TOP PRIORITIES FOR PGCPS – LET YOUR VOTE COUNT ON NOV. 6 2012 ELECTION

TOP PRIORITIES FOR THE INCOMING BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS IN PGCPS.

1. Restore sanity to Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) discourse (Addressing corruption, nepotism and professional misconduct at Sasscer Administration Building).
2. Evaluate unprofessional relationship between Dr. William Hite and various unions representing employees as well as some young female Principals.
3. Review activities of previous Chief Legal Counsel Mr. Roger Thomas and previous Chief Human Resources Officer -Synthia J. Shilling (formerly Deputy Legal Counsel). These two cost the school system millions of dollars.
4. Create a strong anti-discrimination and harassment policy in PGCPS. Obey state and federal laws.
5. Access certification credentials held by senior management including Ms. Monica Goldson etc.
6. Limit the purchasing power as exercised by Dr.William Hite when purchasing school system merchandize. (Who abused this power and was without oversight).
7. Find ways to address and help reduce high suspension rate throughout the PGCPS District. Suspended students become a problem to the community.
8. Examine closely all contracts over $10,000 signed off by Dr. William Hite Jr. and Ms. Verjeana Jacobs previously  BOE Chair).
9. Consider the following points as they impact the entire school District.

• A.) Adding tighter campaign finance rules to avoid repeats of the Thatcher Campaign Donations Fiasco.
• B.) Lobbying the County Council and the County Executive (Rushern Baker) to appoint an Inspector General (IG) to address waste, fraud, and abuse issues for all county agencies at Baker’s Office (including School Board). (These steps are necessary because an I.G. has not been appointed and there are an abundance of attorneys). Yes we can!
• C.) Enforce the existing Codes of Ethics for all central office employees. Report infractions that go unpunished to MSDE.
• D.) Report all concerns to MSDE so the state department is more accountable to us in enforcing state laws and policies at the local level.
• E.) Ask tough questions about Ms. Elizabeth Davis, alleged lover to Tony Liberatore. His wife allegedly walked up on those two kissing at Sasscer. Ms. Davis does EEOC hearings/mediations. What are her qualifications and credentials for that role with such low morals? What connection did she have with Ms. Synthia Kucner?

11. Consider rules and regulations by federal, state and BOE policies.

• A.) Abide by state law for Hite’s contract. The verbage for the state law is on the BOE webpage. see the attached link.
• B.) Establish more precise criteria so we can get a better leader. Attract qualified, traditional candidates from other than Broad Group and other such organizations.
• C.) Elect a BOE that will supervise rather than fraternize with the Superintendent.
• D.) Complete THOROUGH background checks to avoid embarrassment of incidents like Deasy’s questionable doctorate.

12.  Examine closely appointments of personnel –

A.) Look into the growing number of personnel in PGCPS like Jim Whattam, Esq., and Baker’s appointees like Mr. Christian Rhodes, Education Liaison, who have extensive ties to Prince George’s County Educator Association (PGCEA). Be fair to all unions without over representing the teachers.

B.) The serious allegations of misconduct by previous Superintendent Dr. William Hite Jr. and some female employees need to be investigated. The concerns need to be put directly in writing to the BOE members and a demand for an investigation launched right away. A Copy needs to be forwarded to Mr. Rod Rosenstein’s office if the BOE does not act. The man was worse than Dr. Hornsby.

13.  Dr. William Hite Jr. should be summoned back to explain what happened when he appointed less qualified, non-credentialed personnel without following the state law. BOE should supervise the future Superintendent and force HR compliance. In the previous format, Dr. Hite always told the BOE what to do. This is unacceptable.

14. Review the following deals:

• A.) Washington Plaza, lobbyist ties and campaign donations
• B.) H-1B
• C.) The 27 administrators currently in arbitration
• D.) Lack of due process among ALL employees for hearings, terminations, etc under Mr. Roger Thomas, Synthia J. Shilling, and Mr. Jim Whattam
• E.) OIA number of lawsuits and EEOC complaints. There are so many EEOC complaints, they now have outsourced to other field offices throughout the country.
• F.) Review overlap of Legal Department for attorney duties for waste
• G.) The Thatcher contract was a no bid contract, totally against BOE policy. It needs to be cancelled.
• H.) The $90 million Dr. Hornsby left behind that has been squandered.
• I.) A proper investigation needs to be launched ASAP to follow money trail involving Dr. William Hite Jr., Roger Thomas, Mr. Matthew E. Stanski, Ms. Synthia J. Shilling also known as Ms. Synthia Kucner, and co-conspirators.

15. Contact state and federal officials (FBI, DOJ) about the broken laws, policies and procedures.

16. Go to Dept of Labor, MSDE, EEOC and any other organizations like NAACP, Casa de Maryland and La Raza about discrimination and hiring. Demand to know about credentials and licensure. The State Department is already doing an audit.

17. Report any information to Miranda Spivack or Ovetta Wiggins of the Washington Post or NBC4 Prince George’s County Bureau Chief Tracee Wilkins so they may do a story on misappropriation of funds. (After the incident with Dr. Hornsby occurred, BOE policies/procedures were implemented to prevent a reoccurrence. These procedures have yet to be followed.

18. Stop empowering Principals who harbor strong biases and use the system to destroy teaching credentials in order to remove teachers who don’t appeal to them. Test scores rise because of teachers and not because of the principals. Administrators should be receptive helpers and not feared executioners.

19. Teachers and staff in PGCPS need a raise like what happened to Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) teachers recently. PGCPS staff have not had a raise for a while now. They work very hard usually without compensation.

20. Investigate Office of Constituent Services which acts as a campaign tool for Dr. William Hite even after he left the system. This office does very little to promote the interests of the PGCPS. The said office was only created to promote William Hite’s personal agenda and the staff overpaid to sit around to help put out fires touching on Dr. William Hite. Several staff members were given huge raises with no justification by Superintendent Hite personally. In this regard, IT Help Desk and Constituent Services needs to be merged to avoid duplication of duties.

21. Investigate IT Department and the relationship between some BOE members connected to fired IT Director Mr. Pierre Dickson. Verify what damage caused by the said Director and his lover Ms. Shanita Anderson.

22. Investigate nepotism beginning with Dr. William Hite’s office for the following reasons;

• A.) The Director of communications Mr. Briant K. Coleman is a close family member to second in command.
• B.) Several Instructional Directors have spouses who are either Principals or administrators within PGCPS.
• C.) The previous Director was fired to create room for the current Communication Director, who is family member of the Deputy Superintendent.
• D.) Previous Director of Communication was unjustly terminated in pretext for raising a discrimination issue.(see attached ~> Breedon vs PGCPS Bd. of Ed Hite)
• E.) Investigate Ms. Monica Goldson, Chief Operating Officer (COO). She has several relatives in high level positions beginning at Sasscer – HR and in various schools. As the chief operating officer (COO), She controls millions of dollars and reports to the chief executive officer or the superintendent of schools. She is also responsible for the PGCPS’s day-to-day operating activities, including revenue and sales growth; expense, cost and margin control; and monthly, quarterly and annual financial goal management etc. What did she do to Dr. Hite to get the job without qualifications?

Investigate, investigate and change things immediately.

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“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – President Barack Obama