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High School journalists investigate their new principal. Days later she resigns.

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D

Dalek

Member
These high school journalists investigated a new principal's credentials. Days later, she resigned.

imrs.php
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Connor Balthazor, 17, was in the middle of study hall when he was called into a meeting with his high school newspaper adviser.

A group of reporters and editors from the student newspaper, the Booster Redux at Pittsburg High School in southeastern Kansas, had gathered to talk about Amy Robertson, who was hired as the high school's head principal on March 6.

The student journalists had begun researching Robertson, and quickly found some discrepancies in her education credentials. For one, when they researched Corllins University, the private university where Robertson said she got her master's and doctorate degrees years ago, the website didn't work. They found no evidence that it was an accredited university.

”There were some things that just didn't quite add up," Balthazor told The Washington Post.

The students began digging into a weeks-long investigation that would result in an article published Friday questioning the legitimacy of the principal's degrees and of her work as an education consultant.

On Tuesday night, Robertson resigned.

”In light of the issues that arose, Dr. Robertson felt it was in the best interest of the district to resign her position," Pittsburg Community Schools announced in a statement. ”The Board has agreed to accept her resignation."
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The resignation thrust the student newspaper staff into local, state and national news, with professional journalists nationwide applauding the students for asking tough questions and prompting change in their administration.

”Everybody kept telling them, ‘stop poking your nose where it doesn't belong,'" newspaper adviser Emily Smith told The Post. But with the encouragement of the superintendent, the students persisted.

”They were at a loss that something that was so easy for them to see was waiting to be noticed by adults," Smith said.

In the Booster Redux article, a team of six students — five juniors and one senior — revealed that Corllins had been portrayed in a number of articles as a diploma mill, a place where people can buy a degree, diploma or certificates. Corllins is not accredited by the U.S. Department of Education, the students reported. The Better Business Bureau's website says Corllins's physical address is unknown and the school isn't a BBB-accredited institution.
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During the course of their reporting, the students spent weeks reaching out to educational institutions and accreditation agencies to corroborate Robertson's background, some even working through spring break. Their adviser, Smith, had to recuse herself from the story because she was on the committee that hired Robertson. So the students sought the help of Eric Thomas, executive director of the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, and other local and national journalists and experts.

Under Kansas law, high school journalists are protected from administrative censorship. ”The kids are treated as professionals," Smith said. But with that freedom came a major responsibility to get the story right, Smith said. It also meant overcoming a natural hesitancy many students have to question authority.

”At the very beginning it was a little bit exciting," Balthazor said. ”It was like in the movies, a big city journalist chasing down a lead."

But as the students began delving deeper into the story, keeping notes on a whiteboard, ”it really started hitting me that this is a much bigger deal," Balthazor said.
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While the high school junior was leaving track practice Tuesday night, he learned in a group message with his newspaper staff that Todd Wallack, a reporter for the Boston Globe's Spotlight Team, had tweeted the students' story, saying: ”Great investigative work by high school journalists." Balthazor sat in his car in the parking lot and immediately called his mom to tell her the news.

”I honestly thought they were joking at first," Balthazor said. The Booster Redux staff had watched the movie ”Spotlight" in class last year, Balthazor said. ”It was awesome to know that such respected members of the journalism community had our backs."

After graduation, Balthazor said, he hopes to pursue a degree in creative writing or filmmaking. Even though he doesn't necessarily plan to stick with journalism, Balthazor said the past few weeks had been ”surreal."

”Most high schoolers would never get even close to an opportunity to get to experience something like this," he said.
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M

McDougles

Member
These kids are never going to learn how to earn their clickbux if they keep this journalistic integrity bullshit going.
 
S

SwiftDeath

Member
Today they learned no one ever checks references so long as they like you

Also LMAO at that statement

In light of the issues that arose, Dr. Robertson felt it was in the best interest of the district to resign her position," Pittsburg Community Schools announced in a statement. ”The Board has agreed to accept her resignation."
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She ain't a doctor

-

Also at least the superintendent seems cool

”Everybody kept telling them, ‘stop poking your nose where it doesn't belong,'" newspaper adviser Emily Smith told The Post. But with the encouragement of the superintendent, the students persisted.
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Goro Majima

Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
The superintendent encouraged them?

Did they know something was weird but somehow couldn't do something? I really don't understand!
 
B

Bacon

Member
Fucking insane that a school principal's credentials weren't vetted. How do you not do an education check for a position of that importance?
 
S

Sephzilla

Member
It's kind of scary that high school journalists did more research into a principals credentials than an actual school board.
 
Amory

Amory

Member
Jesus.

Our school paper had articles like "Is Abercrombie Really the Best Clothing Brand?" and they'd conclude that indeed it was
 
A

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
Amory said:
Jesus.

Our school paper had articles like "Is Abercrombie Really the Best Clothing Brand?" and they'd conclude that indeed it was
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I once read an article from my school's paper where the writer wrote about discovering lucid dreaming. The article went on about how the writer started dreaming himself sleeping with all the people he didn't like / the daughters of authority figures who slighted him.

Yeah...
 
D

Dr.Acula

Banned
bman94 said:
How the hell did the principal get this with fake credentials?
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She probably spent 10 grand on a six-week course at Corllins University 20 years ago, got told she's now got degrees, and has been operating under the assumption through either ignorance or malicious intent that that was okay since people kept giving her jobs.

You'd be surprised how many people go through these fly-by-night colleges and think that the degrees they're given are legitimate.

Then there are people that do buy degrees outright, and spend money for the plausible cover that these diploma mills provide. Of course it all collapses when these universities implode.
 
M

mmazurkiewicz

Member
Bet the super and possibly board get tossed over this as well.
She possibly could have had something on one of them to get the job.
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
And she would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids.
 
S

SwiftDeath

Member
mmazurkiewicz said:
Bet the super and possibly board get tossed over this as well.
She possibly could have had something on one of them to get the job.
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Super is probably okay

“Everybody kept telling them, ‘stop poking your nose where it doesn’t belong,'” newspaper adviser Emily Smith told The Post. But with the encouragement of the superintendent, the students persisted.
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N

NealMcCauley

Member
Good on them.

The best article I ever wrote for my paper was about Guitar Hero and I photoshopped a friend into a groovy hippie.

Dr.Acula said:
She probably spent 10 grand on a six-week course at Corllins University 20 years ago, got told she's now got degrees, and has been operating under the assumption through either ignorance or malicious intent that that was okay since people kept giving her jobs.

You'd be surprised how many people go through these fly-by-night colleges and think that the degrees they're given are legitimate.

Then there are people that do buy degrees outright, and spend money for the plausible cover that these diploma mills provide. Of course it all collapses when these universities implode.
Click to expand...

No, she looks like a faker.

Robertson had been living in Dubai for more than 20 years before she was hired for the position. She said she most recently worked as the chief executive of an education consulting firm known as Atticus I S Consultants there.
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This appears to be the closest thing that matches her story: http://atticuseducation.ae/
 
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