9486 in the collection
Former Official Suspended From Okla. Job
Here is a portion of an interview John Q. Porter did with District Administration in June 2006.
DA: What's something people would be surprised to know about you?
JQP: If you met me [thoughtful pause]: I like fine things. I like expensive clothes, expensive cars. I collect pens. I collect Rolex watches. But my favorite place is 7-Eleven.
DA: You're kidding.
JQP: No. I prefer 7-Eleven coffee over Starbucks, I love its sandwiches-it has everything.
DA: That (kind of) leads to my next question about free time. Most deputy superintendents don't have any. What do you do if and when you get some?
JQP: I like shopping, for DVDs-I probably have 1,500-2,000 CDs and hundreds of DVDs. I don't have time to watch them, but I buy them. Things I like to do? I like to eat at fine restaurants: I try to find the top 10 in new cities I travel to. And I like to dance. It's the most relaxing thing I get to do.
DA: What's your favorite tech gadget?
JQP: Oh, I have so many. My phone-I have the new Blackberry phone, and all the principals do, too; I like my XM radio. My tablet PC. My car [a black Mercedes Benz S430].
--District Administration
NOTE:DIBELS® (The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) was created by Roland H. Good III, Ph.D. and Ruth A. Kaminski, Ph.D. of the University of Oregon. DIBELS offers standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy for students in grades K-6. Based on 15 years of scientific research, the DIBELS assessment is designed to assess the Five Big Ideas of Early Reading: Phonological Awareness, Alphabetic Principle, Fluency with Connected Text, Vocabulary Development, and Reading Comprehension. DIBELS consists of a series of targeted activities or "probes," each designed to provide a diagnostic measure of a fundamental early literacy skill.
Wireless Generation offers mCLASS®:DIBELS®, a handheld-to-Web assessment solution. The mCLASS:DIBELS solution was developed in collaboration with the DIBELS authors and offers simplified administration, easier reporting, deeper diagnosis, and robust instructional planning. In addition, Wireless Generation offers Advanced Professional Development for DIBELS data analysis and interpretation.
By Daniel de Vise
John Q. Porter, a former deputy superintendent of Montgomery County schools, was suspended yesterday from his new job as superintendent in Oklahoma City partly over dealings with a high-tech firm, a relationship that dates to his Maryland days.
A memo to Porter from the Oklahoma City school board, dated yesterday, stated that "reasons may exist to terminate your employment" and listed 21 items. The top allegation: that Porter arranged a $365,594 contract with Wireless Generation, a Brooklyn, N.Y., firm, without seeking a competitive bid.
The memo also alleges that Porter was improperly reimbursed for personal first-class air travel between Oklahoma and Washington and for a pair of nearly $300 dinner tabs that apparently included alcohol; it also says that he once asked a school system employee to dig a hole for his mailbox.
Porter said, in a lengthy letter published Saturday by the Oklahoman in Oklahoma City, that the "substance of these allegations is false." He said the school district followed an accepted selection process in purchasing a reading diagnostic program from Wireless Generation.
Regarding the expenses, he wrote, "I had no intention of seeking any improper reimbursement for any expenditure."
Porter has been superintendent for half a year. Before that, he served seven years under Superintendent Jerry D. Weast as chief information officer and deputy superintendent for information and organizational systems.
Two veteran Montgomery school board members, Patricia O'Neill (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) and Stephen Abrams (Rockville-Potomac), said Porter left Montgomery in good standing and was credited with improving the school system's technology effort.
Brian Edwards, chief of staff to Weast, said he didn't know of any extraordinary expenses claimed by Porter during his tenure.
In 2005, the school system announced a partnership with Wireless Generation and the national release of software, piloted in Montgomery schools, that allowed teachers to assess the reading skills of young students on hand-held computers. Montgomery schools paid some of the costs to develop the software and reaped royalties when the product was sold outside the area. The project, led by Porter, has proved "tremely successful and extremely useful," Edwards said.
Some members of the Montgomery County Council were critical of the arrangement. "It appears that MCPS did not use a formal procurement solicitation process" -- a competitive bid -- before signing the agreement, council member Marilyn Praisner (D-Eastern County) said in a 2005 memo to a colleague.
— Daniel de Vise
Washington Post & District Administration
2008-01-08
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/07/AR2008010702942_pf.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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