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A principal in Kansas, USA has resigned from her position after student journalists discovered a hole in her credentials.
Amy Robertson was hired to the position of principal of Pittsburg High School in March and, as per the school’s habit, was asked to be the subject of a profile piece for the school’s newspaper, the Booster Redux.
But while the newspaper’s student journalists were interviewing her via a conference call, they found she was unable to answer a few basic questions about the school she had obtained her university degrees from, with the final piece saying, “Robertson said in the conference call interview she earned a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature and a Ph.D. in English from Corllins University”.
“Corllins, however, has been under fire in the national media for its lack of legitimacy. Furthermore, the Better Business Bureau’s website said, ‘This business is not BBB accredited’. The posting online in 2010 also stated, ‘The true physical address of Corllins University is unknown”.
Following this revelation, Robertson’s degrees’ were found to be invalid, that she did not have the proper credentials to be a school administrator, and, after three days on the job, resigned from her $93,000 (AU $123, 290) position.
Following this, the Pittsburg Board of Education accepted her resignation and said in a statement that, “in light of the issues that arose, Dr. Robertson felt it was in the best interest of the district to resign her position. The Board has agreed to accept her resignation”.
But while Dr. Robertson is no longer Pittsburg HS’s principal, and unlikely to apply for any similar positions any time soon, the student journalists who broke this news are being hailed for excellent work in investigative journalism, with KCTV5 Assignment Editor Michael Portman tweeting:
“@jonathanwpeters @Fahrenthold @kspastaff @PHSstudentPub @emilysmith41 @FrankLoMonte @SPLC Wow, are you sure that’s a high school doing this journalism reporting? I’m impressed”– @MichaelWPortman
And Press freedom correspondent Jonathan Peters tweeting:
“@MichaelWPortman @Fahrenthold @kspastaff @PHSstudentPub @emilysmith41 @FrankLoMonte @SPLC Super impressed. Must recruit them to KU.”– @jonathanwpeters
Needless to say, these kids have a bright future in journalism.
