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Contact: Gail Kearns, Publicist
To Press and Beyond
(805) 898-2263 | gail@topressandbeyond.com

Retired education executive applauds Robert Bobb as doing
'terrific job' in reforming Detroit’s failing education system

(Detroit, Michigan, March 25, 2010) – After a decade of inept and corrupt boards and central administrations and ballooning deficits, emergency financial manager Robert Bobb was brought in to clean up the mess with Detroit Public Schools.

Dr. John Telford—teacher activist, superintendent, passionate civil rights champion, world-class sprinter, and now author (A Life on the Run: Seeking and Safeguarding Social Justice, www.lifeontherunbook.com)—says Bobb is doing a terrific job in the face of unbelievable challenges. Yet, he adds, we can talk urban education reform until the cows come home regarding curriculum, testing, and closing schools in districts that appear to be losing enrollment, but until other needed reform components are addressed, the above list is akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

This is tough talk for tough times, but what makes the retired 74-year-old Telford different is that he comes from inner city Detroit, stayed there, taught there and still cares deeply about what happens to the students.

While Detroit may be one of the worst school systems in America, many others are plagued with the same problems and few former administrators, those with direct knowledge of what goes on are willing to speak out. An interview with Telford will provide an extraordinary look behind the scenes of a big city school system and some concrete steps to make it right.

Telford’s snapshot of what is needed:

• Put truant officers back on district payrolls to round up all the high school dropouts. These are kids who have spun out of the control of their mothers or grandmothers who are vainly trying to raise them.

• Most misbehaving teens in urban schools can't read. They need to be placed in special classes and small education settings and surrounded with special assistance, like remedial teachers and social workers.

• Return to instruction in traditional grammar, K-12. Dialect can cause severe comprehension problems for African-American, Latino and Arabic students.

• Restore vocational courses and art, music, and athletic programs that have been curtailed in many secondary schools across America. In-school opportunities to compete on a team, play in a band, or learn a trade are the only reasons some kids stay in school.

• Institutionalize programs for restorative justice, anger management, and conflict resolution to induce rival gangs in a give school to put aside their rivalries during the school day and ultimately permanently.

Praise for A Life on the Run

“A Life on the Run” is a triumphant tale of teaching, fighting, loving, racing, civil-righteous rebellion, and raw courage. Dr. John Telford lays it on the line in exciting activist/educator style—like the exciting activist/educator he is.”

—Professor John A. Powell, Executive Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
at Ohio State University writes in his introduction for A Life on the Run.

ABOUT JOHN TELFORD

John Telford has run on many tracks –not all of them always the right ones. He out ran Olympic champions, hosted radio shows, appeared on television, wrote over one thousand newspaper columns, coached and taught in ghetto schools and in colleges, led school districts and social welfare agencies and continues to fight for urban school reform and minority rights.

Publication Information for Telford’s book:

Title: A LIFE ON THE RUN: SEEKING AND SAFEGUARDING SOCIAL JUSTICE

Author: Dr John Telford

Harmonie Park Press

Publication Date: January 2010

Price: $24.95 ISBN: 978-0-899901-49-7 Pages: 435

www.lifeontherunbook.com

To schedule an interview, contact Gail Kearns, gail@topressandbeyond.com or 805-898-2263

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