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Gorman and School Board Flying High
Last October, Gorman nearly outdid himself when a flurry activity sent him to the Broad Institute’s Superintendents Visit in Atlanta for two days; a one-day layover with the U.S. Department of Education; and a three-day powwow with the Council of Great City Schools Conference in Portland.
Gorman, though, wasn’t the only CMS honcho flying across the country. School board members gave him a run for the money, with former chairman and current board member Joe White leading the pack.
The school board chairman is allotted $6,150 per year for travel, while board members have to scrape by with $4,100. If board members exceed their allotments, they are penalized $1,000 and flogged with a wet noodle. OK, that’s a lie; they simply snag the money from another board member’s travel account and keep flying. Like many things with the CMS Board of Education; travel money is fungible.
Because White didn’t serve a whole term as board chair last year, his allotment was prorated at $5,125 for a half-year term. White overshot that amount by nearly two grand, blowing through just over $7,000. His travels took him to the Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) Annual Conference in Las Vegas; a North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA) conference in Greensboro; the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Federal Relations Network Conference in Washington, DC; and the NSBA Annual Conference in San Diego.
A former school board member and current county commissioner, Vilma Leake received a prorated travel allotment of $2,050 last year. Similar to White, she also ran in the red, leaving office with a negative balance of $471. Leake spent $2,521 on trips to Las Vegas for the CUBE Conference, to Miami for a CUBE Issues Seminar, and to Alexandria, Virginia, for yet another CUBE conference.
Other board members with prorated allotments for half-year terms were a bit more frugal. Out of her $5,125 travel kitty, former board member Molly Griffin salvaged a $2,000 balance, transferred nearly $2,000 to another board member, and spent just over a grand for a trip to Albemarle for a district NCSBA meeting and a journey to Raleigh for the NCSBA President’s Invitational Conference.
Before jumping from the school board to the board of county commissioners, George Dunlap spent about $1,700 to attend the CUBE convention in Las Vegas and left $315 on the table – back home, that is, on the CMS table and not in Vegas on the craps one.
Board member Kim Mitchell-Walker was down right frugal by comparison, spending $364 for a trip to a NCSBA meeting in Raleigh and leaving a $1,666 balance from her original $2,050 allotment. Ditto for board member James Ross, except he shelled out $550 for the NCSBA meeting in Raleigh. Board member Tom Tate spent $892 to attend the NCSBA Annual Conference in Greensboro, leaving him with a balance of $3,200 from his $4,100 allotment. Trips to Raleigh for a state legislators meeting and to Braselton, Georgia, for a Broad training seminar depleted just over $1,000 from board member Trent Merchant’s allotment.
Rounding out the board’s travel itinerary, Kaye McGarry barely squeaked by with an ending balance of $992, after blowing through $3,100 for trips to San Diego to attend a NSBA conference and to Las Vegas for a Center for Reform of School Systems conference. Flying to Vegas on the taxpayers’ dime apparently being one way to reform school systems.
Gauvreau’s travel was limited. He left the board with a balance of $4,100 from his allotment of $4,100.
“It’s just wrong,” he said, “to be flying all over the country for a bunch of feel-good conferences and photo opportunities.”
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CMS needs to investigate the technology of remote conferences…duh…why fly across the county when most conferences can be accessed via the web!
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You’re exactly right, Tech. The technology to do so is real and available now. I see commercials on television showing a classroom in the US and a classroom in China communicating via the web. Even free online software, like http://www.shovio.com, can literally put dozens of people together in a live environment with full interactive capabilities. Not meaning to sound too cynical, but I would hope the administrations guiding the education environment of youngsters could be just a little more creative and “out of the box” thinking. We pay these administrators like they are the CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies “for competitive reasons”. When the CEO’s are cutting back their cross country flying, seems only right to expect public servants to do the same thing.
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“Last September saw the superintendent in Washington, D.C., to attend the Broad Prize for Urban
Education awards ceremony. CMS didn’t win, wasn’t even one of the finalists, and Gorman’s trip set taxpayers back $300.”
And this year we are a finalist? If you scratch my back with support, I’ll scratch yours with making you a finalist the next year? Can’t help but ask that question. All the system winners of this award over the past few years have had a Free/Reduced Lunch percentage of 75% or more–one system was 98% Latino. Well, at least with CMS as a finalist, one or two white kids might earn some of the 15 scholarships allocated as a finalist–maybe a few more if CMS wins the prize and gets about 50 scholarships allocated. Broad and Scholarship America won’t release demographic data of the more than 800 scholarships awarded since the program started–but I bet less than 1% have gone to whites. Maybe that’s good and desirable–but its hard to even discuss with folks hiding information.
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This man – Gorman – when does he come up for re-election? I can’t believe the things I’m hearing about him, and I don’t even live in Meck. Co. My dad teaches there, though, and apparently this superintendent is one ultra-incompetent toad. Almost makes me wish I did live in Mecklenburg, just so I could cast my vote against him. On a side note, I’d vote against Leake, too. What a nitwit! Where in God’s name are the competent politicians? I’d sure like to know that there are at least some out there (maybe that’s an idea for you Christian: a new column on Pundit House – something that highlights the capable ones, since everything else seems to point out the buffoons).
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The Superintendent is actually hired by the school board, not elected. Until the boards change, don’t expect much movement on the Superintendent-City/County Manager front.
Agreed with you on Leake, luckily we have Lee Ann Patton to vote for in November.
While a capable politician is a rarity, we do do our best to point them out. Take Huntersville Town Commissioner Charles Jeter for example. He led the effort to be the first town in NC to pass a resolution asking the Attorney General to join the lawsuits against Obamacare. Kudos.
There are some great candidates this year on a number of fronts. Hopefully we can get them elected and have more positive things to talk about!
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