The more I study the history of the Hempstead Public Schools, the
more it looks to me as though the needs of the district's children
succumbed to the fear of unemployment among some of the African American
people on the school board and in the Village of Hempstead. I didn't believe it at first
when some people claimed that the school system was ruined by decades of
patronage, in which one particular school board member got herself into
a position to hire unqualified applicants in exchange for portions of these applicants'
paychecks. But with time and research and talking to people who worked
in the school system -- teachers and service providers who actually were
qualified -- I realize that yes, this person actually was given de
facto control over hiring. The only reason I can imagine this
scenario being allowed is that African Americans have, not always, but
too many times, been betrayed by a white-dominated system when seeking
jobs. This fear of not getting employed could (and
apparently did) lead to a system of bad record keeping and hiring of
incompetents that kept village African Americans employed, but dreadfully
betrayed the village's children. I don't get it. The
whole scenario makes me sick. I can understand one person having the
temptation to enrich herself by playing on the fears of her group; but I
don't understand people taking advantage of her underhanded offers
instead of exposing her. By 2010, other villagers did indeed make legal attempts to expose here, but it was several years before she was finally voted off the school board; and she is apparently still trying to manipulate results behind the scenes. I won't name this person here
because I am so upset. Also, I have more fact-finding to do. Perhaps
someone will see this blog and add enlightening comments. |