March 11, 2010
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Cincinnati NAACP
Media Release
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The Cincinnati NAACP calls for Cincinnati School Board President Eileen Cooper Reed and Cincinnati School Board Member Melanie Bates to resign.  "They both look like dictators," Christopher Smitherman, President of the Cincinnati NAACP says.  Cincinnati NAACP Executive Board Member Victoria Straughn informed radio host Lincoln Ware of 1230 AM the buzz that the School Board Meeting was not televised. 

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The Cincinnati NAACP would like to thank Sister Victoria for bringing the issue of suppression of information by the School Board to the public's attention.  One remedy is to replay the Monday, March 8, 2010 meeting 3 to 4 times and post the schedule of the replay on the CPS website with an apology to the public.  The Cincinnati School Board can expect a large turn out at the March 29, 2010 CPS meeting. "African American contractors got 1 percent of $707 million and Melanie Bates and Eileen Cooper Reed want to cut off access and public discussion regarding economic apartheid.  They feel that African American people do not have the right to be very angry about their intentional act to inflate the minority inclusion numbers.  The President of the Board and Bates do not care about African American families working," Smitherman says. 
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The School Board should publicly reprimand Chief Operations Officer Terry Elfers for making the recommendation not to air the March 8, 2010 School Board Meeting.  Public information being discussed by Cincinnati School Board Members is always public.  This lack of transparency has been the problem with the School Board all along- secret meetings.  This type of behavior is why the Cincinnati NAACP is calling for an audit. This is why Governor Strickland has recommended an audit of Cincinnati Public Schools. The School Board has removed all financial numbers off their main website.  They want to limit access of information to the public.  "You only do that when you have something to hide," says Smitherman. 
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