something similar to that Kappa League mess back in the 80's.  Remember, that Mr. McClendon who had all those boys at his house every Saturday spending the night?  And who caused one of our young men to disgrace by allowing him to steal clothing from his job at a local department store.  The tell-tale sign in that case was that the man wore make-up and penciled in his eyebrows....

This man is a fake and all he is going to give is not a facsimile of the education process, with only the children (not kids) belonging to the crookedness will be allowed to feed from.  Our the students with the qualifications like sexual preference (s), drug use and clothing style.  The real student will be ignored and our schools will become a popularity contest once again and we know how homosexuals like Merry Da-Da like to have parties to show off their new outfits.  I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so mean.  I don't even know him, but he's so arrogant and just positive that he is what we need, but he is so mistaken.  He is exactly what we don't need another fag pretending be is a man.  Be who you are and drop the show!  Don't bring all your fake, pseudo educational ideas to our city.  Ideas that will give the impression you are doing well.  When in reality you have just taken our minds off the problem and are sitting pretty with our money and not doing anything for our children.

Go away Merry Da-Da and dress up your Barbie Dolls and not our city...