Principal threatens kid for immigration protest, kid suicides

[msedano]

Here are recent developments in an important California case that started as an immigration story then devolves into a story of a hate-filled school administration. The administrators cash a fat paycheck every month to wear the title "educator". Sad irony; these administrators appear to hate their students.

What?

You may remember the story of the walkouts back in March that preceded the millions of people who massed in cities to protest the Sensennbrenner immigration bill. Gente showed up in white t-shirts in support of Democracy and our US democracy.

Walkouts: http://readraza.com/hpdemocracy.asp
Massed humanity: http://readraza.com/lademocracy.htm




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWS CONFERENCE-COMMUNIT Y SPEAK-IN
DATE: Thursday, September 7, 2006
TIME: 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Ontario Montclair School District, Central School Auditorium
415 G Street, Ontario, CA 91761
SUBJECT: Parents of Anthony Soltero file federal injunction to stop school district from threatening students who protest.

Community members will join Louise Corales and Jaime Soltero, the parents of eighth grader Anthony Soltero who shot himself through the head on Thursday, March 30, after Gene Bennett, the Assistant Principal at De Anza Middle School told him that he was going to prison and jail because of his involvement in the March 28 school walk-outs to protest the anti-immigrant legislation in Washington.

Mrs. Corales, other parents and students, filed a Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit requesting a preliminary injunction. The Court scheduled a hearing on September 18, 2006, to prohibit the school district from continuing its admitted practice of seeking police action against student protesters. James Kidwell, The Deputy superintendent of OMSD announced shortly after Anthony's death, "The district's policy is to suspend students who walked out and to give their names to the local police to issue truancy citations." Sgt. Brian Ventura of the Montclair Police Department stated that "Montclair police issued 125 citations to students that walked out of Serrano Middle school at the districts request."

Mrs. Corales and Mr. Soltero will speak to the press at 6:30 p.m., and to the School Board at 7:00 p.m. They will ask the school board to voluntarily rescinding its policies of imposing monetary fines and criminal sanctions on parents of students that failed to attend school to attend student protests or threatening students with arrest, jail or imprisonment who exercised their First Amendment rights.

"Anthony was learning about the importance of civic duties and rights in his eighth grade class. Ironically, he died because the vice principal at his school threatened him for speaking out and exercising those rights," Ms. Corales said today. "I want to speak out to the school board and other parents, whose children may be attending the continuing protests against the immigration bill that makes it a felony to be undocumented. We have to let the schools know that they can't punish our children for exercising their rights."

Anthony's death is likely the first fatality arising from the protests against the immigration legislation being considered in Washington, D.C. Anthony, who was a good student at De Anza Middle School in the Ontario-Montclair School District, believed in justice and was passionate about the immigration issue. He is survived by his mother, Louise Corales, his father Jaime Soltero, a younger sister, and a baby brother.

CONTACTS: R. SAMUEL PAZ, Office [phone]; E-mail: samuelpaz@MSN. com

[EFerrari]

1. I remember this child.

I am so ashamed of this country.

[Cleita]

2. This is such a tragedy.

Although I'm not surprised. I ran into school administrators when I was in school who could barely contain their racism.