Posted on 11/09/2004 8:00:21 AM PST by truth49
SEATTLE -- A KIRO Team 7 Investigation exposes Washington teachers who buy illegitimate college degrees.
They can profit. You pay!
Worse yet, Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne discovers a loophole that technically makes this legal.
The state Superintendent's office gladly approves automatic pay increases for teachers who complete their masters or doctorate. I've discovered, however, the state does not routinely check to see if the degrees are from real or certified universities.
We tracked down some educators who are either getting more money, or more respect, than they deserve.
Dr. Kevin Evoy is principal at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Olympia. His advanced education degree from Berne University in beautiful St. Kitts, Virgin Islands helps his reputation, his job standing and his pay.
The trouble for him is that KIRO Team 7 Investigators discovered the doctorate is a bit fishy. Federal officials tell KIRO Team 7 Investigators this "college" isn't much more than a beachfront Internet course located on the shores of a Caribbean Island.
Halsne: "Did you go to classes down there in St. Kitts?" Evoy: "Yeah" Halsne: "How many? How long were you down there?" Evoy: "Uh, a month. Correspondence, Internet and all that stuff for a couple years."
But Evoy didn't just use the degree to further his knowledge. He submitted his illegitimate doctorate to the state, so he could get thousands of dollars in extra pay.
"If I had ambitions of using a PhD to further my career, that's not why I did it and that's not my ambition. But I understand someone else in my position, that using it that way might be a lot more disappointed than I am," Evoy said.
Evoy is now paying that money back -- money he wasn't entitled to.
The Evergreen Freedom Foundation is a non-profit tax watchdog group in Olympia. Volunteers there hand-searched higher ed degrees at about 25 percent of Washington's school districts. Just that sampling produced seven suspicious degrees, degrees that appeared to be from unaccredited colleges or illegal diploma mills.
"These teachers are cheating taxpayers and students by claiming an education that they don't have," said Sarah Carrico, a researcher at the Evergreen Freedom Foundation.
KIRO Team 7 Investigators expanded Evergreen's research to identify illegitimate degrees for Principal Evoy, including a teacher in Zillah and a counselor in Bremerton.
Staff at one middle school call him "Dr." Lawrence Brown, but we discovered he didn't really earn a doctorate in anything. School personnel files say Brown received his advanced degree from LaSalle University in Louisiana. We know that's a well-known fake diploma factory.
Brown: "It's out of business." Halsne: "It's a paper mill, not legitimate. We're doing a story about step pay increases and how you can increase your profits..." Brown: "You know what? I've got to go. Talk to me another time. I'm totally open to that. "
We had a feeling our "later" interview wouldn't happen and we were right.
Halsne: "We want to talk to you about this." Teacher: "Sure." (Slams door, revs engine and drives away.)
KIRO Team 7 Investigators tracked down other educators all over the state using questionable advanced degrees.
How do they get away with it? Most school districts don't authenticate degrees, saying the state Superintendents Office (or OSPI) should. OSPI doesn't check, saying the state Auditor should -- and on and on with no agency claiming responsibility for the task.
That inefficiency helps three employees in the little school district of Wilbur to claim they have advanced degrees when they really don't.
This is "Dr." Chuck Wyborney, an advanced English teacher in Wilbur.
We discovered his degree was purchased from a well-known paper mill. Its founder is actually in prison for selling fake college degrees.
Halsne: "The law clearly says it has to be an accredited university for it to count, but nobody is checking." Wyborney: "Um-hmm. As far as we knew, until you just shared that with me, that this was an accredited kind of program. So I don't know."
Wyborney says he thought it was a real degree even though he never attended any classes.
Taxpayers can loose big money from phony degrees. OSPI hands out incentive raises, some totaling $10,000 a year, for teachers who earn masters and doctorates.
"It needs to be considered that teachers not get paid just on the fact that they have a degree and seniority," said Sarah Carrico. "They need to be paid based on student achievement and their personal excellence, not just a degree hanging on the wall."
In Oregon and Michigan, it's illegal to earn extra money for an unaccredited college degree. It's not a crime here in Washington.
Education reformers say until that changes, teachers like Lawrence Brown have every incentive to cut corners and add "doctor" to the front of their names.
The list of teachers with illegitimate degrees could be significantly more than we just reported.
Seventy-five percent of Washington School districts ignored a formal request to provide the data for us to check them out. You can help solve this problem by checking the Web site for the Office of Degree Authorization with the state of Oregon. In Oregon, it's illegal to profit from a fake degree.
If you know a teacher who claims to have a degree from one of these institutions, let us know. We'll investigate.
Uhhhh.....that's "lose".
Just think, most of these folks with so-called advanced degrees probably voted for John Kerry. Betcha they did.
So, this is what happens, in the great socialist northwest, when voters "invest" in education?
Gee, what a deal for the students. What a deal for the taxpayers.
Mama mia, atsa biga mess.
We had something like this happen in my area. One teacher was removed after it was learned she had a degree from the University of Liberia, or one of those West African nations. Another teacher was terminated when it was learned he was granted a degree from an unaccredited internet college site.
bogus degrees bump
Uh Oh. You mean my doctorate from McDonald's Hamburger University isn't real?!?!?! I've been duped!
Watching the news story last night, it looks like EFF worked with KIRO 7 on the story. The EFF researcher (Sarah Carrico) was featured in the broadcast.
They say in the article that they expanded EFF's investigation...
I'm an Ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, does that count? I paid $30 bucks for my degree and ordination. My wifes a minister too.
Thanks! Glad to see it's on the up&up...
Me too. Even more glad to see the Liberal media cooperating with the EFF to go after the Liberal teachers heh heh heh...
And let me add that people who claim degrees from real institutions are easy to verify. Bear that in mind next time you're hiring someone.
Call the Registrar's Office of the school in question. Ask them to verify whether the person has a degree. They won't share anything private-grades, etc- but they'll verify degree and year awarded. They have as much interest in ferreting out people claiming fraudulent degrees from them as you do.
No you are ok. Your degree is just as valid and impressive as my Doctorate from Wassamatta U. My thesis was " A Multivariant Analysis of the Probability of Boris and Natasha Taking Over the World."
It should be published soon.
Isn't that redundant?
Hiring process? But then again, why bother? It's only tax payer money. There's plenty more where that came from. Just another example of mid-level gov't employees making room at the sow for other suckers.
We need to fire the crooks, but I guess public officials (like Sandy Berger) are all above the law now, so long as they don't tread on the turf of the criminals above them.
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