This is no April fools joke. On Thursday, The Broward County School Board picked three finalists to fill Ed “Part of the Problem” Marko’s shoes. For those of you who missed the fun, it was a thrill to watch Ann Murray grill the legal eagles before her: “What was your biggest failure”, “what was your greatest success”, “don’t give me lousy football seats“, etc. No wonder Miriam Oliphant aced her interview!
The Board settled upon J. Paul Carland, Marilyn-Batista-Marko-McNamara and Sharron Pitts. More to come on Carland. But let’s take at look at Ms. Pitts from Atlanta. They must not have access to GOOGLE at K.C. Wright.
It’s seems Atlanta had a small cheating problem. In 1999, Atlanta hired a new superintendent to fix poorly performing urban schools. They picked Beverly Hall to do the job. Hall had great success. Scores improved dramatically. Hall was toasted as a savior. But there was one small problem; It may have been one big hoax.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution launched an investigation. They reported the following:
“Atlanta Public Schools officials, including Superintendent Beverly Hall, carried out a broad campaign over two years to suppress mounting allegations of widespread cheating on standardized tests, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found.
Hall, who built a national reputation on raising urban students’ test scores, worked with top aides and prominent supporters to minimize or conceal evidence that some of the district’s much-vaunted gains were not legitimate.”
Hall denied any wrongdoing. But state officials ordered an investigation. Hall stated she would cooperate and would not interfere. The Paper found Hall and her aides did nothing but interfere.
“But the records show she or her aides had a hand in virtually every facet of the inquiry: from screening potential investigators to interviewing witnesses to crafting and editing the final report of the panel leading the review, known as the Blue Ribbon Commission.”
So what, you say? Beverly Hall’s Chief of Staff was Sharron Pitts.
The Blue Ribbon Commission hired KPMG Auditors to help with the investigation. Employees were to be interviewed in a process determined by KPMG.
“To help in its investigation, BRC hired the auditing firm of KPMG to independently question school employees about the cheating and to look for any other evidence of irregularities. Critics say that KPMG’s so called “independent” review was compromised, since many of its interviews with teachers and administrators were “coached” or lead by district officials.
KPMG’s questionnaires filled out by school employees, and obtained by the AJC, also appeared to be tainted. Summaries of questionnaires and interviews were sent directly to Hall’s chief of staff, Sharon Pitts, for school officials’ review. Any irregularities were instructed to be brought to the attention of Pitts, allegedly so that she could notify KPMG.”
The scandal has lead to possibility kids from the district will not be able to attend college or university.
“This month, the district was placed on probation the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which cited infighting among board members. Atlanta Public Schools have until Sept. 30 to implement the changes the agency has spelled out or risk losing accreditation.If the school system loses accreditation, it could close the door on scholarship money for students and prevent them from attending certain colleges and universities.”
Things are so bad, even the Obama Administration is critical. Education Secretary Arne Duncan “blasted” the School Board when he visited Atlanta in January.
“I would absolutely urge the board here to get it’s act together,” said Duncan. “There are a lot of young people not getting the education they need and the goal of Atlanta public schools should be, to be, the best urban school system in the country. That should be the goal here. There’s a huge amount of progress that’s been made. But, that’s the next step and anyone not on that page or agenda should find something else to do.”
So, why did Broward School Board Members make Sharron Pitts a finalist? Are they simply clueless? Or, is it the same shell game they always play? Pick 3 candidates…make sure 2 have problems so that your real choice looks great in comparison. Pitts must answer for her role in the Atlanta scandal. Batista-McNamara is forever tied to the Marko regime. Perhaps, Carland is their guy? What do you know about the potential new “guardian” of the School Board of Broward County?
My vote is for J. Paul Carland, and that’s by process of elimination.
Seriously? Are you kidding me?
The School Board should seek out the attorney that previously turned-down the job and unmasked the Marko sweetheart deal (and probably led to the Superintendent’s sudden departure once he realized Marko was hitting the road). He was well-qualified and ethical enough not to become part of the problem. So why don’t we now make his part of the solution!!!