An anonymous teacher writes in:
We are professional educators. We don’t expect much from our heads of school. We don’t care how many doctorate degrees they have, we don’t inquire if the degrees are legal or not. We don’t even care if they obtained a college education at all. We don’t even have an interest in what G-d they worship.
All we ask is that our heads of school be decent human beings.
We expect our leaders to look us in the eyes. We expect them to acknowledge we exist – say good morning in the hall, ask how we are and how things are going, give a personal pat on the back once in a while, “hey, good job.” – and not just publish meaningless statements to impress parents.
We expect our leaders to care more about kids than they do about image. More about education than about marketing. We understand that a school must take care of its bottom line – but we imagine this is not why school leaders chose this profession to begin with. Really, we expect our leaders to be a source of educational inspiration, not mediocre technocrats and fund-raisers.
We expect our leaders to attend student events, not as a duty but because they have a genuine interest. We expect them to sit through assemblies until the end and not walk out with their blackberry stuck to their ear.
We expect our school heads to be honest and straightforward. We expect them to have clear and ethical lines of conduct not subject to blowing winds. Share your goals and priorities clearly and we will follow. We expect our leaders to lead by example, be part of a team. We imagine they must be respectful of others, open and approachable. We expect our leaders to seriously take input from their faculty about the direction the school takes.
We expect them to remember that schools are only as good as their teachers.
We expect our leaders not to threaten or harass their faculty. We expect them not to hold grudges or base evaluations on personal vendettas.
We expect our leaders to be a source of support and comfort. We expect our leaders to care about faculty as people and stand by their side as professionals. We expect an open door where personal problems are listened to and worked on with empathy.
We expect our leaders to exercise the same self-examination they require of us. When mistakes are made, admit them. We’ll stand by your side and help you correct them. We expect our leaders to make decisions that benefit our school, not to be too busy with keeping their jobs.
Yes, this is all we expect from our leaders – to be decent human beings.
From the Board we only expect a simple thing - your job is easy really: hire us decent leaders and then gracefully fade into the background.
118 responses so far ↓
1 anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Much applause for this well articulated posting!
We appreciate our teachers!
To the Board:
We do NOT appreciate the manner in which our head of school and the Judaic Head of school treat the teachers, the students and the parents. They have NO geniune concern for our children. They are acting as outsiders.
Funny you should mention the book awards. The same thing happened at the Spring Concert. The Head of School said a few ingenuine words and did not even stay for the show. He runs through the motions with absolutely NO emotion - is this what the board wants as a Head of School!!! If so, they are sorrily mistaken as to how a school of excellence should be run. It was wonderful, Rabbi Kaplan was actually the master of ceremonies for the evening. He did a wonderful heartfelt job and you can see the nachas that he experienced in doing so - - this is what a head of school should be!
To the Board……
Please, we ask that you evaluate the path we are following. Though you may have had the best intentions, when these two individuals were hired, perhaps they were not all they seemed to be on paper. Mistakes happen - what needs to now take place is that the mistakes need to be corrected so we all can move forward in a positive manner.
Re-evaluate the decisions and take action. It is best to do so while there is still a chance to save the school, retain our teachers, and retain our students. If not, there may not be another opportunity. Seize the moment!
2 Hillel Teacher for 7 Years // May 6, 2007 at 8:15 pm
I concur wholeheartedly with Anonymous Teacher.
3 Hillel Teacher for 7 Years // May 6, 2007 at 8:20 pm
We expect leaders not refer to us (faculty members) as “The Enemy” in staff meetings but instead to see us all as playing on the same team and to address us with compassion and respect. We expect some positive acknowledgment for a job well done.
4 admin // May 6, 2007 at 8:22 pm
We all know that the Board has made mistakes. As “anonymous” said, mistakes happen. We are human.
It is time for you to stand up, acknowledge that you made a mistake, and solicit input from the community (not from me!) so that Hillel can thrive once again.
5 Hillel Teacher for 7 Years // May 6, 2007 at 8:27 pm
YES!
6 anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Can a teacher be elected to the Board?
7 Anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Teachers need to insist that a spot be created for them to input at board meetings
A certain group of teacher representatives should sit in at every open meeting
8 anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Unfortunately, teachers cannot insist on anything…
Do the By-Laws permit a teacher to run for the Board?
9 Anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:36 pm
It’s like Isaac Sapoznik says:
No one is going to hand you anything.
You must ASSERT yourself and insist.
Life is for the bold. STEP UP AND STOP BEING VICTIMS!!
INSIST!
You don’t have to be board members to have teacher reps attend board meetings and if board members can get around by-laws why the heck can’t YOU?
10 Anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Actually, there should be ROTATING teacher representatives at several board meetings contributing input throughout the year
If the leaders of the school are present and teacher reps can’t speak freely to board members then there should be separate, PRIVATE meetings created between rotating TEACHER REPS and BOARD MEMBERS throughout the year
Create open channels of communication. STEP UP AND INSIST!
The Board IS listening! Now is your opportunity! Strike while the iron is hot!
11 anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Unlike certain board members and administrators, teachers above all need to have integrity, especially academic integrity. If the By-Laws permit a teacher to be duly elected to the Board, than teachers need to know this provision…and soon. They have a right to know this information, since they are very important stakeholders in Hillel
Perhaps the former exec board member with a passion for education (and chocolate chip cookies) could find this information out.
12 anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:44 pm
According to the by-laws, there is not a spot for teachers. However, the need to have a voice is obvious.
Unfortunately, the current environment does not allow the teachers to dissent. They have been threatened with termination for even speaking with parents about what is taking place internally at the school.
This is the environment under which they work and, frankly, teaching is a labor of love - teachers don’t teach because they can become millionnaires and earn high salaries - they teach for the love of children and the passion of making a difference in the lives of their students.
THIS IS WHAT OUR TEACHERS DO WELL. They make a difference in the lives of the students. Just listen to our alumni - their words speak volumes. If you are a parent, ask your children, they will tell you….
It is our teachers that are the integral part of the Hillel Family. They are warm, well respected professionals that work hard each and everyday to make a difference.
They need administrators who respect them as individuals and can deal with differences of opinion without intimidation, bullying, and threatening them with the loss of their livlihood. Such things do not happen in schools of excellence as their administrators recognize the work they do for the peanuts they are paid.
The teachers need parent advocates (non-board) members to present their case to the board!
13 Anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Enough already.
You know who the board members are .
Approach them and tell them what you want.
They’re waiting to hear from real people.
Stop waiting for someone to save you.
The only people who can save teachers are the teachers themselves.
WAKE UP TEACHERS!!
14 Anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:45 pm
The parents are asleep so either STEP AND SAVE YOURSELVES OR stop complaining already.
It’s getting you nowhere.
15 anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:46 pm
The board needs to stand up and take the heat for the irreprehensible decisions and actions they have taken and have allowed the administration to take under their watch. It’s time for change!
So to my fellow bloggers…..
Continue to post -
Bring the issues to the forefront. The fact that they find the website so troublesome gives credence to the fact that they are reading and taking note of the issues and thoughts of the HILLEL parents and community.
We must continue to bring the issues to the forefront for the sake of our beloved teachers (IT IS TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK - - LET THE TEACHERS KNOW - THE PARENTS AND STUDENTS APPRECIATE THEM) and for the sake of our children (THEY ARE OUR FUTURE)!!!!
Let’s build on our foundation and continue to move forward for our cause (it is a meaningful cause!)
16 Anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:47 pm
If you’re too afraid to approach the board alone, take a group of teachers with you and tell them to create what you want!
17 anonymous teacher // May 6, 2007 at 8:48 pm
If you look at the new Board List you will see that Dr. Rabbi Ezra Levy has been placed on the Board. He is the head of the Kesher program, and an outstanding educator.
18 THAT'S THE WHOLE PROBLEM // May 6, 2007 at 8:50 pm
“TEACHERS DON’T EXPECT MUCH”
START EXPECTING!
START ASKING!
19 admin // May 6, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Dr. Rabbi Ezra Levy is an outstanding educator. I had the pleasure of working with him when I volunteered for Kesher when the program was in its infancy, and his dedication is incredible.
20 anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Kesher is a separate entity from Hillel.
21 Anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Again, teachers you need to start asking directly for what you want.
FACE TO FACE
not on a blog
If Ezra Levy, can do it , so can you! JUST DO IT ALREADY!
22 Anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 8:54 pm
stop making excuses
23 anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Kesher is a legal, separate entity from Hillel. Rabbi Levy does not work for Hillel.
The question of whether a Hillel teacher can be duly elected or appointed to the Board should probably be posed to Pam Burd.
24 anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 9:00 pm
It is not only the responsibility of our teachers. The parents need to band together and demand answers - they need to let their voices be heard.
Since the board does not feel that the cause, even after all of the phone calls, requires a special meeting. It will have to wait til the parent meeting on June 6th - sure to be one of those NOT to miss events. Except this one will not cost $300 a couple to hear the Head of School make the state of the school address (as being done at the Roots to Wings event). Unfortunately, only those who decide to pay to attend will have the pleasure of hearing the State of the School address. Surely it will be a most interesting piece of rhetoric. Perhaps the organizers can film it and provide streaming video on the Hillel website for those who miss it - so they too can be informed.
25 Anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Correct. It is EVERYBODY’S RESPONSIBILITY
Board members, parents, and TEACHERS alike.
EVERYONE should attend the June 6th meeting
26 Anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 9:09 pm
“Re-evaluate the decisions and take action. It is best to do so while there is still a chance to save the school, retain our teachers, and retain our students. If not, there may not be another opportunity. Seize the moment!”
YES. Absolutely true!
Teachers: You too must also seize the moment!!
Before this website existed the problems had not been exposed. Now they have been. Are you going to sit in silence or are you going to SEIZE THE MOMENT now that the moment is here and no one is going to call you crazy when you speak the truth?????
The board knows the truth.
Take a group of teachers with you and tell them exactly what you want. Take your own advice: SEIZE THE MOMENT because this moment will not be here forever …maybe this blog won’t be either. ACT NOW!!!!
27 sara // May 6, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Am I understanding that parents did call– as they were so urgently urged to do last week– yet nothing has come out of these phone calls? Now teachers are being urged to speak up? If the Board– that is, the majority of the Board– will not listen to parents, why would you think they would want to hear from teachers?
Remember, Avi Frier is working on a story. . .
28 anonymous // May 6, 2007 at 9:29 pm
many of us have done what was asked - we called the school, we brought the information to the forefront - yet nothing has really changed.
There was a board meeting last Thursday morning! No one knows what was decided - who was hired, etc. The only thing known is that Rabbi Saks was passed over as an assistant principal. Other than that, no communication has been sent. So much for open communication.
It continues to be one way. We communicate and are provided with no response. There is no response to the valid truthful information provided on this website. Yet, instead of responding, the board continues to insist this site be taken down. WHY? THE TRUTH HURTS and G-d willing will prevail.
29 anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 1:29 am
Tremendous damage was done here in Kansas at the HBHA to our best teachers and many of our most promising students by the former “head master”. AH is charming, handsome, deceptive and deeply destructive. For the sake of your children I pray that you have the courage and integrity to unite and fire him before he ruins your school, traumatizes students, teachers and parents who see what he is doing clearly.He is clever and slippery however destruction will occur if you sit back and do nothing to stop him. Fire him and his sidekicks as soon as is humanly possible. This includes Mr. B, who while very “nice” on the surface is indeed merely a loyal H flunkie. Our best teachers begged for our help.Most were either continually intimidated or fired. Our children suffered deeply ( particularly those whose families were not the from the wealthy power players to whom he cleverly catered) . Families dedicated to educating our children as fine Jews who would with a good education and menchlich behavior be able to continue our heritage , traditions, history and ethics. Many,yes many, of us are still suffering. The Board of Directors were either deceived or were incompetent. Unite and wake up your Board.
Please let us who have been witness and been personally hurt by this man’s cruelty to teachers and students help you before more damage is done. Teach your children by example to have the courage to see reality and know that bad things happen when good people do nothing. You have no time to waste. While this may be construed as Lashon Harah it would be a far greater sin to withold this information.
We pray for the highest good for you, your children, teachers and the integrity of your school.
30 anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 8:55 am
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It continues to amaze me how individuals who have no personal connection to our school, other than the fact that they are fellow Jews continue to inform us in an effort to save us from the grief and anguish they faced.
If this is not a wake up call, then I don’t know what is.
Our board needs to remove their heads from the clouds and take action and take our school back. Place the school in the hands of a competant JEWISH Dean who possesses knowledge, expertise, and caring in his heart for our children, our teachers, our parents and our school. We need someone who not only understands our mission but has the ability to internalize it and make it his own. ONLY someone of our faith can do so!
MAKE A CHANGE NOW! FOR THE SAKE OF OUR CHILDREN, OUR TEACHERS, AND OUR SCHOOL!!!
Many thanks to the people of the HBHA for continuing to support us - - if we cannot and do lot learn from history, we are bound to repeat it. Let’s not make this mistake!
31 Let's Start ALL Over Now! // May 7, 2007 at 11:51 am
Board Members, It’s time to call a Meeting for all Hillel Parent’s Teachers and Students. What these former people have Written From Kansas is not good. You have also new people coming in which will also destroy the school. Time to clean house lets start all over. We need new Dean of School and also new dean of Judiac Studies and you need a new High School Principal .The one you are bringing in won’t be the right match for Hillel Community Day School. Why try another person just keep who you put in place for 2 months. Parent’s Teachers and Students are so happy with Rabbi Kaplan why get someone new.
32 Aaron // May 7, 2007 at 4:02 pm
I think it’s time to start organizing beyond this website. Parents, alumni and maybe even teachers should start meeting together IN PERSON.
33 Former staff member // May 7, 2007 at 4:40 pm
As a former Hillel teacher, I swore off teaching at a Jewish day school due to the way Hillel treated and continues to treat their teachers. There is a certain amount of sensitivity and altruism associated with working at a Jewish institution above and beyond that of a “normal” school.
Hillel has lacked this type of compassion for many years. Not since the days of the late Dr. Levy (and there were many administrators who tried to cut him off at the knees) have we seen administrators who care one iota about the human condition and not just what they perceive to be the bottom line.
A school survives based on reputation as a fine academic institution, not saving money or cutting corners. Potentially letting go senior teachers just because you can hire three novice teachers is not a way to run a school. When a place of business lets their quality slide, their bottom line will slide as well.
Shame on Hillel for continuing to run their school as a buisness, and proving that altruism is dead. Teachers, forge on, do not allow administrators, donning race horse blinders, to beat you down. Continue your great work. We have valuable Jewish minds to cultivate.
34 Avi Frier // May 7, 2007 at 9:49 pm
At this point it’s not looking like I’m going to have a story for this week’s paper.
It’s not uncommon that we start (or even finish) working on a story only to have it end up not going to print. Ordinarily, it is not our practice to provide any kind of public explanation as to WHY something like this has happened.
However, many of you took the time to contact me when I said that I was looking for information. Additionally, many of you intimated that you were counting on this story to help further your cause. For these reasons, I would like to provide an explanation, and also tell you how your cause may have been furthered anyway, if only a little:
It turns out that the Florida statute that makes it a misdemeanor for Holden to call himself ‘Dr.’ was found unconstitutional a number of years ago. I heard this initially from a Hillel board member, and confirmed it myself with the state. In other words, despite the statute, no enforceable laws are being broken.
To write the story without that element would amount to nothing more than airing a school’s dirty laundry in the community. Such a story would probably hurt the school, and would not help your cause.
However, there is a bigger story here, one that I will continue to follow very closely. It has to do with a small group of alumni that have mobilized a community to effect change in the school they love. You know who they are; they know who they are; there’s no need to go into further detail in this forum.
Suffice to say that if you are able to turn your words into actions, I will have a big writing job ahead of me when I wake up on the morning of June 8. Furthermore, I plan to continue watching for any attempts to shut down this web site. Freedom of speech is something we media types take quite seriously.
Prior to my meeting with some of the board members last week, I spoke with a number of teachers who shared with me some anecdotes that illustrate the frustration many of the teachers are currently facing. Those stories that I was able to confirm with more than one or two faculty members, I shared with the board on Friday. As promised, I did not share any names (or other indicators of who my sources were, such as gender, grade level, etc.) with the board; I simply made it clear that I had checked the facts with more than one faculty member. It was told to me later on very good authority, that the board members present were upset by what they heard, and are taking the implications of these anecdotes very seriously.
Your stories made an impact, however big or small it may have been. I recommend that you continue to use any avenues possible to make sure the current board knows what’s bugging you and why.
I hope I have done a satisfactory job in explaining my position. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call me at 954-987-2720 ext 18.
Thank you, and best of luck.
Avi
35 Anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 10:06 pm
G-d bless you, Avi Frier.
36 anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Thank you for your continued interest, assistance, and candor. Thank you for being part of our community and caring about our cause. It is greatly appreciated.
We all hope that the board begins to take corrective action.
I believe it would also be interesting to validate the claims being made by several individuals and students from the prior school. This too would serve to strengthen our position in validating the information being provided - these are warning signals that should probably not be ignored. As Jews we know that if we don’t learn from history, we are bound to repeat it.
Thanks again. Your support is commendable and appreciated.
37 sara // May 7, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Ditto.
38 Aviva // May 7, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Well, Mr. Frier, your efforts are commendable. I certainly hope next Pesach will not find you once again hearing about firings at Hillel or other unpleasant anecdotes.
A good many of us still strongly feel that Holden is not the person to run this Jewish Day School and that the non-Jewish new adminstrators are not the best choices for our school. Hopefully, you will have your BIG story on June 8.
39 Anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Thank you Avi.
However, a bigger question cannot be overlooked:
Why did it take the intervention of the media to “upset” the Board?
Why wasn’t it enough that parents and teachers were reporting the same thing?
40 Anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Ditto. Let’s make sure there’s a BIG story to tell.
41 Anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 11:09 pm
The open board meeting is now called for the 6th? No???
42 sara // May 7, 2007 at 11:12 pm
The BIG story can only be if the parents continue to organize and nominate/vote for new Board members.
43 Anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 11:14 pm
“Why wasn’t it enough that parents and teachers were reporting the same thing?”
44 Anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 11:16 pm
We know the reason -
a Board member told us so in the press, remember?
something to the effect of “we don’t make decisions based on public opinion”
45 Anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Parents need to turn out and ROCK THE VOTE.
Attend the 2007 Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 6, 2007, 7:30 PM, in Hillel’s Friedman-Uhlar Auditorium.
46 Avi Frier // May 7, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Yes, my mistake. The meeting is the 6th; I’ll be writing on the 7th.
47 Anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 11:23 pm
“Please let us who have been witness and been personally hurt by this man’s cruelty to teachers and students help you before more damage is done. Teach your children by example to have the courage to see reality and know that bad things happen when good people do nothing. You have no time to waste. While this may be construed as Lashon Harah it would be a far greater sin to withold this information.”
tHANK yOu Kansas!!!!!!!
evil triumphs when good people do nothing
48 sara // May 7, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Oh! Oh! Do the parents know the date of the meeting? Even Avi mentioned having a story on the 8th. MUST BE CLEAR ABOUT THE DATE– cannot be a missed opportunity!
Does anyone know the status of the parents’ organizing/planning, etc? Or, perhaps, not for public view on this……
49 Anonymous // May 7, 2007 at 11:27 pm
ssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
50 sara // May 7, 2007 at 11:43 pm
51 MLK JR's Wisdom: NOW IS THE TIME // May 8, 2007 at 12:09 am
I cannot sit idly by…
INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE
Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.
Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, GROUPS TEND TO BE MORE IMMORAL THAN INDIVIDUALS.
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; IT MUST BE DEMANDED by the oppressed
For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” …This “Wait” has almost always meant ‘Never.”
We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “JUSTICE TOO LONG DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED”
I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the […] moderate
the […]moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice;
who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”;
who paternalistically BELIEVES HE CAN SET THE TIMETABLE FOR ANOTHER MAN’S FREEDOM; who lives by a mythical concept of time
I had hoped that the […] moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I SHOULD HAVE REALIZED THAT FEW MEMBERS OF THE OPPRESSOR […] CAN UNDERSTAND THE DEEP GROANS AND PASSIONATE YEARNINGS OF THE OPPRESSED[…], AND STILL FEWER HAVE THE VISION TO SEE THAT INJUSTICE MUST BE ROOTED OUT BY STRONG, PERSISTENT AND DETERMINED ACTION.
Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.
WE BRING IT OUT IN THE OPEN, WHERE IT CAN BE SEEN AND DEALT WITH.
Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with an its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of [public] opinion before it can be cured.
We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.
OPPRESSED PEOPLE CANNOT REMAIN OPPRESSED FOREVER. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself
NOW IS THE TIME to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending [communal] elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.
NOW IS THE TIME TO lift our [school] policy from the quicksand of […] injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.
52 teacher // May 8, 2007 at 7:19 am
Can teachers attend the board meeting? I, for one, want to see it all first hand not hear and edited version.
53 Anonymous // May 8, 2007 at 7:32 am
Teachers should all be at that board meeting too!!!
54 another mom // May 8, 2007 at 8:20 am
Can someone comment on the protocols of this meeting? Are members permitted to question the current Board or make a statement? Are there any rules governing the meeting?
55 Anon // May 8, 2007 at 8:52 am
It would be a miracle if the Board members would come to this site and actually answer the questions about the protocols of the meeting. I think it’s pretty clear that they are going to leave us in the dark.
My advice- go to the meeting regardless of your place in Hillel society. You can be a teacher, an alum, a parent… If you care for Hillel’s future, GO.
56 Anonymous // May 8, 2007 at 9:37 am
You don’t need a board member to tell you - the by-laws used to be posted on the Hillel web stie.
Robert’s Rules of Order of Parlimentary Procedure is the governing protocol.
You may view at http://www.robertsrules.com/
Yes, teachers may attend.
57 anonymous // May 8, 2007 at 9:45 am
Roberts Rules of Order
www.robertsrules.com
58 Anonymous // May 8, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Someone give us the Cliffs version please
Also, isn’t an election taking place?
Everybody should attend–Parents, Alum, Teachers, EVERYBODY
PEOPLE’S PHYSICAL PRESENCES WILL MAKE A HUGE STATEMENT
Parents are especially needed to vote
59 anonymous // May 8, 2007 at 1:51 pm
here is an introduction link
http://www.robertsrules.org/rulesintro.htm
60 anonymous // May 8, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Here is a link to it all.
http://www.rulesonline.com/start.html
These are standard rules that most professional/formal boards use.
61 anonymous // May 8, 2007 at 1:55 pm
The section on:
PART I.
RULES OF ORDER.
Art. I. How Business Is Conducted in Deliberative Assemblies.
1. Introduction of Business
2. What Precedes Debate
3. Obtaining the floor
4. Motions and Resolutions
5. Seconding Motions
6. Stating the Question
7. Debate
8. Secondary Motions
9. Putting the Question and Announcing the Vote
10. Proper Motions to Use to Accomplish Certain Objects
is probably the most applicable section to this meeting.
62 sara // May 8, 2007 at 5:39 pm
It’s too quiet here. . .
63 mentalhealth // May 8, 2007 at 6:48 pm
well, I am exhausted, Sara.
64 mentalhealth // May 8, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I have also heard that some of the non-contracted teachers have applied via careerbuilder for their jobs…..
65 FACT FINDER--READ THIS NOW! // May 8, 2007 at 9:13 pm
A most pertinent and interesting piece of legal information will be posted here soon. . .
66 Anonymous // May 8, 2007 at 10:02 pm
don’t leave us in suspense like that…!
67 Anonymous // May 8, 2007 at 11:05 pm
“Here is a link to it all.
http://www.rulesonline.com/start.html
These are standard rules that most professional/formal boards use.”
I hope some of the parents who know the ropes can initiate those of who don’t when we’re at the meeting. This is a lot of information to digest at once.
68 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 6:56 am
Here is an article of the case referenced by anonymous board members when they speak of the relevance and legality of Florida Statute 817.567. The case centered not on the fraudulent academic credentials of this individual, since all parties agreed that the “doctoral degree” in question was from an unaccredited institution, but rather the case focused on this individual’s rights under the first amendment.
While FS 817.567, was found to be overbroad in this case, the issues remains active in other cases since this law has not been repealed, and remains on the books thirteen years later. District Attorneys in Florida can, at their discretion, still prosecute similar cases of making false claims of academic titles.
As you read this article, reflect on the character of the individual in question. Also reflect on the logic and excuses made by his supporters: sound familiar?
Academic dishonesty hurts everyone. Why would you want this type of individual and his supporters running our school?
June 6th has never been more important…
EXPERT ON AGING HAS MAIL-ORDER PH.D.
Miami Herald, The (FL)
May 22, 1994
Author: APRIL WITT Herald Staff Writer
Estimated printed pages: 5
Samuel Bartow Strang III is Mr. Senility.
Throughout Florida, he cultivates a reputation as an expert on aging — and the terrible toll time takes on the human brain.
Strang, 53, is a gray-haired eminence with a Walter Cronkite manner who examines dozens of elderly South Floridians each month for the courts. He is paid well to say whether people are incompetent to manage their own lives.
And every time he calls himself Samuel B. Strang, “Ph.D.,” or “Dr. Strang,” he breaks the law.
Strang received a mail-order doctorate in biological sciences from an unaccredited correspondence school in California, Pacific Western University.
In Florida, it is a misdemeanor to claim an academic title based on a degree from an unaccredited school.
“I had no idea I was operating in anything other than a legal and ethical manner,” Strang said last week. “From now on I’m not using the title (Ph.D.) until we get clarification.”
The Broward State Attorney’s Office, which once appointed Strang to a task force on elderly abuse, is now investigating the credentials he used to build a successful gerontological practice.
Strang’s lack of a traditional graduate degree hasn’t hurt his career. He served on the prestigious Pepper Commission on Aging, and has won the hearts of some of his grateful clients.
He runs the private, nonprofit Center for Gerontology out of his home in Fort Lauderdale. He calls himself a “clinical gerontologist,” and charges up to $500 to evaluate elderly clients and up to $125 an hour to oversee their care, he said.
The Florida Department of Professional Regulation does not license gerontologists, and state law doesn’t define the term. So anyone, legally, can call himself or herself a gerontologist in Florida.
Strang is one of the biggest financial beneficiaries of a controversial system in which court-appointed experts in Broward are paid more to help find people incompetent, than competent.
In Broward Probate Court, he enjoys a lucrative, special status among the psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers and lay people selected to examine people facing incompetency proceedings — and possible guardianship.
Of 28 examiners, only Strang is appointed to almost every three-member examining committee convened, according to court records and personnel.
The other examiners — most of whom have state licenses and more traditional academic degrees — work less frequently. They wait for their names to come to the top of a rotating list of approved court experts.
Chief Probate Judge W. Clayton Johnson sanctioned the special arrangement for Strang, court workers said.
Yolanda Hankerson, the supervising mental health clerk in Broward, said that she received a telephone call more than three years ago from Barbara A. Goglio, chief probate counsel, instructing her to assign Strang to every incapacity case concerning anyone older than 60.
Goglio said recently that she does not recall making that telephone call, but confirmed that Strang is supposed to examine every elderly person undergoing a competency proceeding.
“The only thing I can remember is that it was viewed at that particular point as a tremendous cost savings,” she said.
Strang, who typically charges $450 or $500 for evaluating elderly clients in his private practice, agreed to charge much less through the probate courts.
For examining either an indigent elderly person, or one who has money and is found competent, Broward County pays Strang $95. Since January 1991, the county has paid him more than $38,000 for examining about 365 elderly people, county accounting records show.
But that represents a fraction of what Strang has earned conducting incapacity exams.
More typically, the person he examines is not indigent and is adjudged incompetent. In such cases, a judge appoints a guardian. Strang then bills $195 to the elderly person — not the county — and the guardian makes the payment.
In March alone, professional guardians and others filed petitions to determine the incapacity of 65 elderly or disabled people in Broward. Strang was appointed to examine 57 of those. Only 19 were listed as indigent.
Strang himself, who has billed in this manner for several years, has been publicly critical of the two-tier pay system. He said recently that it could be an incentive to find competent people incompetent and should be changed.
Although court officials have received complaints about Strang’s mail-order doctorate, they continued to appoint him based on his expertise as a geron-tologist.
“He has the degree that he says he has,” said Goglio, the probate attorney. “Whether we think it’s a legitimate place to get a degree or not a legitimate place to get a degree, there’s still a piece of paper he has from them that’s a degree.”
Goglio said that Strang is invaluable. “He’s a pleasure to have as a witness because everyone can understand what he’s talking about.”
Todd Smith, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who represents several professional guardians, agreed.
“He writes the best reports,” Smith said. “With some of these guys, if you’re lucky enough to be able to read his handwriting, you’ll notice they are very perfunctory reports in general.”
Strang earned a bachelor’s degree in 1966 from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn.
He took some graduate courses at Vanderbilt University, then attended graduate school and medical school at University of Tennessee, according to Strang and a school transcript he provided. But he left these schools without obtaining any advanced degrees, he said. He cites personal and financial reasons for leaving. He never received a master’s degree in any subject, he said.
In 1986, Pacific Western University awarded Strang a doctorate in biological sciences, school officials said. Obtaining the degree from the unaccredited mail-order school currently costs $2,495, officials said.
To earn a doctorate at Pacific Western, students must submit a resume, recommendations, work history and evaluations, a term paper, plan a research program and submit a written dissertation, Academic Dean David Burke said.
Strang’s dissertation: Experimental Chronic Cerebral Edema in the Squirrel Monkey.
In 1990, Strang notes, he took a 40-hour course in geriatric psychology at University of Miami. He also took a course at Florida International University on caring for the elderly. Sometimes he gives public lectures on the human brain.
Some of his clients admire him deeply. Roy Alley, 60, a Nashville insurance executive, hired him six years ago to oversee the care of his parents who lived in Plantation.
Alley’s voice fills with emotion when he talks about how Strang helped find quality nursing homes for his mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease, and late father, injured in a car accident. Strang also spent hours helping Alley decide whether to end life support for his father, Alley said.
“I don’t know how I would have managed without Dr. Strang,”
Alley said.
“My dad had his 80th birthday in the nursing home. I invited Dr. Strang and he came. Where do people do that anymore?”
Although the State Attorney’s Office in Broward is investigating him, Strang does not expect to be prosecuted for calling himself doctor based on a degree from Pacific Western University, he said.
“To prosecute on a misdemeanor would be very unlikely,” he said Friday. “They would have to prove intent to defraud and that I had some knowledge of the law.”
Strang said that he and his lawyers believe the Florida law may not apply to graduates of Pacific Western if the university has received government funding.
Frank Sutter, the school’s vice president, said Friday that the school is not supported by the state or federal government, and cannot receive government funding because it is not accredited.
Former Speaker of the House Tom Gustafson appointed Strang to serve on the Pepper Commission on Aging in 1989. He did not know Strang at the time. But he said he probably appointed Strang on the recommendation of a fellow legislator.
Strang recently tried to hire Gustafson as a lobbyist for the Florida Guardianship Association. Strang was president of the group at the time.
Gustafson didn’t know anything about Strang’s mail-order doctorate.
Academic degrees are just “symbols of the world,” said
Gustafson. What matters more, he said, is whether or not Strang is knowledgeable about aging.
Edition: BRWRD
Section: BRWD N
Page: 1BR
Index Terms: STRANG ELDERLY EXPERT
Copyright (c) 1994 The Miami Herald
69 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Again, here’s the bottomline:
“Although the State Attorney’s Office in Broward is investigating him, Strang does not expect to be prosecuted for calling himself doctor based on a degree from Pacific Western University, he said.
“To prosecute on a misdemeanor would be very unlikely,” he said Friday. “They would have to prove intent to defraud and that I had some knowledge of the law.”
70 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 4:57 pm
If you speak to an attorney as I have, he or she will tell you that this issue is not actionable.
Why do you seem to think it is?
71 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Whatever happened to Strang in the end? Was he prosecuted or not?
72 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Strang’s case is distinguished from the case at hand.
District Attorneys in Florida can, at their discretion, still prosecute similar cases of making false claims of academic titles.
73 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Do you have a case that is precedent setting?
If you don’t, you don’t have a case.
74 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 5:19 pm
If you’re not willing to be the one to call you don’t have a case either.
75 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Yes, Mr. Strang was prosecuted.
76 Anon // May 9, 2007 at 5:27 pm
This is just a website. If you want something to be done, you need to do something yourself. If the prosecutors say there’s no case, there’s no case. If there is a case, then make it offline.
If you’ve already spoken to people, what did they say? Clearly there is a discrepancy between information you believe you know and what Avi Frier has said. You don’t need to convince us-you need to convince them. So do it.
77 Akiva Cohen // May 9, 2007 at 7:56 pm
I also have yet to see anyone suggest how a criminal prosecution -one that would likely end with a plea and Holden agreeing to cease calling himself “Dr.” - would be particularly helpful
78 Bambi // May 9, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Hmmm…what was a certain other person’s dissertation on?
Certainly not this:
Strang’s dissertation: Experimental Chronic Cerebral Edema in the Squirrel Monkey.
79 mental health // May 9, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Hmmm…what was a certain other person’s dissertation on?
what are you talking about?
80 mental health // May 9, 2007 at 8:05 pm
sigh….
81 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 8:28 pm
It would only be helpful insofar as teachers would like to see him go now - - a pending case might help expedite the process
82 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 8:35 pm
The Dissertation was probably called: How to Reduce School Budgets By Expending Human Resources
83 Bambi // May 9, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Maybe we could make a case for dancing with the wolves?
The Dissertation was probably called: How to Reduce School Budgets By Expending Human Resources
84 sara // May 9, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Akiva: Helpful to whom?
85 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 9:47 pm
The best place to start with this - if we are unable to find a lawyer to pro-bono the case, is to contact the State Attorney’s office to explore the possibility of an investigation.
86 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Good question Sara
87 mentalhealth // May 9, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Quite!
88 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:26 pm
anonymous with the underline - -
get us a case where the state of FL prosecuted for academic fraud
89 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Monday, July 18, 2005
Grand jury to issue report of school district driver’s ed program
Herald.com 07/18/2005: “The Miami-Dade Grand Jury will issue a report this afternoon about teachers who have inappropriately receiving certification to teach driver’s education classes and possibly other subjects, The Herald has learned. Details are expected to be released by State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle at a 3 p.m. news conference, but a memo from Superintendent Rudy Crew confirmed the substance of the report. The allegations, which predate Crew’s arrival last summer, were the subject of a February 2004 investigation by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. According to that report, a teacher at Palmetto Senior High partnered with Eastern Oklahoma State College to provide non-credit professional-development classes for teachers. But because transcripts from Eastern Okalahmoa State were unclear, many teachers were apparently able to use the questionable classes to maintain their teaching certificates or become eligible to teach additional subjects. The Palmetto teacher, William McCoggle, ran the operation as business called Moving On Toward Education and Training. He could not immediately be reached for comment.”
90 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Thread 67 was prosecuted in Broward County.
91 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:39 pm
ARTICLE
Claiming Credits from Nonexistent Classes: Six Teachers Fired, 26 Quit
Nearly three dozen Florida teachers lost their jobs last month and hundreds of others are being investigated in a growing scandal over teachers who paid for continuing education credits for courses they never took.
Despite protests from students and parents who defended the teachers, saying removing them in the middle of the school year would be too disruptive, on March 15 the Miami-Dade County School Board voted 5-4 in favor of immediate termination of six teachers and acceptance of resignations from over two dozen others.
To maintain their licenses, Florida law requires public school teachers to obtain six education credits every five years. The credits also earn teachers raises and opportunities to teach other courses.
At the heart of this scandal is a scam run by former high school teacher William McCoggle, who claimed to offer educators continuing education credits through his private company, Move on Toward Education and Training. In November, McCoggle was charged with fraud, admitting that he did little more than sell transcripts; his clients received the requested credits all without tests, homework or other academic work.
McCoggle, a Miami-Dade County teacher since 1983 before retiring last summer, will serve two years in prison and pay $100,000 in restitution.
This is not the only certification scandal surrounding McCoggle’s company. Last fall, Otterbein College in Ohio revoked nearly 10,000 credits given to hundreds of teachers. It was one of five schools that prosecutors identified as receiving phony credentials from Move on Toward Education and Training.
(Source: http://www.miami.com and http://www.nbc6.net)
92 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:42 pm
“many teachers were apparently able to use the questionable classes to maintain their teaching certificates or become eligible to teach additional subjects”
So nobody was prosecuted?
93 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Diploma Mill News
Saturday, December 24, 2005
School That Gave Easy Grades to Athletes Is Closing
New York Times: “University High School, a correspondence school in Miami being investigated for giving fast, high grades to qualify high school athletes for college scholarships, is going out of business Dec. 31, its founder, Stanley J. Simmons, said yesterday. ‘It’s a disaster,’ Simmons, 75, said in a telephone interview from his Miami home.
‘I’m finishing up everything, and I’m going back into retirement.’ The National Collegiate Athletic Association yesterday named 17 people to a panel to study correspondence high schools and other nontraditional routes to college athletic eligibility and scholarships. The move is a response to questions about the legitimacy of the academic credentials of some high school athletes.
Myles Brand, the N.C.A.A. president, said that he wanted the panel to propose tighter rules by the summer. University High School offered degrees for $399 to high school athletes having grade problems, as well as to the older dropouts and the immigrants who were its main clients.
The school had no classes or instructors and operated virtually without supervision. Florida state law prohibits oversight of private schools. The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office was awaiting returns from subpoenas in its investigation of the school over possible fraud, the spokesman Ed Griffith said. It would not know if a crime was committed until it gathered more information, he added.
Elite athletes in Dade County said they received study guides with open-book tests and got quick A’s and B’s. The N.C.A.A. and college admissions offices accepted those grades.”
¶ 12/24/2005 04:09:00 PM
94 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:43 pm
maybe a place to start looking for pro bono help:
http://personal.law.miami.edu/hope/Site/resources/legal_resource.html
State of Florida
Florida Law Help
FloridaLawHelp.org is a guide to free legal information and legal services in Florida.
Florida Bar Low-fee Referral Panel - 1800.342.8011
The Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service and local bar association lawyer referral services make it easy for you to contact a lawyer to handle your particular type of legal problem. You will receive a half-hour low-cost consultation.
95 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Whatever happened to The Palmetto teacher, William McCoggle
96 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Doesn’t anyone know a lawyer who would assist?
97 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Academic Fraud on any level is taken quite seriously in the State of Florida.
According to a State Legislator, employees in the public school system would be fired immediately if any irregularities were found in resumes or in certification credentials.
Florida Statute 817.567 has been on the books since 1989. This statute is there for a reason: to protect the public from unqualified individuals who may cause potential harm because of their lack of true knowledge.
The essence of a school is academic honesty. This is the core value that schools are supposed to convey to their students.
98 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:57 pm
We need a case in which an educational professional was actually prosecuted for academic fraud
Even at MIT, the dean did not get legally prosecuted
A lawyer could research if any such cases in this state exist…. We need a precedent setting case in this state.
Ditto - - does anyone know a lawyer who could assist?
99 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 10:59 pm
“According to a State Legislator, employees in the public school system would be fired immediately if any irregularities were found in resumes or in certification credentials.”
Give us that State Legislators number
100 I just don't get it // May 9, 2007 at 11:00 pm
You people have less than 2 days to get a slate in front of the nominating committee and you’re still dreaming about sending Holden off to jail. It’s not gonna happen. Give it up and do something constructive!!!
101 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:02 pm
I have yet to hear of anyone being prosecuted for such a breach of ethics … this state is extremely lax when it comes to prosecuting fraud of any sort
We are the second highest rated state for prevalence of fraud (of all types) in the country
102 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Read the US Senate Report from 2004 on Diploma Mill Fraud and Unaccredited Schools.
These May 2004 hearings followed the General Accounting Office’s revelation that government employees were using federal monies to essentially “buy” doctorates and other advanced degrees without true, rigorous learning .
Pacific Western University (mentioned in thread 67) and California Coast University were both cited in this report as unaccredited institutions. Many government employees who advanced to high positions in the government were subsequently fired.
103 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Fired and prosecuted are 2 very different things.
104 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:15 pm
This school is not going to fire anyone. Therefore, I think w are beating a dead horse. Again, I’ve yet to hear of a single court in this country prosecuting anyone for this type of deceptive practice. We need to move on - - unless we know of an actual case, this is a dead issue
105 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:16 pm
When Elected Officials Aren’t What They Seem
Texas officials and Pennsylvania cats tout misleading credentials
David Bloys - News for Public Officials
Identity deception can take many forms. A diploma mill degree, for example, may cause employers and taxpayers to assume a candidates credentials are genuine. Unless the deception is discovered, diploma mill customers adorn their identities with unearned titles before and after their name. Last year, Dallas based Trinity Southern University awarded a Masters degree to a Pennsylvania cat.
News for Public Officials has learned that one well-known Texas County Clerk serving on the Supreme Court’s “Judicial Committee on Information Technology” Task Force claims a Ph.D. from a Wyoming school the United States General Accounting Office defines as a diploma mill.
The United States General Accounting Office: Office of Special Investigations ended a three-year investigation in 2004 that identified seven “unaccredited schools” and “diploma mills” providing “bogus degrees” over the Internet to government officials; sometimes at the taxpayer’s expense.
GAO investigators found that 28 high-ranking officials at eight federal agencies hold diploma mill degrees. In addition, data from just two unaccredited schools—Kennedy-Western University and California Coast University—revealed nearly $170,000 in tuition payments from the federal government.
Before she obtained her degree from Kennedy-Western and began calling herself Dr. Dianne Wilson, PhD, a Grand Jury indicted the Fort Bend County Clerk on charges she used taxpayer money to partially finance a Bachelor Degree from St. Edwards University and Certificates from the National Center for State Courts’ Institute for Court Management. (St. Edwards and the NCSC are accredited)
Wilson eventually beat the charges after reimbursing the taxpayers $7600.00 and campaigning for Jack Stern, the Democratic opponent of Sam Dick, the District Attorney who indicted her. Once elected, Stern dismissed the charges against Wilson. Stern didn’t last two years before he was booted out of office for playing politics with Grand Jury Testimony.
Exactly how much the Fort Bend County Clerk may have paid for her credentials from the Kennedy-Western is difficult to determine. The G.A.O. investigators found Pacific Western University, California Coast University and Kennedy-Western University each charge a flat fee for a degree. Pacific Western, for example, charges domestic students $2,295 for a Bachelor’s Degree, $2,395 for a Master’s and $2,950 for Ph.D.’s. “Dr.” Wilson may have paid much more for her degree from Kennedy-Western.
Kennedy-Western apparently accepted Wilson’s Certificates from the NCSC: Institute for Court Management as the equivalent of a Master’s Degree. The NCSC does not offer Master’s degrees .
In a letter to the Fort Bend County Herald Coaster “Dr.” Wilson wrote, “I worked hard for two years earning my doctorate degree . . .” Undercover investigators and former Kennedy-Western admissions staff don’t call a degree from Kennedy-Western much of an accomplishment . In Bogus Degrees and Unmet Expectations: The GAO testified before the Senate, “Kennedy-Western University, an unaccredited school and a diploma mill, earned short of $25 million in 2003 and currently has almost 10, 000 students enrolled.” Under the heading Public Safety the report continued, “They (diploma mills) are a danger to society as a whole when the job in question is critical to public safety, or involves significant responsibility and the person in that position holds a bogus degree and is not qualified to do the job.”
GAO investigator Lt. Claudia Gelzer was nearly halfway to a Masters Degree with Kennedy-Western after only sixteen hours of study before deciding she had seen enough. Andrew Coulombe should know the value of a Kennedy-Western Degree. He was one of the Admissions Counselors involved in telemarketing the degree programs in 2002 and 2003.
Testifying before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, Coulombe wrote, “No real school I had ever heard of operated like Kennedy-Western. At Kennedy-Western, everything was about the pursuit of cash. I can tell you that there is no value to a Kennedy-Western education. Anything you learn there can be learned by buying a book and reading it on your own.”
Lt. Commander Claudia Gelzer, U.S. Coast guard testified, “As part of the Committee=s team investigating diploma mills, I enrolled at a non-accredited school and took classes. Kennedy-Western courses are not what most of us have experienced at the University level. Instead of structured interaction between professors and fellow students in a classroom B including homework, papers and a series of exams B Kennedy-Western requires students to pass one open-book, multiple-choice test for each class. With just 16 hours of study, I had completed 40 percent of the course requirements for a master=s degree.”
“As for my first-hand experience with Kennedy-Western courses and passing the tests, I found that basic familiarity with the textbook was all I needed. I was able to find exam answers without having read a single chapter of the text. As for what I learned, the answer is very little. “
While the use of these “doctor” titles from unaccredited schools would not be allowed at a school districts or federal agencies, Wilson uses the title “PhD” in her online resume and the title “Dr.” as a non-council member to the Texas Judicial Council Committee on Public Access to Case Records and other Texas Committees and Associations.
In a letter written to the Fort Bend County Commissioners dated September 22nd 2003, Wilson urged the commissioners to accept her judgment on a software issue because she had all kinds of “credentials” which she put in list form. The list included credentials from the bachelor’s degree and certificates that were part of the Grand Jury investigation from 1990 that resulted in her indictment on two felony and five misdemeanor charges. Topping the list of credentials was the new doctorate she “earned” from Kennedy-Western.
Wilson is not the only government official to claim advanced degrees from diploma mills or to put the title “Dr.” in front of their name after buying a degree from an unaccredited school. Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert sports the title of Doctor of Philosophy as a result of a PhD he obtained from California Coast University, also named in the GAO report.
In 1999, World Net Daily reported that federal investigators say there are thousands of offenders at the federal level, and an untold number at local government levels who use phony degrees to get their jobs and to qualify for higher salaries. Diplomas from bogus colleges and universities can be found on the walls and resumes of employees in the Department of Justice, congressional staff, U.S. Customs, the Department of Defense, NASA, and even the Department of Education. The list includes virtually every government agency.
In a statement to the U.S. Senate Committee on Government affairs, Ayoko Vias, Administrative Assistant, NASULGC (National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges) wrote, “Many consumers of diploma mills are unsuspecting victims, but not all. Some consumers are fully aware that they are simply purchasing a degree (and a fake one for that matter) that they have not earned.”
“They know they got a fake degree, and they continued the fraud by holding it up as legitimate. You’d be amazed at how many actually display the thing on their office wall,” said one investigator who did not want to be identified because of on-going investigations.
In Phony Degrees a Hot Net Scam, Wired News quoted John Bear, founder of Degree.net, “Some say that although people who sign up for diploma mills may be defrauded, the real victims are unknowing employers and the public.”
“The majority of people know what they’re doing,” Bear said. “Diploma mills may also victimize the people who put their trust in physicians, psychologists, lawyers, and others with fake credentials. There are people out there with fake degrees doing terrible things. The human damage can be considerable.”
Whether the Fort Bend County Clerk knew Kennedy-Western was unaccredited or not, it is unlikely she has broken Texas laws. Using a bogus degree to get a job or promotion is illegal only in Oregon, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, North Dakota and Nevada, where it is a misdemeanor mainly punishable by fines ranging from $350 to $2,500. But, violators rarely face prosecution.
Texans might be protected from this type of identity deception if a law dating from 1975 is enforced, The thirty-year old law was supported in 2001 by the 3rd District Texas Court of Appeals in Austin.
In an article dated July 21st, 2003, Christianity Today Magazine reported, “Concerned about diploma mills, the Texas Legislature in 1975 passed a law barring unaccredited schools from using the word “bachelor, master, and doctor” in their degree titles.” . . “In 2001, a judge supported the diploma-related fine, but threw out the “seminary” fine. Yesterday, however, the 3rd District Texas Court of Appeals in Austin supported both fines, and ordered Tyndale to pay all $173,000.” It isn’t clear if this law prevents purchasers of the degrees using the academic titles.
Kennedy-Western may also be free to continue selling degrees to Texans, at least for now. “Their degrees are illegal for use in Oregon and a few other states” noted Alan Contreras, administrator of the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization; in The Chronicle On Higher Education live chat forum – Fighting Fakery. “We think most people who get bogus degrees know what they are getting and hope to get away with it. Most are not victims, they are partners in falsehood.”
When questioned by The Chronicle of Higher Education in States Struggle to Regulate Online Colleges That Lack Accreditation Kennedy-Western officials declined to reveal how many students are enrolled at the university or what percentage are from foreign countries. They say it also has offices in Jakarta, Indonesia; Moscow; and Singapore.
Kennedy-Western is based in sparsely populated Wyoming where they maintain a stark basement office in Cheyenne’s sleepy downtown area. Last month, three of Wyoming’s top education officials asked lawmakers to crack down on unaccredited colleges. Superintendent of Public Instruction Jim McBride, interim University of Wyoming President Tom Buchanan and Jim Rose, executive director of the Wyoming Community College Commission stated in a joint letter this month. They wrote to state Senator Tex Boggs, chairman of the Private School Licensing Task Force.
In an interview with the Associated Press McBride said he believes the schools exist mainly to provide foreign students with a diploma that looks as though it originates in the United States. Speaking of the 14,000 students state records show to be enrolled in Wyoming’s 10 non-accredited private schools, Superintendent McBride said, “”Of those 14,000, I bet there’s not even 200 who are Wyoming residents Most of them are not even in this country, they’re in Pakistan, and in different places outside the United States. And, I think a lot of those students think that they’re real degrees, and they’re not. And, I think a lot of the students think that they’re trained to be employed, and they’re not.”
“I’d say that because of the existence of these schools in Wyoming, we’re often a laughingstock because they’re not eligible to operate in other states,”
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is taking action against unaccredited post-graduate schools operating in Texas. March of this year Abbott obtained judgments against two brothers who operated Trinity Southern University, a “university” that issued fraudulent degrees. The case was the result of an investigation spurred by a consumer fraud lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. The Dallas-based school issued an MBA degree to a Pennsylvania deputy attorney general’s six-year-old cat.
106 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:20 pm
If you think you have a case here in the state of Florida, by all means pursue it. Pick up a telephone. Don’t give your name if you’re afraid. You clearly seem to believe something should be done, so do it.
107 Aviva // May 9, 2007 at 11:22 pm
If this man quietly walks away now, then we won’t have to worry about our school being in the news. Then we can return to what we have always been: a school with integrity. Then we can truly save Hillel.
108 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Amen
109 Golda Meir // May 9, 2007 at 11:24 pm
It may take someone handing him the walking papers.
110 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Rather than looking at the arrest and/or prosecution numbers for indiviuals holding fraudulent degrees, one needs to reflect on the CHARACTER of those individuals who seek a dishonest path to attain a “degree” merely to impress future employers.
Diploma fraud is a billion dollar industry.
111 Golda Meir // May 9, 2007 at 11:30 pm
It is clearly apparent that no one in any position of significance cares about the integrity issue - -
if you are holding your breath waiting for anyone with power to start caring about academic integrity, you will expire before this night’s end!!
112 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Thread 98:
If you would like to know the penalties for Academic Fraud in the public school system:
Contact your House or State Legislator or any member of the Miami-Dade or Broward School Boards.
113 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:32 pm
you know more
Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and do it yourself?
114 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Agreed: If your are truly concerned about restoring ethics in education at Hillel:
You have two days to move in this direction…
115 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:35 pm
They’ve had months, if not over a year, why in the world would they move in this direction now?
You don’t scare them. Talk is cheap. Don’t make idle threats. Take it offline and put your money where your mouth is already
116 anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Bring your petitions to tomorrow’s night Gala.
117 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:35 pm
They know you are all talk and no action
118 Anonymous // May 9, 2007 at 11:36 pm
done.
don’t bring that up again