Posted: Friday, 10 April 2009 11:36AM
Fairness Is Not Too Much To Ask
Steve Corbett Reporting
Friday, April 10, 2009
People are fed up.
And it’s about time.
The culture of corruption that poisons the quality of life in Northeastern Pennsylvania must end.
Public corruption crimes are bad enough.
Dirty judges and other crooks lead the pack of toxic public officials who damage our community. Recent arrests and guilty pleas of some of these people in Luzerne County show us that we can root out the wicked among us.
But we can’t stop there.
Public corruption doesn’t have to rise to the level of criminal conduct to be public corruption.
Nepotism is equally wrong and also hurts us.
Family favoritism brings unfairness and a dismal lack of equal opportunity to our region. Countless young people have left the area for jobs elsewhere because they didn’t know somebody who had the political clout to get them a job here.
That, too, must stop.
We spent four hours yesterday on “Corbett” talking about the insidious practice of nepotism that has ruled public school district hiring practices for generations.
Of course it’s important that a federal grand jury is hearing testimony from public school officials, including Wilkes-Barre Area School District Superintendent Jeff Namey, into allegations of job selling.
But legal public school employment practices must also be investigated and changed for the better.
Of course, illegal behavior must be stopped at all cost.
That’s why it matters that on Wednesday the FBI, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District, issued a public plea for help in their investigation into public school district job selling. These law enforcement officials took this rare step, including issuing a press release, in response to the many callers to “Corbett” on Tuesday who claimed that they either had been asked for cash for jobs or knew somebody who had been solicited.
The feds are correct in going public.
And we are correct in also making a scene about the unfairness, although legal, that rules the job market in Northeastern Pennsylvania’s public school districts.
But, some of what passes for nepotism and patronage might also be illegal.
Is it legal for school officials to influence their friends to hire the school officials’ family members? Can you hire friends and political supporters in exchange for campaign contributions?
Law enforcement officials must clarify these matters.
Northeastern Pennsylvania politicians have been handing out jobs to the in-crowd for so long that they might no longer recognize what’s allowed by law and what’s illegal.
Ignorance is no excuse – especially when it comes to the field of education.
A state-wide nepotism policy might help. So will increased awareness as to why a stacked deck in the hiring game hurts far more people than it helps.
Some people will even defend nepotism. These are people who likely have lived here all their lives and probably have family members who have benefitted from the practice.
Public service involves sacrifice for the common good. That might mean that you and your family members must forego benefits that give you an advantage. Maybe public school teaching jobs should all become state civil service jobs overseen by the state education department.
Whatever happens, at least we’re talking about improving the system. And we’re talking about changing the way that jobs have been awarded to people with money or political clout at the expense of those who lack either edge.
Fairness is not too much to ask.
Equal opportunity must be the law of the land.
That includes hard coal country.
Northeastern Pennsylvania must no longer be allowed to exist as a land unto itself.
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