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

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S

Sulik2

Member
Hopefully all these kids now have the jaded distrust of authority that is so desperately needed now in investigative journalism in this country. To not just go along with the propaganda and actually get to the truth. I hope they all go into journalism.
 
S

SwiftDeath

Member
Trojita said:
This news article gives more of a response by the super intendent

Not sure if they are looking great coming out of this. Sounds like they wanted to have their cake and eat it too.
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Yeah Super doesn't look so great with that

Those questions about her qualifications – both in an anonymous letter circulated by the ”Pittsburg Citizen X" and by the PHS School newspaper, ”The Booster Redux," — Brown [Superintendent] as recently as last week had said were groundless
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Which is kind of hilarious because then they must've been certain the person was okay without doing their due diligence so that's even more egg on your face
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
I like the principal's response to the Post, "all of my degrees have been authenticated the the US govt."

Document authentication for use overseas does not confirm the validity of the contents of the document, just likely in this case verifies that authenticity of the source of the document or the signator.
 
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blakep267

Member
But why were they looking into her past? 'm conflicted about this. Good that the fraud teacher is gone. But I don't know how I feel about students digging up the past of teachers. In this case there probably wasn't any ill intent, but if student newspapers aren't censored a rogue student could do a bunch of stuff.
 
G

George Oscar Bluth II

Banned
In my London secondary school, there was something dodgy about the headteacher but we didn't have a school paper or anything. Also, there wasn't much I could prove.
 
T

TheSpoiler

Member
blakep267 said:
I'm conflicted about this. Good that the fraud teacher is gone. But I don't know how I feel about students digging up the past of teachers. In this case there probably wasn't any ill intent, but if student newspapers aren't censored a rogue student could do a bunch of stuff.
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Yeah those rogue students going around digging up false credentials and exposing frauds! How horrible of them for doing their jobs as future journalists!

Let's stifle that.
 
S

ShyMel

Member
blakep267 said:
But why were they looking into her past? 'm conflicted about this. Good that the fraud teacher is gone. But I don't know how I feel about students digging up the past of teachers. In this case there probably wasn't any ill intent, but if student newspapers aren't censored a rogue student could do a bunch of stuff.
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From the bit in the article, it sounds like they were just going to write up a story about the new principal for the paper, like a "Get to know the New Principal" article, but ending up finding much more.
 
Exotoro

Exotoro

Member
blakep267 said:
But why were they looking into her past? 'm conflicted about this. Good that the fraud teacher is gone. But I don't know how I feel about students digging up the past of teachers. In this case there probably wasn't any ill intent, but if student newspapers aren't censored a rogue student could do a bunch of stuff.
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From most of the schools I've been to, this kind of information is public knowledge; it's usually on a faculty staff page. All they really needed to know was the school she graduated from; turns out that school was a lie.
 
W

WrenchNinja

Member
blakep267 said:
But why were they looking into her past? 'm conflicted about this. Good that the fraud teacher is gone. But I don't know how I feel about students digging up the past of teachers. In this case there probably wasn't any ill intent, but if student newspapers aren't censored a rogue student could do a bunch of stuff.
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Why do they need a reason?
 
R

ReAxion

Member
Under Kansas law, high school journalists are protected from administrative censorship.
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Gotta wonder how long that's gonna stay in place....

Now, check out the people who hired her, who clearly didn't do their job.
 
B

bonesmccoy

Banned
One of my older brother's friends lied about his credentials and managed to make it to an somewhat well-compensated managerial position at a major Canadian bank before someone found out. Had a printed out fake degree and everything lol. He'd attended the school but had flunked out after his first year.

I don't see why people are concerned; this isn't even excessive internet detective-ing. A group of students used Google to look up a school.
 
old

old

Member
So I went to the university's homepage. This is great. Nowhere do they say where they are located. If you click on their links at the bottom for library or campus visit, it just redirects you to a "contact us" page. The "contact us" page only allows contact through email, no phone number or physical mailing address.
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
tumblr_ny4yxdmsH11rlo1q2o1_500.gif
 
N

NealMcCauley

Member
Superintendent was also under the impression she received a teaching degree from the University of Cambridge according to the KC Star.

Maybe the adults were overwhelmed by her credentials. I bet the students were like, "Why the hell would a person like this move to small town Kansas?"
 
X

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
blakep267 said:
But why were they looking into her past? 'm conflicted about this. Good that the fraud teacher is gone. But I don't know how I feel about students digging up the past of teachers. In this case there probably wasn't any ill intent, but if student newspapers aren't censored a rogue student could do a bunch of stuff.
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"Rogue" student causing damage? Come on now. If there is evidence to back it up, why censor it?
 
A

Arkeband

Banned
levious said:
I like the principal's response to the Post, "all of my degrees have been authenticated the the US govt."

Document authentication for use overseas does not confirm the validity of the contents of the document, just likely in this case verifies that authenticity of the source of the document or the signator.
Click to expand...

"How dare you say my degree is fake - it's laminated!!!"

blakep267 said:
But why were they looking into her past? 'm conflicted about this. Good that the fraud teacher is gone. But I don't know how I feel about students digging up the past of teachers. In this case there probably wasn't any ill intent, but if student newspapers aren't censored a rogue student could do a bunch of stuff.
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You're getting dogpiled but it wasn't like they were looking for revenge porn or her social media history, they were reporting on her background, which is usually a point of pride for educators, considering they are themselves preparing new students to take on ~40-80k worth of debt to pursue the path they took.
 
B

blakep267

Member
xxracerxx said:
"Rogue" student causing damage? Come on now. If there is evidence to back it up, why censor it?
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I brought up rogue because at my old high school, recently the school newspaper editor went off the rails and full alt right and posted a bunch of racist stuff on the school newspaper website. He did this on a Friday and called out from school on Monday and he was the only person who could edit the site/had passwords. The paper also had semi autonomy.

In this case the students were right, but that doesn't mean digging up some bodies past is all good all the time. As I said in my post. I'm conflicted about it
 
A

Agent Icebeezy

Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
blakep267 said:
But why were they looking into her past? 'm conflicted about this. Good that the fraud teacher is gone. But I don't know how I feel about students digging up the past of teachers. In this case there probably wasn't any ill intent, but if student newspapers aren't censored a rogue student could do a bunch of stuff.
Click to expand...

As far as I'm concerned, if I'm working for you or you present yourself in a certain manner, into LinkedIn and Google we go. Some basic diligence can easily out the frauds.
 
V

Vice

Member
blakep267 said:
But why were they looking into her past? 'm conflicted about this. Good that the fraud teacher is gone. But I don't know how I feel about students digging up the past of teachers. In this case there probably wasn't any ill intent, but if student newspapers aren't censored a rogue student could do a bunch of stuff.
Click to expand...

They were looking into her past because she would have a position that would impact their and their peers lives. She gave odd answers and her credentials and answers to questions looked suspicious. In small towns it isn't uncommon for someone to get a position they aren't qualified for and then burn whoever hired them due to incompetence.
most educators I have met enjoy their time in school and take pride in their background and can give clear information on their path through school whether it was two years ago or 20.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
ReAxion said:
Gotta wonder how long that's gonna stay in place....

Now, check out the people who hired her, who clearly didn't do their job.
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This was my first thought when I read it. Hopefully nothing changes, but now that' it's nationalized, the Kansas GOP might do their thing.

The hiring board and superintendent come out of this looking pretty poor, but the latter did back them up on the investigation, so good for him. Kudos to the students, doing work the hiring board didn't bother to do.
 
X

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
blakep267 said:
I brought up rogue because at my old high school, recently the school newspaper editor went off the rails and full alt right and posted a bunch of racist stuff on the school newspaper website. He did this on a Friday and called out from school on Monday and he was the only person who could edit the site/had passwords. The paper also had semi autonomy.

In this case the students were right, but that doesn't mean digging up some bodies past is all good all the time. As I said in my post. I'm conflicted about it
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Your school just has shitty checks and balances then, how in the hell is it possible only one person can edit the site?

You keep talking about "digging up the past" but if you put it out there you graduated such and such, you better believe people may check up on that.
 
T

TheSpoiler

Member
blakep267 said:
I brought up rogue because at my old high school, recently the school newspaper editor went off the rails and full alt right and posted a bunch of racist stuff on the school newspaper website. He did this on a Friday and called out from school on Monday and he was the only person who could edit the site/had passwords. The paper also had semi autonomy.

In this case the students were right, but that doesn't mean digging up some bodies past is all good all the time. As I said in my post. I'm conflicted about it
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I don't think the two situations are comparable at all, if I'm understanding you correctly. In one case, a dude wrote some racist shit. In another, kids found out their principal was a fraud. On the latter, that was real information.

So I don't know what you are getting at. Don't give kids the ability to publish anything because one of them has the potential to do a bad thing? What?

Lebron said:
You'd be amazed how people don't actually background check things like this when you apply.
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Meanwhile I get grilled and threatened if one of my old jobs doesn't call back to confirm my status of work there.
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
blakep267 said:
I brought up rogue because at my old high school, recently the school newspaper editor went off the rails and full alt right and posted a bunch of racist stuff on the school newspaper website. He did this on a Friday and called out from school on Monday and he was the only person who could edit the site/had passwords. The paper also had semi autonomy.

In this case the students were right, but that doesn't mean digging up some bodies past is all good all the time. As I said in my post. I'm conflicted about it
Click to expand...

This is a terrible comparison.
 
J

joe2187

Banned
blakep267 said:
But why were they looking into her past? 'm conflicted about this. Good that the fraud teacher is gone. But I don't know how I feel about students digging up the past of teachers. In this case there probably wasn't any ill intent, but if student newspapers aren't censored a rogue student could do a bunch of stuff.
Click to expand...

The school paper at my college would regularly print a detailed "Fact sheet" about the new Faculty/Staff member to make them feel welcome. This would include all their education history, previous jobs, kids family, places they lived/visited.

They saw a red flag and did some very minor digging and there you go. The information was freely given, but when they went to look up the history of her degree to highlight her education background they came up with errors.
 
A

Apathy

Member
Better work than people who currently work as "journalist" good for them.

The spirit of investigation and that of woodward and bernstein live on in aspiring journalist like these kids.
 
F

Fisty

Member
Hmm i guess Johnny Pedo knows which school district to apply as janitor in now

Talk about unprofessional, this lady went through probably a dozen interviews and these kids found out her shit was whack after 5 minutes on google
 
K

kirby_fox

Banned
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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Jesus indeed. I remember we had fashion articles, but it was more suggesting what to wear for the weather not the brand. Ran articles on the failure of a school levy they had multiple times that I wrote.

These kids I want to hug. It saddens me that my alma mater no longer has a newspaper.
 
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