Saturday June 16, 2018 – Principal Georgette Gregory, of Prince George’s County Public School’s (PGCPS) Ardmore Elementary School is without a doubt determined to go down  due to reports of a deliberate assault on a teacher during recess on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, which was widely reported on social media. 

According to reports on social media, created by user Crystljms and later by Crystal Jewel, both County citizenry wondered what was going to be done after Principal Georgette Gregory assaulted a teacher in plain view of students. According to their reports, the County Police and an ambulance were sent to respond to the school; the teacher was transported to the hospital. On Tuesday,  Crystljms requested that this blog call the CEO’s office to ask what was being done about the principal’s misconduct.

On June 15, 2018, Crystal Jewel wrote on Facebook regarding the events at Ardmore Elementary. She wrote, “Please help me understand. On Tuesday, during recess, students witnessed the principal at Ardmore Elementary School hurling expletives, and yelling at a teacher. The principal even assaulted the teacher. Police and an ambulance came to the school, all of which, children bore witness to, yet no one has even released a statement to the parents regarding what occurred. Despite dozens of calls from parents inquiring about what their children witnessed, no one seems to care about the appropriate trauma responses needed for the kids or feel the need to release a statement to the parents… I am just at a lost as to what to do….Community members have called me, but who actually can make sure the children are addressed in this? The CEO office has been contacted, the Board Vice Chair, County Executive office….still nothing!”

President Theresa Mitchell Dudley of Prince George’s County Educator Association (PGCEA) stated that, “We are in contact with our member and PGCPS. There is an investigation and we are taking this very seriously. The issue of notification of parents is a decision PGCPS makes.”

Later through social media, Doris Reed – the Executive Director of Association of Supervisory & Administrative School Personnel (ASASP) – stated that, “I would caution sharing allegations. I believe the investigation will include everyone involved.”

Below are samples of the comments on social media:

•  Elizabeth Rodgers Masterson: “Excuse me but you have not addressed the concern regarding the trauma to the children. Investigation is fine but the babies can”t unsee the actions and they’re left to work through emotions as well as the parents while you all worry about your legal standing. What happened to Children First?”
• Yolanda Rogers: “This is so like PGCPS….I am not surprised.”
• Quantane L Higginbotham: “Our voice matters… VOTE!”
• Keisha Chase: “Wow.. smh.. again it continues..”
• Theresa Mitchell Dudley: “This will not continue.”
• Parents and PGCPS: “Hello Curtis Valentine David Murray Edward P. Burroughs III Raaheela Ahmed Christian Rhodes Sheila JacksonTheresa Mitchell Dudley Doris Reed Rushern L. Baker it is my hope someone can respond to this parent. Please feel free to address it offline if needed, but please address it!”
• Belinda Queen: “A school board member needs to address this issue not the Teachers Union. PGCPS is responsible for our students once they hit the door. This includes providing shock, trauma therapy.”

There have been numerous concerns regarding the widespread shenanigans of Prince George’s County administrators. The issues have always been cover-ups and a bandage to the problems rather than addressing the underlying grievances.

Corruption erodes trust in public institutions and democracy, as it: undermines our internal market; hampers foreign investment; costs taxpayers millions; and in many cases, helps organized crime groups carry out their dirty work. This instance and the response of the PGCEA highlight that individuals without a sound education are like society without a sense of direction.

The stark difference between the 84 executives hired by Dr. Maxwell and the 20 executives hired by Former Superintendent Dr. Hornsby raises serious concerns. Dr. Maxwell and his cronies, including the Thatcher Law Firm in Greenbelt, “carry water” and the Union lawyers for the current executives, who have been robbing the County blind. Additionally, there are allegations that some of the attorneys at PGCPS Sasscer have not yet passed the bar, but still get paid to sit around.

Corruption flourishes when someone has monopoly power over a good or service, has the discretion to decide how much you get or whether you get any at all, and where transparency and accountability are lacking. So, to fight corruption, we must reduce monopoly and discretion, and increase transparency in several ways.

Corruption = Monopoly + Discretion – Transparency

Enhancing accountability means many things, and creative leaders use a remarkable variety of methods. One way to improve accountability is to improve the measurement of performance. Leaders can work with their employees and clients to create new systems for measuring the performance of agencies and offices—and then link rewards to results.

Accountability is also increased by inviting outside agencies to audit, monitor, and evaluate.

What about ethics and morality? Successful leaders set a good example. They often create training programs for employees and citizens. The keys are systems that provide better incentives for imperfect humans to perform in the public’s interest—and to avoid corruption.

Subverting Corruption

When corruption has become systemic, it resembles organized crime. It has its own parallel system of recruitment and hierarchy, of rewards and punishments, and of contracts and enforcement. This parallel system contains  inherent weaknesses. For example, bribery and extortion are not legal in any country of the world. Therefore, they must be kept (somewhat) secret. The money gained must be hidden. One cannot openly recruit new members. The mechanisms for enforcement are illicit.

How can these corrupt systems be subverted? Obviously we cannot count on members of organized crime to clean themselves. Instead, we must analyze the corrupt systems and ask, “How might they be destabilized?” Who is “we”? It can be a new president and his or her administration, or a new mayor, or a leader of a public enterprise; but it can also be you and me as members of civil society. Around the world, we see new examples of: citizen activism; business groups entering into “integrity pacts”; and intellectuals, journalists, and religious leaders going beyond lectures and sermons to analyze corrupt systems and work together to subvert them.

By asking Rushern Baker III, to solve their Education problems, Prince George’s County and Maryland leaders should know that it’s like telling the hyena to help search for your stray sheep in the forest! Many in the County leadership can not learn a thing. They lack common sense, human dignity, are corrupt or driven by the desire for free cash whose source is unknown!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

***