News that a jury ordered Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to pay more than $1.1 million to a teacher whose career was ended by a rushed resignation had people asking who foots the bill. Taxpayers? An insurance company?
The verdict came in too late Friday to get an answer from CMS, but I'll work on that Monday. The budget includes about $2 million for the CMS legal department, but I'm not sure whether that includes money set aside for settlements.
Some online commenters suggested that the verdict would wipe out teacher raises. I don't think that's likely. However it's handled, CMS' financial folks know legal expenses are part of the cost of running a school district. The award won't bust the $1 billion-plus budget. Raises are much more likely to be torpedoed by the reluctance of county officials to raise taxes or slash services to come up with the $30 million interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh is seeking for a 3 percent across-the-board bump.
The federal courthouse, where I spent most of last week covering the teacher's suit, is a digital desert (even cell phones aren't allowed in), so I fell behind on blogging. Here are some catch-up items.
* The target for hiring a superintendent has been pushed back from mid-March to early May. Chair Ericka Ellis-Stewart says that allowed for three new members to take part in crafting a profile. The search firm will stop taking applications March 8; after that there will be background checks, screening, narrowing the list and eventually a chance for the public to meet finalists.
*Chris Cobitz, the CMS administrator who recently resigned after erroneous graduation-track data was included in the district's school progress reports, is now a senior associate with edCount, a Washington, D.C., firm that works with states and the U.S. Department of Education on assessment and accountability.
*Finally, I have learned that disabling the annoying "Prove you're not a robot" CAPTCHA log-in does indeed allow computers to create comments about hot Latin girls, real naked celebrities and "galerie erotyczne prezeznaczone." But since they're almost all landing in the spam filter, that's no skin off my (human) nose. I'm happy to let the robots slug it out. Come to think of it, I suspect those strangely garbled words that cause so many of us to flunk the humanity test are actually created by computers. Sounds like the start of a science fiction movie ...
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Who pays CMS' $1 million legal loss?
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17 comments:
I have to assume for Dr. Cobitz to get a job so quickly that he received a good reference from CMS. He certainly made very positive comments about them in the press after he was escorted from the CMS premises. His comments at the time struck me as odd but now, not so much.
No, the reason for Dr. Corbitz to get the job so quickly is due to this small inner circle of educrats and consultants. They look after each other. If they get pushed out one spot, someone else finds them a taxpayer funded trough to pull up to. Dr. Crorbitz did have good credentials from the DPI before he came to CMS. The problem is, he was just in over his head and failed to realize the political reality of Charlotte and CMS.
CMS (and the rest of those thinking they are do-gooders around here) is so good at jumping at optimistic conclusions with erroneous data. And then no one can correct them without fear of character assasination.
Mr. Leardini taught my son when he was in 5th grade. I attended Jeff's trail 6 years ago in support of him. Jeff's supporters were not allowed in the courtroom but we were able to sit outside on the floor. I'm glad some of this nightmare has finally come to a conclusion. And this too shall pass...
Mr. L,
My son started college this year and is doing well. Last week he was contemplating going to medical school after deciding Business Administration wasn't that exciting with a degree in Political Science still on the table. I haven't heard yet if he's considering auditioning for the Musical Theater department for a career as head choreographer for Carnival Cruise Lines. Dream, Explore, Discover. Teaching. What makes all careers possible.
Thank you.
I see the Roadrunner went "BEEP! BEEP!"
Ann, is there ANYTHING you can do to get your employer to take down the mug shot of Jeff and replace it with something else? Come on. I know it's your job to report the news but enough is enough. People deserve some redemption. The CMS Witch Trial is over. Jeff has had two juries side with him. Please.
Cobitz had a job before he left. Timing was just a benefit for the CMS spin crowd who knew CMS testing washed out. Make Chris look like a sacrifice, when in reality his program wash doomed within a few short days. The million dollar law suit will make CMS human resource thugs think twice about their CMS is king attitude. They treat people like crap.
Unless CMS has changed their MO since the last federal trial, this will be paid out of their budget.
I taught children and teens at one of Charlotte's YMCA branches. I was horrified when I came to work one day to find recording cameras installed in every room children participate in complete with huge TV monitors on the walls outside of these rooms recording every move. Big Brother had finally arrived. However, after I thought about it, I decided the cameras and monitors were as much for my protection as the protection of kids. Sad that this is the world we live in but such is reality. Horrible things happen to kids but on the flip side we've empowered kids to do horrible things to adults.
Why isn't Wiley Coyote banned from posting on the abysmal CO? I've had two logins banned for much less than what that guy says. While some of his stuff is good, I see quite a few of his posts removed by the author. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
With the exception of the FRL obsession, WC is usually pretty clear and offers good insights.
Ann,
Thanks for your dedication to trying to get stories out despite the McClatchey "furloughs" and the reduced staffing. Two things to wonder; just who are the CMS firing staff and their chain of command and whether the dreaded do not hire was mistakenly left off Mr. Cobitz's inquisition papers? Thanks again from old timers in the system.
Anon 9:38....
Sometimes things are not as they appear... as with the deleted post.
On the mug shot, we went out right after the trial and shot a better photo, which I urged them to post online. The problem is, they did it like a slide show, so you had two photos to click, and the oldest one got the main display. I'm not sure if they left it that way to create sort of a "before and after" image, or if that was just the default because we had already attached one photo.
Now there's a thought. How about the Observer post "before and after" photos of all CMS principals and teachers? Perhaps we can start with Dr. Bowe?
Lame excuse, Ann.
BTW, the church was crowded but I didn't see one school board member or high-up CMS official at Dr. Bowe's memorial service in Charlotte. Not one.
Actually any money budgeted by the school district for the legal department is most likely for internal investigations and any termination hearings/grievances. It is typically the district's insurance carrier that pays the legal expenses and settlements because they aren't internal matters. Districts have two sets of law teams, one group is actually employed by the district and is for their internal affairs, while the other is an outside law firm for federal/state lawsuits and their fees are paid by insurance carriers.
You very, very rarely see teacher lawsuits, and usually when they happen, the districts will fight teachers to the death unless the screw-ups on their part are blatant. When it is parent lawsuits, the insurance carriers will settle because they don't want to pay attorney fees.
Federal lawsuits are paid by insurance carriers, not by the districts.
February 27, 2012 3:17 PM
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