I’ve been gently pushing my coworker to have his wife report the superintendent, as far as i know it sound like some actual illegal shit is going down but there’s only so much i can do as an outside party. He’s on vacation currently but when he gets back i’ll see where things are at.
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Or perhaps it’s just that your stated arguments are not quite as compelling as you would like to believe.
*shrugs
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It is really hard, especially when one is supporting a family and they all look to the family breadwinner, to oppose the illegal shit fearlessly. I imagine all kinds of retribution and crappy inter-office politics, unless the whistleblower can find allies–the more the better.
If it were me and I was facing something akin to what I imagine you are describing, the first thing I’d do is find a good lawyer who has zero connections to the school district, the administrators, etc., and game out the scenarios of reporting, not reporting, etc. Inshallah, there’d be a Texas lawyer willing to donate a bit of time, at the very least, to advise this person in advance of the inevitable shit-storm to follow.
DM me if you think getting a few names [of attorneys] could help. (Most lawyers I deal with practice environmental law. I’d have to do a bit of digging to find someone with experience advising whistleblowers.) There really is a branch of law called “whistleblower law” and the stronger protections are at the federal level, compared with, say, state of Texas level.
@anon23281680 … if you are able to chime in, I’d appreciate any insights here.
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Coworker’s wife bailed on the job, i think i misremembered and she did accounting for the school so she saw a lot of shady stuff, and refused to sign off on everything that landed on her desk to avoid being personally liable. She’s now doing HR for another company now and is happy. I did tell my coworker that she would have whistleblower protection even after having left the job, and they’re smart enough that she compiled a lot of data and evidence but haven’t taken action and not sure how they would take to me pushing them along. Part of the problem is that this is a school district in a small town so everyone knows everyone, and while some know there’s a scandal in the making everyone else is oblivious.
Like i mentioned i’ll try to talk to him again to get an update on how things are and see if they’re willing to do something. After all their kids are being impacted by bad choices being done, and their taxes are going towards some shenanigans.
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The only thing I might add is the tip line for Texas Tribune. They use Signal. Sometimes attention is what is needed. The Texas Tribune are very good at using open records to get info, once they know there is info to get. They partner with Pro Publica a lot. The Texas Observer may have something similar
Some of us Texans are working for a better future for Texas kids. Not everyone has the ability to leave this “shit hole.”
And while I’m on the topic, maybe we can all refrain from calling people’s home a shit hole.
ETA: @Grey_Devil If she has some receipts, definitely pass along that link. The Texas Tribune (or Texas Observer) could use those documents to get the records thru the Public Information Act.
Last edit, I swear! Sometimes with the public records laws it’s a matter of knowing what to specifically ask for.
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Ah, there’s the problem.
How dare that child Question Authority?
Same for the cops.
Bastards.
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Pretty much all of us down here who aren’t right wing assholes are doing what we can to not let the whole country go off the rails…
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Illegally throwing somebody in solitary confinement? Don’t they call that “kidnapping” and isn’t it a crime, even in Texas?
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Nah, if the police do it — and someone accidentally admits that it was wrong to have done so — then it’s called “an administrative error”. If it’s particularly egregious, it might rise to “an unfortunate administrative error”.
If there’s a life changing injury or death, then there may even be a “regret” somewhere in there.
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IKR? And yet, somehow, it seems to work:
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Tx has this problem of investing Principals with plenipotentiary powers. And you know what they say about absolute power…
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