The Orleans Parish School Board Selects a New Board President
Note: Hopefully, this change will bring a new era of leadership to a struggling public school system. The following is a re-publication of an editorial from late last year.
Just When You Thought It Was Over
One last gasp of corruption for a dying Orleans Parish School Board.
Carson W. Maxwell
November 28, 2005
We are finally at a crossroads with Orleans Parish’s public school system. Finally, thanks to Hurricane Katrina, our schools will see a new lease on life, and hopefully, so will our city’s students. Opposition to the state takeover and the implementation of charter schools became an incessant battle cry to some members of the current school board. The latest discovery in finances illustrates their true incentive for antagonistic consternation.
It seems that, prior to Katrina, the board was scheduled to vote on a $25,000 a year pay raise for Interim Superintendent Ora Watson. As Ms. Watson was already receiving a whopping $160,000 yearly salary, this increase would raise her total take to an exorbitant $185,000. For some reason, a vote was never taken on this matter, but miraculously, by signature of Board President Torin Sanders, her raise was granted. During the aftermath of the hurricane, while Orleans Parish school teachers were laid off and went unpaid, Ms. Watson received her regular salary, plus a $481 per week bonus.
Who discovered this so-called error? A representative from Alvarez & Marsal, the company hired to run the school board’s despoiled financial operations. Of course, Ms. Watson did not come forward to disclose her overpayments until getting busted. Perhaps she thought that FEMA was adding the extra money to her bank account as a result of her being displaced and needy. Regardless, once confronted, she reported the whole matter to be nothing more than an oversight, though she apparently has no intention of repaying the purloined funds—finder’s keepers.
So, here we have the two most vocal opponents to both charter schools and the state takeover—Board President Torin Sanders and Interim Superintendent Ora Watson. This dynamic duo now seems to have been attempting to protect more than just a corrupt and underperforming school system. Truly, power and lifestyles appear to be their main objective in trying to maintain the status quo. If using the race card and spreading malicious rumors throughout the community is the only way to preserve their Golden Calf, so be it.
In this city, the best interests of our children have always taken the back seat to graft and greed. Will this inherency disappear with the takeover? Perhaps, but regardless, a dramatic change in leadership can certainly do no harm. This, you can take to the bank.
Just When You Thought It Was Over
One last gasp of corruption for a dying Orleans Parish School Board.
Carson W. Maxwell
November 28, 2005
We are finally at a crossroads with Orleans Parish’s public school system. Finally, thanks to Hurricane Katrina, our schools will see a new lease on life, and hopefully, so will our city’s students. Opposition to the state takeover and the implementation of charter schools became an incessant battle cry to some members of the current school board. The latest discovery in finances illustrates their true incentive for antagonistic consternation.
It seems that, prior to Katrina, the board was scheduled to vote on a $25,000 a year pay raise for Interim Superintendent Ora Watson. As Ms. Watson was already receiving a whopping $160,000 yearly salary, this increase would raise her total take to an exorbitant $185,000. For some reason, a vote was never taken on this matter, but miraculously, by signature of Board President Torin Sanders, her raise was granted. During the aftermath of the hurricane, while Orleans Parish school teachers were laid off and went unpaid, Ms. Watson received her regular salary, plus a $481 per week bonus.
Who discovered this so-called error? A representative from Alvarez & Marsal, the company hired to run the school board’s despoiled financial operations. Of course, Ms. Watson did not come forward to disclose her overpayments until getting busted. Perhaps she thought that FEMA was adding the extra money to her bank account as a result of her being displaced and needy. Regardless, once confronted, she reported the whole matter to be nothing more than an oversight, though she apparently has no intention of repaying the purloined funds—finder’s keepers.
So, here we have the two most vocal opponents to both charter schools and the state takeover—Board President Torin Sanders and Interim Superintendent Ora Watson. This dynamic duo now seems to have been attempting to protect more than just a corrupt and underperforming school system. Truly, power and lifestyles appear to be their main objective in trying to maintain the status quo. If using the race card and spreading malicious rumors throughout the community is the only way to preserve their Golden Calf, so be it.
In this city, the best interests of our children have always taken the back seat to graft and greed. Will this inherency disappear with the takeover? Perhaps, but regardless, a dramatic change in leadership can certainly do no harm. This, you can take to the bank.
posted by Carson W. Maxwell at 5:13 PM
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