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Questions for Jack O'Connell
PRI in the News
5.10.2007
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 10, 2007
Ever wondered what happened to the state Department of Education whistleblowers who were punished by Education Secretary Delaine Eastin in the late 1990s for exposing millions of dollars in fraudulent grants to adult education programs, often bogus citizenship classes for new immigrants? One of them, James Lindberg, just got a second big judgment in his favor -- $7.6 million -- according to K. Lloyd Billingsley of the Pacific Research Institute. In a column about the latest court rebuke to the Department of Education, Billingsley makes good points about its present leader: Current ed boss Jack O'Connell made no move to stop the continued appeal after [a jury first gave the whistleblower $4.5 million in] 2002 and has been rather silent about this case. Legislators and taxpayers have a right to know how much money the department spent on attorneys in a losing cause. That money will not be used in any classroom for the benefit of students. Legislators may want to hold hearings, which could pursue other key questions. How many people, if any, were disciplined or dismissed for taking hostile action against CDE employees for the faithful performance of their duties in exposing fraud and corruption? How is it that those responsible for punishing whistleblowers so easily find other lucrative employment in the education system? Since the courts have again confirmed wrongdoing by the CDE, when will the department publicly own up to it? Does similar misappropriation of funds still continue in the adult education system? Good questions all. Will O'Connell answer them? I doubt it. Posted by Chris Reed at May 10, 2007 05:22 PM | Send a comment
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