Larry Never LEARNs

first published: Weds, December 12, 2007]

Star News editor Larry Wilson has been called a liberal, a surfer and even a poet. Well, I suppose one could call Spin a form of "prose" - either way, Wilson is a real master of the "bash-journalism" genre. What is crucial to recognize here is that "words" can and are being used as weapons and that media attacks comprise serious violations of basic human rights. This fact was expressed by Mother Theresa who wrote:

"Violence of the tongue is very real—sharper than any knife, wounding and creating bitterness that only the grace of God can heal."

Larry Wilson had a recent opportunity to lash out at PUSD over Target receipts Rene Amy obtained using the public records act and declared came from its after-school program called LEARNs (full article below).

Wilson (in a show of unbelievable cockiness) openly invites Rene Amy over to his office to bring him his latest dirt! [It was later revealed the receipts were from MANY PUSD programs, a fact Amy and Wilson left out.]

Larry Wilson: District credit corrupts
Article Launched: 06/19/2007 08:09:44 PM PDT

"Schools watchdog Rene Amy - you like that appellation better than boringly peevish, forever-disgruntled, PUSD-hating gadfly? - has it right as rain in his outrage over the district's after-school fraud.

At least, I can make an educated guess that Rene's outraged over the crazy, unauthorized spending by employees who work in the after-school LEARNS program.

Tuesday, he was still poring over the thousands of pages of copies of receipts from Target he FOIA-ed* from the Pasadena Unified School District and finally received. (FOIA-ed is journospeak for requesting documents through the Freedom of Information Act.) ["journospeak" - which blog did he pick this up from?]

He's bringing them by this morning to go over with schools reporter Cortney Fielding, and we should have some preliminary specifics up at pasadenastarnews.com a little after you read this.

Some stuff rumored so far to have been purchased on the taxpayer dime - along with the televisions, home bedding and party supplies we reported Tuesday - are R-rated movies and at least one $100 gift card".

Both of these expenses Wilson mentions were not LEARNs receipts. In an excerpt from Superintendent Edwin Diaz' response - in full below - Diaz writes: "Also, we have other programs with Purchase Orders at Target, including our Families in Transition program which provides assistance to families in need. A public records request was made for all Target receipts, so receipts from Families in Transition, which is funded by an anonymous donor, were included with the LEARNS receipts."

Wilson continues "...Personally, I take no pleasure in carping about profligate spending practices in a district where everyone knows teachers often have to buy paper and other necessary supplies for students out of their own pockets." [this is up to serious speculation]

Superintendent Edwin Diaz gave the truth of what happened in a letter to the editor which can be read in full here: http://www.pusd.us/article.php?story=20070628102514724

Wilson never published a retraction or an apology to the community (neither paper ever has).

I can only guess at Wilson' intent with this and other pieces he has written on PUSD sourced from Amy's blog. But Wilson seems to share a real affinity with Peyton Wolcott [see first post] who wrote on her blog:

AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS' SECRET WAR
By Peyton Wolcott - March 12, 2006

"Because newspapers are committed to defending their economic partners, the local school districts with whom they have a vested interest in presenting a positive face to bankers and realtors and all other members of the business community, they are mostly publishing only the "good news" about their local schools. This means parents and taxpayers are not receiving what many of us consider to be the real news, news about cronyism and waste and fraudulent spending by school district administrators and trustees.

Most often, if a local newspaper does any real reporting, it's because a parent or a taxpayer has brought them irrefutable proof of wrongdoing, as in the example of Rene Amy's bringing critical information to Cleveland, Ohio about their lead superintendent candidate--where the local reporters hadn't uncovered it on their own, where Bill Attea's supe search firm hadn't produced the information, and Pasadena USD'ds Percy Clark, the supe candidate, had not been forthcoming".

Another question to ask here is that why would Amy, uber-sleuth that he claims to be, make a mistake like this? Was it a mistake or was it intentional??

Either way, our papers have been so lax in checking the "information" he provides them with it is unbelievable.

Kevin Uhrich wrote in an editorial about Amy-sourced information:

"In hindsight, I suppose we should have checked every word" [um, yeah, you should have!]

And recently Kenneth Todd Ruiz wrote on his blog:

"When I was on the PUSD for nine months or so, I'd peruse "the list" once a week or so, and of course would enjoy the inevitable blurb Rene would insert above each of my stories posted.
Yawn [yawn??], nothing new, lazy damn reporters."

Lazy is right!! but try being on the receiving-end of this "laziness" and having your reputation tarnished (again) like PUSD has had done to them countless times. Try imagining being a LEARNs counselor who were subject to intense scrutiny. Try imagining a PUSD after-school child - there because their parents were at work - having your caretakers and schools shaken like this over some "nut's" blog-fed war games.

This is not right and needs to end, now.


Larry Wilson: District credit corrupts
Article Launched: 06/19/2007 08:09:44 PM PDT

Schools watchdog Rene Amy - you like that appellation better than boringly peevish, forever-disgruntled, PUSD-hating gadfly? - has it right as rain in his outrage over the district's after-school fraud.

At least, I can make an educated guess that Rene's outraged over the crazy, unauthorized spending by employees who work in the after-school LEARNS program.

Tuesday, he was still poring over the thousands of pages of copies of receipts from Target he FOIA-ed from the Pasadena Unified School District and finally received. (FOIA-ed is journospeak for requesting documents through the Freedom of Information Act.)

He's bringing them by this morning to go over with schools reporter Cortney Fielding, and we should have some preliminary specifics up at pasadenastarnews.com a little after you read this.

Some stuff rumored so far to have been purchased on the taxpayer dime - along with the televisions, home bedding and party supplies we reported Tuesday - are R-rated movies and at least one $100 gift card.

No, they were not going to the kids. They were apparently being used as "incentives" for after-school employees as an attaboy or attagirl treat.

Here, for me, is the kicker: They were Advertisement apparently purchased by employees granted school-district credit cards.

What on Earth is any PUSD employee barring perhaps the superintendent doing with a credit card issued by the school district?

I work, for instance, in a large organization that issues precisely zero credit cards to any of its managers - much less to managers at whatever level would be equivalent to running the after-school program. If we write a check or use our own card for a legitimate business expense, we can apply for reimbursement and pray that the accounting goddesses agree it was legit and handled in a timely manner with proper receipts.

And that's precisely the way it should be. Organization-issued credit cards are an invitation to fraud on a massive scale. It's right there in the wallet, right? Means I'm supposed to use it, right? They'll make an honest man into a thief.

I'm also hearing that until very recently the spending reports do not list the reason for the purchases made using district funds.

So it's just like, Item: 23-inch color television. Business purpose: (big fat white space).

In recent weeks, the spaces for the no doubt legitimate purposes are all filled in. Gee, I wonder what was the come-to-Jesus moment on that accounting reform?

Personally, I take no pleasure in carping about profligate spending practices in a district where everyone knows teachers often have to buy paper and other necessary supplies for students out of their own pockets.

But can we call in those credit cards, please?

larry.wilson@sgvn.com

Larry Wilson is editor of the Pasadena Star-News.