Bonus flap questions integrity, honesty of many
By KENNETH BERNSTEIN
The consistent reporting that Schools Superintendent Iris T. Metts gave bonuses to three aides is wrong and distorts the situation badly. Dr. Metts received permission, when hired, to bring four aides with her. All four received bonuses, the fourth being Alberta Paul, who was forced to resign when it was discovered that she did not have the doctoral degree claimed on her resume.
The board allowed Paul to leave without filing a lawsuit against her, nor are they including her in the current lawsuit. That makes clear that the actions of the board are not about money, or else they would be seeking to recover the $10,000 paid her.
But the inclusion of Paul in the bonuses also makes clear that the bonuses were not awarded for performance. Even before her discharge, Paul demonstrated that she was totally unqualified for the position in which Dr. Metts had placed her, which included responsibility for the district's administrative computing.
I remind readers that when the computer at Crossland was shut down for more than a month and its work moved onto the already overburdened computer at Eleanor Roosevelt, Paul claimed that there was no Y2K problem, but that it was merely a problem of ``data compression." As a certified data processor who had more than 20 years of data processing experience before becoming a teacher, I assure readers that this statement is idiotic: the solution for data compression problems is to back up the data, erase the disk and restore the data, a process that takes less than one day.
Readers should also know that the response of the administration was to prohibit personnel who knew the reality from talking to the press. This was, as far as I can tell, the first attempt to intimidate school system employees who might otherwise embarrass the Metts administration.
Metts has since claimed that the bonuses were paid to make up for the low pay her aides were receiving. She had made no attempt to adjust the pay at the time she hired them, there is no written record of the board being informed (on a matter totalling $45,000), and the aides knew what the pay was at the time they accepted their jobs. In the case of Alberta Paul, Metts had known her for more than a decade, and Paul also served as one of Metts' references when she applied to Prince George's Schools. This should raise questions as to the real purpose for the bonuses.
This issue is symptomatic of many of the problems that exist. Metts is less than honest in her reasons for her actions. She changes her explanations on the fly. She fails to explain how it is that she didn't know that her long-term acquaintance did not have a doctorate.
I also remind readers that Alberta Paul was the second person whom Metts wanted to place in a position of authority who claimed a doctorate that was not earned. Richmond Myrick was proposed for principal of Flowers High School. He was found to be claiming a degree he did not have. Myrick was given no punishment, and continues as principal at Greenbelt Middle. Metts' failure to discipline Myrick was exceedingly disturbing to those educators who try to insist on academic integrity for their students, sending as it did a message that people whom the superintendent favors are not subject to the same rules as the rest of us.
The issue of the bonuses is but one of many issues that have arisen during Metts' tenure. Her actions raise to many in the system a real question of her competence for the job. But then, the school board which selected her in a 5-4 vote has also failed to demonstrate much educational leadership. And I remind readers that the same Kenneth Johnson who now chairs the board was the head of the search committee that presented Metts to the board. In that role Johnson publicly stated he would not accept any candidate who was not black. As a result, only blacks were presented as candidates by the search firm, even though there were clearly qualified candidates of other colors, including then Assistant Superintendent Louise Waynant.
The voters of Prince George's County have some serious thinking to do if they want to fix these problems. They need to elect members of the school board who are more committed to the needs of the students than they are to their own personal and political agendas.
They also need to lift the restrictions of TRIM, because even with a good board and superintendent the schools do not have sufficient money. There is no reason for the state to bail out a jurisdiction unwilling to take the actions within its own power.
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Kenneth Bernstein is a teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School.