DETROIT - Attorneys for Flint schoolchildren have reached a historic agreement with the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), Genesee Intermediate School District (GISD) and Flint Community Schools (FCS) to establish an unprecedented program to provide universal screening, and in-depth assessments when necessary, to all Flint children impacted by the Flint water crisis.

In a ruling issued today, U.S. District Court Judge Arthur J. Tarnow allowed a lawsuit to proceed, which contends that state and local school authorities are violating federal education laws by failing to ensure that children in Flint exposed to high levels of lead receive an appropriate public education.

If anyone thought democracy had actually been returned to the residents of Flint, the Receivership Transition Advisory Board (RTAB) appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder just pulled out its hammer and shattered that illusion.

Despite public outcry, the five-person RTAB last week overrode a unanimous city council vote to place a yearlong moratorium on the imposition of liens on homes with delinquent water bills.

This week, a Michigan state oversight board struck down a local moratorium on the issuance of property liens in Flint connected to unpaid bills for contaminated water. The result is that thousands of residents are once again at risk of losing their homes. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and the ACLU of Michigan issued the following joint statement in response:

Cross-posted on the Michigan Chronicle

When involuntary manslaughter charges were filed last week against five people connected to the Flint water crisis, prosecutors presented a chilling chronology of events they claim led to 75-year-old Robert Skidmore’s death from Legionnaire’s Disease in 2015.

Statement from ACLU of Michigan Executive Director, Kary Moss, on today's charges in the Flint Water Crisis:

"The criminal charges brought today against two high-ranking state health officials in the Flint water crisis send a strong message that public officials are accountable for the decisions they make. Unfortunately, the State has not yet taken responsibility for how the water crisis has put the education of all Flint public school children at risk. 

Given everything that Flint has been through in recent years, the last thing we want to do is beat up on the city’s challenged school district. While some critics may suggest otherwise, the legal action we took last fall aimed at improving conditions in the schools is simply designed to ensure that every child who walks into a classroom, including those who need special-education services, receives the support necessary to thrive.

The ACLU of Michigan and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund  today urged the Flint City Council to suspend local efforts to impose property liens on thousands of Flint homeowners for failing to pay delinquent bills for contaminated municipal water—which has been unsafe to drink for more than three years.

A newly announced plan to permanently keep Flint on the Detroit-based regional water system has both sparked hope and raised important questions.

This story first published on the Detroit Metro Times.