Saturday, December 31, 2005

UC SECRECY ABOUT CORRUPT DEAL

When UC Davis Vice Chancellor Celeste Rose resigned under pressure last summer, the university gave her a new job with a new title, a $20,000 a year raise -- and very little responsibility. In fact, Rose, 55, isn't required to do any work at all. As part of a secret legal settlement negotiated to avoid a potentially embarrassing lawsuit, UC Davis promised to keep Rose on the payroll as the "senior adviser to the chancellor" for two years at an annual salary of $205,000, plus all the benefits of a senior manager, including health care, severance pay and a growing pension. Yet her new job has no formal job description or regular duties. She gave up her office on campus. And UC promised not to fire her, no matter how little she does. If Rose quits, she is still entitled to receive the remainder of her two years' salary under the agreement. In addition, UC Davis agreed to give her a $50,000 "transition payment" to help her find a new job, a letter of recommendation and a promise to tell reporters that she voluntarily resigned from her old position.

But in apparent violation of university policy, members of the governing Board of Regents were not told of the settlement and were not asked to give their approval. In fact, the June 1 agreement was handled so quietly that UC Davis spokeswoman Lisa Lapin said only a few people on campus know about it. "It's another instance of high compensation not being disclosed," said UC Davis law Professor Daniel Simmons, chair of the UC Davis Academic Senate. "This is the kind of disclosure that harms the university, because these issues always become public at one point or another."

As The Chronicle reported last month, the University of California last fiscal year gave employees hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses, administrative stipends and other hidden compensation. In the wake of those stories, the Legislature has scheduled hearings into the issue next year, and UC President Robert Dynes formed a task force to look at revising the university's disclosure policies. Regent Joanne Kozberg, who was named co-chair of the task force, said she'll have the group look into why regents weren't told about the UC Davis agreement. "If there is a policy, it has got to be followed," Kozberg said. "If there is a violation, it needs to be looked into."

Rose's attorney, Melinda Guzman, said Rose received the settlement after threatening to sue the university for racial and gender discrimination. Rose is African American.

The dispute began in February when UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef told Rose in a private meeting she needed to resign at the end of June. Guzman said Vanderhoef didn't offer a reason for the decision, which Guzman claims is part of a pattern of discrimination at the campus. "The facts were compelling," Guzman said. UC has had a "repeated failure to either recruit or retain minority executive managers at the UC Davis campus." UC Davis officials denied they discriminated against Rose or any other executives. But citing privacy rights surrounding personnel issues, they said they could not comment on Rose's claim that she was essentially fired without a reason. "If she and her attorney wish to say things, that's their right," said Dennis Shimek, associate vice chancellor of human resources at UC Davis. "But that doesn't make what they are saying accurate."

Regardless of the merits of her claims, UC Davis quickly agreed to settle......

More here






NASTY BUREAUCRAT ATTACKS TUTORING PROGRAM

Maybe he thinks it shows up the inadequacy of his school

A nonprofit group that has tutored poor D.C. students for more than 15 years has been kicked out of its only school site because the school's new principal says no paperwork has been filed to allow the group to use the facility. Project Northstar, a D.C. tutoring program founded in 1989, has used the cafeteria of Lemon G. Hine Junior High School at Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast for one of its weekly tutoring classes since 1994. But Willie Jackson, who became Hine's principal late last month, asked Northstar to leave Dec. 5, saying the program did not file a yearly building-use agreement, as required by the public school system.

"It just doesn't make sense," said Sylvia Davis, 52, whose three foster children attend the weekly program. "Why would a school want to shut down a program that's helping children? It's really hard to find tutoring, and if I had to pay for it, I wouldn't be able to afford it. There's a lot of children in this community that need help."

A building-use agreement between the school system and Northstar has been renewed yearly since the program began using the facility, program officials said. "Every year we have to renew our lease, and every year we do," said Brian Carome, Project Northstar's executive director. "We submitted the most-recent request in June 2005, and we were told that we had been approved."

Mr. Jackson said Northstar's use agreement was lost or never was filed. When Northstar refiled paperwork per his request last week, Mr. Jackson rejected the new deal. "There's a lack-of-agreement issue," he said. "I can't go into this environment and try to participate when the rules aren't followed." Mr. Jackson refused to say why he rejected the agreement. "I cannot say at this time," he said.

Mr. Carome has provided The Washington Times with a copy of the building-use agreement he submitted in June and of previous agreements that had been approved. Unlike earlier agreements, the June submission was not signed by a school administrator. However, Patricia Tucker, assistant superintendent of schools, said Northstar had never submitted an agreement in the 11 years it has operated at the junior high school.

"Project Northstar ... has not currently or in the past submitted a building use agreement. This is legally required by all organizations and community groups," Miss Tucker said in a written statement. "The circumstances that led to the illegal use of the facility by Project Northstar are currently under rigorous investigation and will be addressed in a forthright manner."

In a letter Friday to Peter Parham, chief of staff for the superintendent, Project Northstar President Robert D. Evans disputes Miss Tucker's statement, calling it "false" and "derogatory." Mr. Evans notes that the program is scheduled to restart next month and asks that the issue be resolved by Thursday. "As you note in your e-mail, given the long history of service by Project Northstar to the children of our city, this should not be difficult," he told Mr. Parham.

Officials for D.C. Public Schools Superintendent Clifford B. Janey did not return calls for comment. Project Northstar was founded in 1989 by members of the D.C. Chapters of the Coalition of 100 Black Women and Concerned Black Men and lawyers from three local law firms. It serves about 200 poverty-level students once a week at six D.C. sites. The program is funded by grants from local foundations and private and corporate donations. During the 2004-05 school year, a reading assessment of 165 Northstar students found that 67 percent improved by at least one level and 41 percent improved by at least two levels.

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"


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