Thursday, June 07, 2007

Brothers says Kentucky board will resolve issues and alleviate apprehension in Erwin hiring, but June agenda shows no plan to discuss the matter

The last time the Kentucky Board of Education met they discussed the first of six alleged errors on Barbara Erwin's resume. Erwin presented plaques and rings to support her claim that she was named 1998 Superintendent of the Year by the Texas Association of School Administrators. Subsequently, Dr. Johnny Veselda, Executive Director of TASA told reporter Ronnie Ellis, "I believe it is reasonable for her to say she was twice named Superintendent of the Year." He made this comment despite the fact that his organization presents no such award.

Erwin claimed the error was a "typo."

But let's give her the benefit of the doubt. After all, if the organization gave her hardware that says superintendent of the year, even if that wasn't the actual award, Erwin is not the one to blame for the confusion.

But what does the Kentucky Board have to say about errors #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6?

#2 Contrary to assertions made in her application, Erwin was not a presenter at the 2006 Triple I Conference. Erwin justified listing it on her resume because she had to "sign off" for the real presenters to go to the conference. No kidding. That was her explanation. Really.

#3 Error #3 shows us what a real typo looks like. She lists her membership in Kappa Delta Phi, when it should have read, Kappa Delta Pi. Sloppy.

#4 Erwin claimed to be an AASA Executive Board Member for ten years, when she only served on the "Executive Committee" for three years. Ten sounds better than three. Board sounds more important than Committee.

#5 Erwin says she served from 2000 to 2007 on the board of directors for the Scottsdale, Ariz., Chamber of Commerce. She served three years.

#6 Erwin's resume reads, "Teacher, Lafayette School Corporation, Lafayette, IN, Enrollment 8,000, 1971-73." In fact, she taught until May 1974. More slop. But what's intriguing about this one is how she was able to teach anywhere in the winter/spring of 1972. She didn't receive her degree from Indiana University until May 1972. Indiana certification officials are mystified and Erwin won't say how she pulled it off. Indiana licensing rules in 1971 and since, have required that the minimum degree requirement for a teaching license is the Bachelor's degree and Erwin didn't have one when she was first certified.
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Kentucky board of education members made it clear to the Kane County Chronicle that despite questions about Erwin's background and the ongoing issues in St. Charles, there is no plan to reconsider the May 9 decision to hire her.

But yesterday, Kentucky Board of Education member Joe Brothers told the Kane County Chronicle, “Obviously there’s been issues raised, but [Dr. Erwin will] exercise due diligence as well as the board to resolve and alleviate any apprehension.”

But the Kentucky Board of Education has a meeting coming up June 13th & 14th in Frankfort.

Discussion of the Erwin matter is NOT on the agenda.
  • Is the board concerned about these questions?
  • Is the board planning to ask Dr. Erwin to explain errors 2 through 6? If so, when?
  • How should one properly characterize the board's decision to ignore these issues at their June meeting?
  • How is the board going to exercise their responsibilities for due diligence if they don't even plan to discuss the matter?
KDE communications director Lisa Gross told Kentucky School News and Commentary this morning, "The board discussed all relevant issues during its executive session with Barbara Erwin at the meeting in Bowling Green in May. There are no plans to add formal discussion of any further issues to this meeting's agenda. However, the board members can raise any issues (related to Dr. Erwin or not) at any time during the meeting."

If that's the case, do any members plan to bring the matter to the floor?
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In a related story, the Herald-Leader reports:

Three high-profile employees with the Kentucky Department of Education announced that they will retire several weeks before new education commissioner
Barbara Erwin takes the department's top post.

Erwin, who was hired in May despite controversy over errors on her resume and outcry from critics in other districts she's led, will now need to replace three commissioners -- Linda France, Pam Rogers and Starr Lewis -- when she arrives in July.

KDE spokeswoman Lisa Gross said the retirements are not related to the hiring of Erwin...


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Meanwhile, the Chicagoland papers continue to express frustration with Erwin's modus operandi and some can't wait for Erwin to pack her bags and go.

The St. Charles Board of Education will meet in closed session today at 4 p.m. and again tomorrow at 4 p.m. with potential action on alleged willful violations of the Open Meetings Act to follow.
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Yesterday the St Charles Sun wrote:
Board President Kathy Hewell was quoted in the Louisville Courier-Journal as claiming Erwin was a victim of an "abuse of power by the board president." ...The only victims I see are the residents of District 303. We have Erwin retiring and coming back faster than Roger Clemens. And when that "retirement" turned into a job in Kentucky, we learned those spiffy "superintendent of the year" awards so proudly placed in her resume are fictional! Erwin chalks this up to an inaccurate typist, but four errant words is one heck of a typo! And in a final flip of the bird, after insisting her departure was Aug. 4, she changed it to July 13. Add mass staff defections to rock bottom morale to a growing divide between North and East and all I can say is, if you have kids, avoid the bluegrass state.

I do believe those who run for school board undertake that endeavor with the best of intentions. It's the failure to admit those ulterior motives to oneself that causes problems. It's when making that mark becomes more important than teamwork. It's when serving on a school board becomes all about you and not about your students.

...The St. Charles School Board needs a leader who understands that vain self-interest weakens the very institution entrusted to them by the voters.

That's true in Illinois.

It's equally true in Kentucky.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a D303 resident, with my second (and last) child just graduated from St. Charles North. I won't claim to be an expert on Ms. Erwin's tenure here, but I will say that I've seen nothing that has impressed me about her service and have no reason to regret her departure.

Anonymous said...

I am also a D303 resident. I have been taken aback by the low level of morality in character that Ms. Erwin has shown during her tenure in our district. She created positions for people she brought here from Arizon and paid them large salaries, with the taxpayer's money. Teacher moral has dropped lower than I have seen it while my daughter (a senior in high school) has attended this district. Many of our best and most experienced teachers have left and gone to other districts out of discouragement during her short tenure here. She has lied about her reasons for leaving, her date for leaving, her employment with other entities while the D303 taxpayers were paying her to be our superintendent, her awards, and her accomplishments. I look forward to her leaving our district, so we may start to fix the destruction she has created. My sympathies to Kentucky...