Jimmy Carter Middle School, ex-President wants his name off the building.

Yet another scandal at Jimmy Carter Middle School, link.

Two teachers physically assaulting students, one teacher admitting to having sex with her student, and now yet another teacher accused of making inappropriate comments and touching of students. There are allegations that this is not the first time he has been accused.

Parents are wondering what in the hell is going on at their school, and rightly so.

Last year, JCMS teachers participated in what APS calls a "school climate survey". The survey results were highly critical of the administration. APS leadership kept the results secret for months. When they finally were released, it was too late in the school year to address them. School resumed this fall with the results still largely secret from stakeholders and unaddressed formally and in the open.

The problem at Jimmy Carter Middle School is the same problem that permeates the entire APS; hiding the truth from stakeholders. Most problems can be solved when the entire community is involved in the solution. Most problems that remained unsolved in the APS, remain unsolved because the first priority of the leadership of the APS is to hide the problem from public knowledge.

A recent audit of the APS, done by the Council of the Great City Schools, revealed that "administrators routinely falsified crime statistics" to protect the reputation of their schools.

The leadership of the APS fields its own police force. They report directly to, and only to, the leadership of the APS. Whatever else they are, they are a Praetorian Guard; they exist to hide the truth about criminal misconduct by APS administrators from public knowledge. Almost three years ago, they gathered evidence of felony criminal misconduct involving senior APS administrators, link. That evidence still has not been surrendered to the District Attorney for criminal prosecution. And now it is too late, statutes of limitation on felony criminal misconduct have been allowed to expire.

Hidden for what reason except to hide the truth, and to protect APS senior administrators and board members from honest accountability for their corruption and their incompetence?

There are huge problems in the leadership of the APS. Another recent audit of their Finance Division revealed

• inadequate standards,
• inadequate accountability, and
• inadequate record keeping;

a recipe for disaster.

The leadership steadfastly refuses to commission an independent standards and accountability audit that would reveal the same standards and accountability problems district wide.

For as long as the leadership of the APS is allowed to hide standards and accountability issues, problems of all kinds will continue relatively unabated. And we will continue to be treated to a scandal a week somewhere in the APS.

We have lost control over our power and our resources in the APS. That control will never be regained for as long as the leadership of the APS is allowed to hide their own corruption and incompetence.

School Board head honcho,
Paula Maes once stated that
she "would never agree to any
audit that individually identifies"
corrupt and incompetent
administrators.

So far, she has kept her word.

And until they are identified and
removed, problems will persist.

The leadership of the APS will be coming to taxpayers in February asking us to trust them with another 600 million dollars.

Unless that request is preceded by an independent review of
administrative standards and accountability,
the request should be denied.



photo Mark Bralley