Further Woes for Already Troubled Detroit Public Schools

June 19, 2010 2:10 PM

The linguistic shortcomings of Otis Mathis has been mentioned in this space before. The now (possibly) former president of the Detroit Board of Education has rescinded his original letter of resignation after school superintendent Teresa Gueyser accused him of fondling himself during one-on-one meetings.

Aside from Mr. Mathis' alleged behavior, another item that might raise red flags for parents of DPS students is the official response of school board member Reverend David Murray's reaction to the incident: "I feel bad for him because he probably felt that it was something she would probably like or she got humor out of it."

posted by Oriole Adams (34 comments total)

This boggles belief.
posted by grouse at 2:20 PM on June 19, 2010

The linguistic shortcomings of Otis Mathis has been mentioned

Deliberate irony?
posted by Slothrup at 2:30 PM on June 19, 2010 [3 favorites]

Deliberate irony?

Muphry's law.
posted by grouse at 2:33 PM on June 19, 2010 [4 favorites]

What school superintendent hasn't fondled himself during meetings?

I mean, if you can't do that then what is the office good for?
posted by Avenger at 2:37 PM on June 19, 2010

This is one of those FPP's that would actually be improved upon by being a SLYT post.
posted by sourwookie at 2:43 PM on June 19, 2010 [3 favorites]

The reach of the School of Dov Charney extends to Detroit...
posted by emilyd22222 at 2:44 PM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

Mathis, a cancer survivor whose Thursday resignation also cited health problems.

He needs to use the "checking for suspicious lumps" defense.
posted by sourwookie at 2:45 PM on June 19, 2010 [5 favorites]

I mean, if you can't do that then what is the office good for?

This is why I loooove telecommuting.
posted by me & my monkey at 3:23 PM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

I mean, if you can't do that then what is the office good for?

This is why I loooove telecommuting.
posted by me & my monkey at 5:23 PM on June 19 [+] [!]

eponysterical!
posted by emilyd22222 at 3:25 PM on June 19, 2010 [5 favorites]

Jimmy Havok
Jimmy Havok
Jimmy Havok!
posted by Splunge at 3:30 PM on June 19, 2010

Let's see his supporters blame THIS on a learning disability.
posted by availablelight at 3:31 PM on June 19, 2010

In the immortal words of The Fugs:

"It crawled into my hand, honest!"
posted by rdone at 3:32 PM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

"I feel bad for him because he probably felt that it was something she would probably like or she got humor out of it."

That's all you could come up with, really? Have you just... never spoken to a woman? Ever?
posted by Auguris at 3:43 PM on June 19, 2010 [4 favorites]

First the lawyer accuses the judge of wanking off, now this. The professional workplace is not what I expected.

sails off to remote island in disgust
posted by lukemeister at 3:51 PM on June 19, 2010

If he loses his job, maybe Compuware will hire him. I understand they have an opening in sales.

Yay, Detroit.
posted by pracowity at 3:58 PM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

This boggles belief.

God, I really wish it did. If DPS was any more dysfunctional they could get better results by having the administrators and students swap roles.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 4:01 PM on June 19, 2010

Often people who aren't so hot at writing and spelling compensate by being talented when it comes to digits.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 4:11 PM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

Can we just pretend Detroit doesn't exist? Just leave it off of maps, out of the news, out of the blue. Pick ourselves up, find our pants, run a fork through our hair and move on.

It'll be like that one night in college that everyone agrees NEVER HAPPENED.
posted by codswallop at 4:30 PM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

You said you wouldn't MENTION that night!

Bastard!
posted by Splunge at 4:34 PM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

There are actually many very lovely people in Detroit.
posted by regicide is good for you at 4:42 PM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

availablelight, apparently the plan is to blame it on "some women [being] more sensitive to those types of things than others." Maybe the good reverend is among the school board members who consider public masturbation to be routine.
posted by freshwater at 6:01 PM on June 19, 2010

Detroit could have been one of the greatest cities in the modern world. A paragon of industrial design and engineering talent. Centrally located. An international connection.

Now it's just a flippin' joke with no punchline in sight.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:05 PM on June 19, 2010 [3 favorites]

Uh, sir, it's "Put your hands up for Detroit."

our lovely city (YT, scantily clad fembots and manbots)
posted by zippy at 6:35 PM on June 19, 2010

Is that PDF busted for anybody else?
posted by Trochanter at 6:48 PM on June 19, 2010

He could say it's because It's So Cold In The D.
posted by longsleeves at 10:09 PM on June 19, 2010

Huh. I always thought that song was about Dallas. Shows how much attention I was paying!
posted by cavalier at 11:37 PM on June 19, 2010

Reverend David Murray's reaction to the incident: "I feel bad for him because he probably felt that it was something she would probably like or she got humor out of it."

In which case, might I recommend giving the harmless old crotch-n'-kerchief routine a spin from the pulpit next Sunday, Reverend, and seeing how it flies?
posted by bicyclefish at 12:58 AM on June 20, 2010

I have questions...

I'm not defending this guy. And I'm not saying I don't believe her accusation, god knows what goes on between elected officials in Detroit, I could believe almost anything.

But, I'm curious why, if she has reported this to other individuals in the past, this hasn't been examined. I'm also curious as to why, if this has happened numerous times before, she continued to meet individually with this guy? And, 20 minutes, really??? She sat and watched (or tried not to watch) him clearly masterbating for 20 minutes and didn't stand up and walk out of the room???

If this is true, the depth of dysfunction within this official body extends far beyond any one individual.

And, as we discuss this, we might want to keep in mind that, at this point, this is an accusation, not a conviction.
posted by HuronBob at 3:24 AM on June 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

Brass Eye. That is all.
posted by him at 4:16 AM on June 20, 2010

Has they?
posted by fourcheesemac at 6:49 AM on June 20, 2010

From the "Teresa Gueyser accused him..." link:

At one point, I lifted some papers from my binder above his eyes to separate my peripheral view in order to avoid watching his activity.

That's not exactly the clearest prose style in the world either.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:59 AM on June 20, 2010 [2 favorites]

By the way, I notice at the bottom of the page that the Related Posts box shows but a single post. Could it be that threads on not-overly-furtive masturbation during meetings is something that Metafilter does not do well?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:02 AM on June 20, 2010

I think Related Posts is powered by tags--if this post had Detroit or masturbation tags, there might be more Related Posts listed.
posted by box at 7:34 AM on June 20, 2010

BTW, "Reverend" is Murray's name, not a title. He legally changed it.

(No relation, I hasten to add.)
posted by pmurray63 at 11:39 AM on June 20, 2010