Kalamazoo Student Attacks School Bus Driver (Violent Content)

What follows is the video of a teenager attacking the school bus driver on Tuesday, March 3, 2009. WARNING: The attack is violent and brutal.

School Bus Video of the Attack



Entire WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3 account of violent attack:

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - She drives students to school each day, but on Tuesday a driver's morning route became a violent nightmare.

Police say the driver became the victim of a student's rage, and instead of driving the bus to school, she was rushed to the hospital.

The Kalamazoo school-bus driver is recovering on Wednesday after being badly beaten.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, around 7:30 in the morning near the corner of Gull Road and Brook Drive in Kalamazoo Township. Police say that a 16-year-old male repeatedly punched the driver in the face and head.

The teenager is being held at the juvenile home, charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.

Newschannel 3 pulled the young man's records, we can't reveal his name or show his face because he is a juvenile, but we did learn that he has been charged with five assaults going back to 2005.

A source has told Newschannel 3 that several of the victims in those cases were para-pros, or teachers at the teen's school.

The bus driver who was assaulted on Tuesday is a veteran Kalamazoo Public Schools bus driver who was filling in on a route on Gull Road. Police say some of the students on the bus became agitated when she made a stop where there were no students.

At that point the 16 year old got out of his seat, and despite the driver repeatedly telling the teen to sit down, he continued to yell at her, took off his jacket and walked to the front of the bus.

As the student threatened her, the driver grabbed the radio to call for help, and the beating began.

Newschannel 3 watched the video with Kalamazoo Township Police Chief Tim Bourgeois.

"It was very violent," said Chief Bourgeois. "First punch that's followed by repeated punching to the head, at that point she is trying to cover her head with her hands."

As the attack continued, another student tried to put a stop to it.

"The suspect curses at him, pushes him away, and then continues the assault," said Bourgeois.

Eventually students managed to push the suspect toward the back of the bus, allowing the driver to get on the radio and make a call on her cell.

The suspect got off the bus, and took off at the urging of another student before the police arrive.

"When our first officers arrived, the driver was off the bus and the officer contacted her outside," said Bourgeois. "It was obvious she had severe facial injuries and had injuries to her hands."

When police questioned the remaining students on the bus, they refused to give any information. Police did eventually track the student down at his Kalamazoo home.

Newschannel 3 did speak to the victim in the case. She told us that she is doing okay, although her hand was broken while she was trying to fend off the teen and she has broken blood vessels in her eye.

Entire WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3 story of the teen's parents' defense:

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - On Tuesday, a bus driver for the Kalamazoo Public School system was brutally beaten by a teenager on her bus.

The attack happened around 7:30 Tuesday morning near the corner of Gull Road and Brook Drive in Kalamazoo Township.

Police say a 16-year-old student at K-Resa repeatedly punched the driver in the face and the head.

Looking into the incident, Newschannel 3 learned that this is not the first time the young man has been involved with violence.

Newschannel 3 spoke with the victim of the attack on Wednesday, she didn't want to go on camera for fear of further attacks, but the beating she received left her with a broken hand, burst blood vessels in both eyes, cuts and contusions all over her head and face, six stitches in her lip and a cheek that had swollen to the size of a softball.

Newschannel 3 also spoke the parents of the attacker, who also asked not to be revealed, but told us that their son isn't responsible.

"Our son has stated to us several times he's got twins living up in his head," said the suspect's mother, "and yesterday when I talked to him he said something about the twins in his head."

The parents say their son has been diagnosed with both bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia.

"[He's] been hospitalized several times," said the suspect's mother, "but you know it's working with the medication, trying to get him on the right medication, right now he's working with an excellent doctor."

The suspect's father believes something must have happened on the bus to set his son off.

"We know he's not a bad kid, something else must have went on to provoke him," said the father, "he wouldn't just do that."

The suspect told his father that he was provoked.

"The bus driver had hit the brakes real hard and he said he fell and hit his shoulder on the seat," the suspect's father said.

Video of the incident shows where the suspect loses his balance after the bus driver taps the brakes, but he never falls or hits anything. The suspect's father says that his son doesn't remember anything from then on.

The video shows the suspect calmly taking off his jacket before walking back to the bus driver and beginning to beat her.

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plez sez: this isn't normally in my jurisdiction, but the sheer violence and total lack of respect shows an utter bankruptcy of morals on the part of this young man. he is a bad ass who needs to have his ass beaten... and then thrown in a small dark cell away from the rest of humanity!

i don't buy the "sorry" excuses from his parents who expressed no concern for the welfare of the woman who was so brutally attacked by their son. to my way of thinking, they should shoulder a portion of the responsibility of letting such an animal leave their home on a daily basis... an animal who is capable of this level of barbarism toward his fellow man.

there is no other word for this... but "sick"! i have no doubt that this is a troubled young man, but to my way of thinking, he is incorrigible and needs to be put away for a long time!

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the WWMT Newschannel 3 article about Kalamazoo school bus attack.

Read the WWMT Newschannel 3 article about the kids' parents explanation for his behavior.

Read the WWMT Newschannel 3 article about the victim's husband knows his wife's attacker.

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Miseducation of Black Students in Gwinnett Schools

Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks has been at the helm of public schools in Gwinnett County, Georgia since 1996, currently the longest tenure in the nation. He has been called to task for comments he made at a board workshop a few weeks ago.

During a workshop he made an inflammatory comment about Black students during a presentation about the disproportionate discipline of minority students in Gwinnett COunty.

An administrator said the issue is a problem for school districts nationwide except in Idaho, according to a study. Wilbanks then asked James Taylor, executive director of the department of academic support, “Do they have any blacks in Idaho? They don’t have many.”

A number of parents have been circulating the comment around the county and a number of folk have begun to ask for his resignation.

Wilbanks has offered what he considers an explanation for his comments:

[H]is comments were not meant to be “racist” or “insensitive.”

“Those who know me and my record are well aware of my commitment to raising student achievement and to providing safe and orderly schools for all of our students no matter their race, ethnic origin, or socioeconomic background. The NAACP certainly is aware of these efforts because we have involved them in some of our most significant efforts to ensure that our discipline policies are impartial and clear and in the best interest of all students.”

The Gwinnett Chapter NAACP, however, issued a statement Wednesday scolding Wilbanks for his comments. Branch president J.P. Portalatin said he called Gwinnett Schools on Wednesday to talk to Wilbanks, but was told that he was unavailable at the moment. The NAACP is not seeking Wilbanks’ resignation, but does want him to apologize.

One should note that African-American students made up less than one-third of the population at Gwinnett County Public Schools last academic year, but they accounted for nearly half of those facing disciplinary panels for bad behavior. Of 1,910 discipline hearings held in 2007-08 to dole out long-term suspensions or expulsions to students, 931 of those were held for black students. About 18 percent, or 345, discipline panels were held for white students.

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This past Monday, NAACP officials met with Superinendent Wilbanks; the meeting didn't go so well. Wilbanks has refused to apologize for comments he made about the disproportionate discipline of minority students in Gwinnett.

Gwinnett NAACP branch president Jorge "JP" Portalatin is quoted as saying, "Mr. Wilbanks refuses to acknowledge that his comments were offensive. His behavior today was condescending and he was clearly not open to constructive feedback. The inability to see from others perspective and apologize is unacceptable in a leader." Portalatin has said that Wilbanks’ remarks at the meeting seemed to blame African-Americans for the disparity in discipline in Gwinnett County instead of what could be the inconsistent application of the discipline penalties.

Some Gwinnett parents have called for Wilbanks’ resignation.

Wilbanks has "no comment" concerning his meeting with the NAACP!

And now Idahoans are looking for an apology from Wilbanks:

Idaho strives to raise student achievement and create a safe school environment by meeting the needs of all students, no matter a student’s race or ethnicity,” said Melissa McGrath, Public Information Officer for Idaho State Department of Education. “We are pleased to see the schools and districts in Idaho are treating students fairly and equitably when it comes to disciplinary action, and we will continue to work toward this goal in the future through providing extensive guidance and professional development for districts in the areas of working with aggression, alternatives to suspension and expulsion, student assistance programs, recognizing and addressing early delinquent behaviors and dropout prevention.

Read the AJC articles about the Wilbanks Affair in Gwinnett County here and here.

Blogger on the black hand side has a post about it, too.


plez sez: gwinnett county, georgia has experienced a lot of growth over the past decade. most of the new gwinnett residents appear to be Black and latino.

as is the case, when a system experiences rapid change, often times the system is unable to adequately adapt to changes. this appears to be the case in gwinnett county. this used to be an almost all-white enclave, the bastion of white flight from atlanta and dekalb county in the 1980's as large numbers of Blacks moved into what were white sections of the metro Atlanta area. well, it is predicted that white people will be a minority in gwinnett county within 10 years.

a school system that is run by "old guard" white folk ALWAYS have issues in how to educate and deal with children who happen to have brown skin. these brown-skinned students (who tend to be African-American or latino) will generally be enrolled in slower paced special education classes and these students will also tend to be reprimanded, suspended, and expelled at a much higher rate that their white-skinned counterparts.

i'm sorry, but plezWorld doesn't make The Rules!

it is unfortunate that wilbanks made such an utterance. even though i don't find the comment patently racist, in these p.c. times, it does appear to be racially insensitive... especially, in light of the fact that there are scant few Black folks in the state of idaho!

the problem of the education of our Black children runs a lot deeper than the analysis into the number of Blacks in idaho! i don't understand why anyone would call for his resignation, but i also don't see the big deal with wilbanks offering a token apology to those whom he may have offended.

SCOTUS Ruling Limits Use of Race for Diversity in Schools

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that earlier today (in another 5-4 ruling), the Supreme Court rejected integration plans at public school districts in Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington. The decision restricted how public school systems may attain racial diversity.

The AJC article contains the following excerpts from select Justices:

The court split, 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts announcing the court's judgment, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."

Yet Justice Anthony Kennedy left the door ajar for the use of race and would not go as far as the other four conservative justices, saying in a concurring opinion that race may be a component of school plans designed to achieve diversity. He said, "A district may consider it a compelling interest to achieve a diverse student population. Race may be one component of that diversity."

Justice Clarence Thomas, the court's only black member, wrote a separate opinion endorsing the ruling and taking issue with the dissenters' view of the Brown case. Thomas said, "What was wrong in 1954 cannot be right today. The plans before us base school assignment decisions on students' race. Because 'our Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens,' such race-based decisionmaking is unconstitutional."

Justice Stephen Breyer, in a dissent joined by the other liberals on the court, said Roberts' opinion undermined the promise of integrated schools that the court laid out 53 years ago in its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education. "To invalidate the plans under review is to threaten the promise of Brown," Breyer said.

Read the entire AJC article here.

plez sez: it's not like i didn't expect such a ruling from this Court, but it still hit me like a blow to the gut! talking about turning back the clock on race relations in this country... well, this does it!

and now it's time to start making some lemonade with all these lemons that the SCOTUS has been tossing from the ivory tower! in one week, the Supreme Court has given big business unfettered access to the election process (campaign ad funding), restricted first amendment rights of students (bong hits 4 jesus), and restricted the use of race for student diversity in public schools.

on its face Brown v. Board of Education was what this country needed to get past its racist past, but what that ruling left out was equal access to quality education for all students. busing brought about racial diversity (in some cases), but never brought the funds necessary to lift those communities which were left behind. i will contend that i did not need to sit beside white students to learn, what i needed was the same educational resources (books, equipment, teachers) that was readily available in the white communities.

after 50-something years, i guess it is time to move on from application of Brown and take responsibility for the spirit of Brown in our children's education and our public schools. instead of busing our children to majority white districts, let's lobby our school boards to incent better and more established teachers to come teach in our communities, let's ensure that our curriculum enhances our children's education, let's get our Black boys out of these special ed classes, and let's make sure that dollar-for-dollar, our kids are getting the quality education that our taxes are paying for.

after today's ruling, the rules have changed and they're not changing back. today's Supreme Court consists of right-wing activists who will consistently push a conservative agenda for the next 20 years! i am sure that Roe v. Wade will fall during the next session which begins in October.

now, i do have some choice words for some of the opinions that were rendered:

1. Roberts implies that the spirit of Brown v. Board of Education was not for integration of public schools; so if not, what was the spirit of the 1954 ruling?
2. Thomas is ALL WRONG to imply that Brown v. Board of Education was wrong in 1954; what planet was this dude living on in 1954 when his BLACK ASS couldn't go to a good school where he was raised in segregated Georgia?!? and since when was the Constitution colorblind? since when was this country colorblind?
3. why did Kennedy vote with the majority when he believes that race can be a component used for racial diversity? doesn't that contradict the ruling?
   
   
4. lastly, i can pray that this ruling is a catalyst for self-reliance and self-motivation to demand quality public school education in the Black community.