PEYTON WOLCOTT - COMMENTARY - U.S. PUBLIC EDUCATION

Conservative Commentary - Oklahoma: Former superintendents Larry Couch (Marble City) and John Q. Porter (Oklahoma City)

P E Y T O N W O L C O T T

How we take back our children's education:
one person, one question, one school at a time.

FAIR USE NOTICE:
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to
advance understanding of education issues vital to a republic. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., Chapter 1, Section 107 which states: the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any
other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright," the material on
this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use" you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS:
Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information. In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately. Thank you.

ONE STATE, TWO STORIES:
THE 2ND LARGEST AND THE SMALL OF IT
OKC PS' new superintendent John Q. Porter (a recent
Broad Superintendent Academy grad) was suspended
January 7, 2008 with pay by his school board employers
then suspended a second time last Friday when John's
lawyers raised open meetings issues. In suspending him,
the board cited 21 allegations including a $365K no-bid
contract and meals and travel.
We are tracking this because it is unusual for a school
board to look so closely at its superintendent--a
commendable practice we wish more boards would adopt.
But while OKC PS is urban and the second-largest district in
the Sooner state, and Marble City Public Schools, rural and
with a single school one of the smallest, both are having
troubles with their superintendents.
Larry Couch of MCPS has been charged with embezzling
$100K, an amount the state auditor has recently disclosed
may climb as high as $500K. For this to occur in a
one-school district on the Cherokee reservation no doubt
took some doing.

Marble City Public Schools

OKLAHOMA
OKC SUPE: 'FAMILY
EMERGENCY' -- OR 'VACATION' ?
By Peyton Wolcott
Updated Monday, January 7, 2008 - 9:55 p.m.

(Top) Cliff
Hudson;
John Porter

Whos' the boss?
On a deeper level than immediate
employment issues, we're watch-
ing something play out in Oklaho-
ma City Public Schools which
goes to the core of one of the most
fundamental issues in public
education in America today: Who
really runs our schools?

Nominally of course our school
boards have the responsibility.

But thanks to a wave of so-called
reforms in American public educa-
tion a decade or so ago which left
responsibility with the trustees but
removed most of their authority
and gave it to the only employee
they can hire, their superintendent,
most local boards can now only:

Injunction request fails
Porter engaged an attorney and
went to court attempting to block
this morning's school board
meeting, which request the judge
denied and when the meeting
went forward the board voted to
suspend Porter with pay, plus
issued a notice which has been
released to the public detailing 21
allegations including questionable
expenses and personnel issues.

Don't mean to quibble
Shouldn't someone at the helm of
a large urban district earning
$225,000 base pay be able to
read from his own statement
better than this? Here's some
good news: OKC PS are posting
their checks--called "encumbran-
ces" online, with their board
packets. And here's a question:
Is the following John Proctor's first
salvo in the contract buyout wars?
Let's see: 9 years at $225,000 = a
lot of OKC taxpayer dollars.

o Hire and fire a supe
o Buy and sell property
o Approve a budget
o Set policy

In a slip of the tongue that may
have been a career-costing move
during yesterday's Q&A session
following his reading of a prepared

statement at a press
conference, when now-
suspended Oklahoma
City Public Schools
superintendent John
Q. Porter attempted to
explain his failure to
communicate with his
board members for the
past two weeks
including missing a
Dec. 20 board
meeting, he said:

Could it be
that because
John was an
assistant
supe and
information
officer in
Maryland
before taking
over the top
spot in OKC

"I have a 97-year old grandmother
whom I'm legally responsible for, I have
a mother who's in her late seventies who
I am responsible legally for, I have a
sister who is bipolar who I am legally
responsible for, and I was with my family.
I had not seen my wife [Linda Porter] in
three months. I did not want to spoil
my vacation -- not my vacation, but
my time with them. I had a family
emergency, which I left for, which [OKC
PS school board chair Cliff Hudson] was
aware of." (SOURCE--OKNews.com)

* We know exactly what John Porter said
yesterday because reporter Wendy Kleinman
of The Oklahoman has posted the Q&A audio
on the NewsOK.com website (scroll down to
"Related Information" then choose "Q&A").
Hats off to Wendy for terrific through-the-day
coverage. Also, her editors appear to really
get how to do multimedia: fast, often,
compelling. In fact, coverage at
NewsOK.comof this local story regarding a
board's dispute with its superintendent is as
good (and complete) as any I've seen in a
long while.

"What we reasonably expected from
[John Porter]...is that he would pick up
the phone and return a call, or he
would respond to an e-mail, or he
would respond to a Federal Express
that was delivered to his home in
Maryland”--over 2 weeks ago."
(SOURCE--Wendy K. Kleinman/NewsOK.com)

Interestly, the board's
first allegation--that a
$365,593 contract for a
Wireless Generation
proposal for services
related to the mCLASS
technology platform (at

Given that OKC PS is a large
urban district with 4500
employees, a $267.5 million
budget and 36,000 students, it's
reasonable that the board and the
supe they're paying $225,000
annually would want and need to
be in frequent telephone contact
with each other throughout a long
two-week vacation or, er, a family
emergency.

"I like expensive clothes,
expensive cars, I
collect Rolex watches."
--John Porter, District
Administration magazine

superintendents I attempted to
contact over the Christmas holiday
when schools were closed; all but a
few didn't check emails until their
schools reopened this morning.
Also, as it turns out, Cliff personally
paid for the Porter's to travel to
Oklahoma so John could interview
for the supe position.

Hudson's frustration is palpable in
this recent statement:

kitchens testing
new menu items.
(SOURCE--Ryan Underwood/
FastCompany.com)
Compare and
contrast that man-
agement ethic
with that of the

While the cynical among us would
say that vendors are really running
our districts, vendors aside there's
a tension between a board and
their superintendent which for all
the glad-handing and team-
building exercises needs to be part
of the equation.

Despite being an Eli Broad
graduate, John Porter has appar-
ently and seriously misread the
folks who hired him in Oklahoma.

Memo to OKC's John Q. Porter
and to all superintendents:
It's called a school board meeting, not a
school superintendent meeting.

right) does not mention that
mCLASS was developed--

according to Wireless
Generation's website
--"through a unique
collaboration between
the school district and

the education technology
company." Wondering why the
OKC board is tiptoeing around this
issue; wondering if John and/or
any former associate(s) have any
financial participation in the
mCLASS venture. This is the new
murky area in edu-vending where
the lines are not at all clearly drawn
and tax dollars are integral to the
collaborations.

Porter responds to
OKCPS allegations
Even more interesting is the fact
that in John Porter's responses to
the allegations--released a few
hours ago--he does not mention
the "unique collaboration" in which
presumably he would have at least
some controbituion/participation
given his position at MCPS as its
chief information officer. More here

Also confusing is this statement
below from Porter regarding the
"many weeks" involved in getting
his "home moved here":

When I came to Oklahoma City, I pledged
to the community that I would be here for
nine years to enact a long-term plan to
completely revitalize our schools,

In July...I had to move my family halfway
across the country, from the Washington,
DC area. I took the job...even though my
home and family were still in the
Washington area. It took many weeks to
get my home moved here.

Why this is confusing: Just
yesterday during the press
conference at John Marshall High
School he said he had not seen
his wife for three months. For
most of us who are married, any
home we occupy includes our
spouse. Perhaps they do things
differently in Maryland.

Something they apparently don't
do differently in Oklahoma than
they do in Maryland or Texas or
anywhere else. "This employee
routinely drives me to the airport,"
states superintendent Porter.
Why? Why so many trips to the
airport? Why not stay put in OKC
and do the job you're hired to do?

John Marshall HS

Embezzlement Hearing Delayed

By Amy Sherrill
Thursday, December 27, 2007 11:38 AM CST
TIMES RECORD • ASHERRILL@SWTIMES.COM

A preliminary hearing on an embezzlement of public funds charge
for the Marble City School District’s suspended superintendent has
been postponed, according to the Sequoyah County District Attorney’
s Office.

A hearing scheduled for today for Larry Duane Couch, 55, of Vian
was continued because an investigative audit conducted by the
District Attorney’s Office and the state Auditor and Inspector’s Office
is not complete.

Three auditors from the state Auditor’s Office and two investigators
from the Sequoyah County District Attorney’s Office have been
reviewing school records since the summer.

The investigation into Marble City schools involves at least
$500,000 — the largest ever in Oklahoma history — according to
Terri Watkins, public relations officer of the state Auditor and
Inspector’s Office.

Marble City School District has about 160 students from
kindergarten through eighth grade; 85 percent of the students are
Cherokee, officials have said.

The Marble City School Board appointed Bill J. London of Muldrow
as interim superintendent.

School board members said earlier they did not fire Couch
because he said he was appealing the state Board of Education’s
Nov. 29 decision to revoke his teacher’s and administrator’s
license.

So far, Couch, who is suspended without pay from the school
district, has not filed an appeal, according to the court clerk’s office
and the state Department of Education.

Board member Ramon Bolin said as soon as Couch’s appeal
deadline passes, he will suggest to other board members to fire
Couch so the school district can move on and fix the mess that he
allegedly created.

The next regularly scheduled board meeting is 7 p.m. Jan. 14.

Hats off also to reporters Monica
Keen/Sequoyah County Times,
Donna Hales/Muskogee Phoenix,
and Amy Sherrill/Fort Smith Times
Record and their editors.

STAND BY YOUR BROAD MAN
Why was Houston ISD's PR guy Terry Abbott
in Oklahoma Monday a.m.--and not his desk
at HISD? Read HISD trustee's comment below
By Peyton Wolcott
Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008 - 4:33 a.m.

Limousines and Limousins
By Peyton Wolcott
Thursday, January 10, 2007 - 12:07 a.m.

According to video footage aired on Oklahoma City's KOCO-TV Monday, Houston ISD's
press secretary Terry Abbott (L) was the first person just-suspended Oklahoma City Public
Schools supe John Q. Porter (R) spoke with after departing his seat at the right of the dais.

Watch Oklahoman reporter
Wendy K. Kleinman talk with
Dave Morris about covering
Porter's ouster here

Also on Wednesday, The Oklahoman obtained a copy of two 2005 memorandums from a
Montgomery County, Md., councilwoman where Porter last worked. The memo from April
29 levies an allegation against Porter similar to the one the Oklahoma City School Board has
made against him.

The memo, from Councilwoman Marilyn Praisner to other council members, states: "It
appears that (Montgomery County Public Schools) did not use a formal procurement
solicitation process prior to the signing of any agreement with (Wireless Generation). Mr.
Porter indicated that he sent out requests to vendors, but that he did not do an RFI (request
for information) or an RFP (request for proposals).

"There is also some question to when and how the board of education reviewed and
approved this agreement with (Wireless Generation).”

Porter said the memo referenced a program other than DIBELS, but also produced by
Wireless Generation, that the school district used. He said the program made some people
nervous because it involved a public-private partnership in which the school district received
royalties. Montgomery County schools received royalties because Wireless Generation
marketed a program already being used by the schools, he said. Porter said there were
never any formal allegations. (SOURCE--Wendy K. Kleinman/The Oklahoman)

Greg Meyers

Houston ISD - Oklahoma City
Public Schools connection ?
Another interesting connection not mentioned at
Monday's board meeting was the presence of Houston
ISD's long-time press secretary Terry Abbott, who has
often been credited as being the PR brains behind the
so-called "Houston Miracle" which appears to have
turned out to be a mirage resulting from standardized
testing irregularities including charges of cheating.

Abbott had been at Porter's side the day before at the special press
conference Porter had called at John Marshall HS, where he referred to
Abbott as a "friend." At Monday's school board meeting, immediately
after OKC PS trustees voted to suspend Porter and McCampbell read
the 21 allegations, Porter made a bee line to Abbott's spot in the front
row, where the two men spoke briefly (above) before Porter visited with
other supporters.

Terry Abbott

While it is possible to be friendly with
those whom we have business dealings,
it appears that Abbott may have been in
Oklahoma City in a more official capacity
than mere friend; many Houstonians have
bristled at the news that he was
moonlighting as a well-paid consultant for
Eli Broad, which appears to have been the
nature of his business in Oklahoma City.

Eli Broad and supermodel
Stephanie Seymour at art
foundation event in New
York (SOURCE--New York Social Diary)

Houston ISD trustee
Greg Meyers, by
telephone yesterday,

when asked about Houston ISD's policies regarding
employee moonlighting, responded, "This definitely
raises some questions and concerns as it relates to
Terry Abbott's primary ]ob which should be the Houston
Independent School District. I'll move forward with this
and get some answers from Superintendent Saavedra
and hopefully Mr. Abbott himself."

Who's micro-managing in Oklahoma City
Public Schools: OKCPS board chair
Cliff Hudson--or Eli Broad?
John Porter appears to be implying that he believes his
board chair, Sonic Drive-Ins CEO Cliff Hudson, is
micro-managing. This was also suggested by a local
TV news reporter, KOCO's Tierney Cook who asked,
AFT's Ed Allen, "Do you think it's a clash of
personalities?"

Did Oklahoma City Public Schools get more than they were bargaining
for when they hired Broad Supe Academy graduate John Q. Porter of
Maryland earlier this year?

Background: Monday morning when Oklahoma City Public Schools
trustees returned to their board meeting following a two-hour executive
session behind closed doors, they immediately voted to suspend their
new superintendent, recent Broad Supe Academy grad John Q. Porter.
Next, former U.S. Attorney Robert McCampbell, lead investigator, read
aloud the board's report to the public containing 21 allegations of
misconduct against Porter; the list of charges started with his allegedly
having purchased $365,000 of hand-held diagnostic computers for
teachers meant to assist with diagnosing K-2 reading problems without
competitive bidding. According to the vendor's website, the DIBELS
mCLASS Wireless Generation software was developed in partnership
with Porter's former employer, Montgomery County Public Schools,
where Porter was employed as associate supe and chief of technology
for the district. The MCPS connection was not mentioned in the
allegations, or in the course of the board meeting, nor were similar
possible prior allegations brought up from Porter's time in Montgomery
County, Maryland. (More below.)

Cliff Hudson

Other than how Cook could reduce a $365,000 unbid contract and
extravagant meal and rental car ($1,850 for two months' car rentals in
addition to Porter's $8,500 annual car allowance) fiduciary duty of care
issues into a personality clash, isn't the real question whether Eli
Broad is micromanaging Oklahoma City Public Schools? Did
Oklahoma City Public Schools knowingly sign on for Eli
Broad also when they hired John Porter?

And what was Terry Abbott doing up in Oklahoma
City on a Houston ISD workday anywho?

In the course of defending his extravagant meal
charges--for which he'd presented non-itemized
bills with no descriptions of purpose--Porter
said basically (my paraphrasing) that Broad's
consultants had come to town to help out and in
gratitude OKC PS should give them nice dinners
in gratitude for the free help.

What was the nature of the free help, we've been
asking this week. Terry Abbott has not
responded to telephone calls or emails asking
him to define his role.

One point Porter clarified himself, on air: He
said that paid-by-Broad consultants came to
OKC to help with PR. (If Broad's paying them
and their expenses, why do they need free
meals? And was the OKCPS board aware that
they were getting so much "free" help?)

Houston school district spokesman Terry Abbott makes out pretty well for a government
employee without a college degree -- $158,000 a year.
The man whose spinning skills were so awesome they enabled a guy like Rod Paige to rise
to educational glory deserves a big salary, of course. But for that amount of money you'd
think he'd give the district his full attention.
Instead Abbott has been working as a consultant for the Broad Center, the organization
created by billionaire Eli Broad to improve urban education.
He visits districts across the country, telling them how to deal with the media.
How much does he make doing this? The Broad Center won't say, and neither will Abbott.
"It wouldn't be appropriate for me to discuss any additional work I do on my own time," he
says by e-mail. (Taking reporters' question by e-mail only is part of Abbott's mad PR skillz.)
OK. But what about the district? Does it approve of the moonlighting?
"The leadership of the district, dating back to Dr. Paige's tenure here, has been informed that I
will work to help other organizations at their request and on my own time," he writes. "HISD
employees clearly are allowed to be involved in outside activities on their own time."
(SOURCE--The Houston Press/03.15.07)

John Porter at The
Oklahoman responding
to allegations (VIDEO
SOURCE--NewsOK.com)

Might some of that "free" help likely be our friend Terry Abbott from
Houston ISD?

And The Houston Chronicle doesn't appear to be much happier with
Terry's PR skills and/or his traveling for Broad:

It seems Houston ISD press secretary Terry
Abbott's advice is in demand among school districts
hoping to get more positive coverage from their local
media. According to this story published in
yesterday's Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind.,
Abbott visited last month to offer some tips for
working with reporters. His trip was coordinated
through the Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation.
That's the same non-profit school reform group that
dubbed Houston ISD the best urban school district in
America in 2002, before the rest of the nation learned
that HISD has drastically under-reported the number
of students who dropped out of its schools. HISD
Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra is a graduate of
the Broad Foundation's urban superintendents
academy.
The folks in Fort Wayne were impressed with
Abbott's presentation and the job he's done getting
positive press for HISD, according to the story:
"We're always trying to engage with the community,
and Terry Abbott's visit provided us an opportunity
to learn how another district's approach has been
successful," said Connie Casson, a two-year intern
paid for by the Broad Foundation to help bring
business practices to the school district.
HISD pays Abbott $158,060 a year to "gain
favorable media coverage" of its schools,

according to the district's media policy.
Over the last few years we've heard anecdotally about Abbott taking time off to do
consulting work for other school districts nationally. The Los Angeles school system
brought him in not too long ago, for example. Abbott also speaks regularly at national school
conferences about how to "manage the media," as he likes to say. His advice has included
admonishing school officials to never wear sunglasses on television and never let an
investigative reporter interview the superintendent.
It has always struck me as odd that while Abbott regularly complains that this newspaper is
consistently unfair to HISD, he's also considered an expert at obtaining positive media
coverage. How can both be true?
Maybe that's why he focuses so much on TV news.
Here's what he said in last December's American School Board Journal:
"If it's not on TV, it's not on," says Terry Abbott, HISD's spokesman and the former chief of
staff for former U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige. "You have to aggressively manage the
media by promoting positive news and defending against the negative." With public education
constantly under attack, school leaders need to wage a "permanent campaign" to win more
battles for public education, Abbott says. School systems also have to excel at providing the
top-notch customer service parents expect at schools and district offices....
I'd never been involved in covering a school district with a "press secretary" until I came to
work in Houston. Most other school districts use "public information officers." There's a
difference. Public information officers serve as a clearinghouse for information. Their job is to
get pertinent information to the media in a timely fashion and set up interviews. Press
secretaries try to orchestrate media coverage to make their school districts look as good as
possible. (SOURCE--Jason Spencer/The Houston Chronicle 03.10.07)

So, was Terry Abbott in
Oklahoma City Public
Schools assisting the school
board with its press relations
or was Terry Abbott on a
mission in OKCPS to shore
up a flailing Broad grad?

In either event, why was Terry
Abbott in OKCPC on behalf of

Houston ISD headquarters

the Broad Foundation when Houston taxpayers -- and our friends Jason
Spencer of The Houston Chronicle and the writers at The Houston
Press -- would have expected to find him in his office at Houston ISD?

Or have Houston ISD's headquarters been renamed "The Eli Broad
Houston ISD Headquarters" when nobody noticed?

__________

Similar allegations surface in Maryland
Meanwhile, it appears John Q. Porter's brush with non-bid purchases
from vendors in OKCPS may not have been the first time. Wendy
Kleinman has just published the following:

Community support for Porter dwindling?
KOCO-TV reported Tuesday afternoon that a local group which had
originally supported Porter in his employment standing had changed
its mind:

Lessli Massad, "the co-founder of an alliance who spoke out Tuesday about a
controversy surrounding suspended Oklahoma City Superintendent Dr. John Q.
Porter retracted her opinion on Wednesday."

Porter's supporters at Monday's board meeting were frequently
boisterous and disruptive, at one point singing, "We shall overcome."

It must be hoped that Porter's allies will take the time to go through the
charges before his next appearance before the board on February 6.

Anybody looked at Porter's credit card usage in
Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland yet?
Here's hoping our friends at The Oklahoman and elsewhere will be
able to take the time to investigate John Porter's pattern of spending in
his prior job. He mentions in defending himself that he'd had district
credit cards before, at MCPS; did anybody really look at his receipts
there or were they routinely passed through for payment each month?

I have already asked the following questions of Porter's former boss
regarding an issue which has been a bit buried in the drama
surrounding Porter's employment. These questions address a really
troublesome area, how Montgomery County Public Schools taxpayers
came to fund a private enterprise "partnership" between MCPS and
Wireless Generation. When did school districts start crossing the line
between "public" and "private"? Would that be about the same time
our schools stopped teaching the three R's and our kids stopping
being educated?

1. What is MCPS's legal standing for participation in the
mCLASS/Wireless Generation product partnership? There
appear to be a number of such partnerships around the
country between public schools and private businesses and
many of us are confused as to the legal standing for such,
especially when the selling of data regarding and specific to
MCPS students is involved.

2. Royalties ?
What is the dollar amount per annum of royalties received by
MCPS for its partnership? What is the dollar amount per
annum of royalties received by you for your participation in the
partnership?

3. Financial and/or other considerations ?
What if any financial and/or other considerations are/did you
and/or your former CIO John Q. Porter receive from the vendor
and/or any other sources for your and/or MCPS' participation in
this partnership?

Will post Jerry's responses when and if they are received. In the
meantime, let's all work to get the vendors out of the classroom so
there's more room for teachers to teach the basics again. It worked.

OKC PS UPDATE
By Peyton Wolcott
Sat., Jan. 12, 2008 - 12:01 a.m.
Chair Cliff Hudson's offer Thursday to
resign--if supe John Q. Porter would also,
which offer Porter has rejected--raised more
questions than it answers, including whether
the current OKCPS employment flap is a
smokescreen for larger issues, some of which
appear to suggest other reasons for Houston
ISD's PR guy Terry Abbott's presence in OKC
with Porter. The OKC PS board met again
yesterday and suspended Porter a second
time. More here

A full Spectrum of questions for OKC supe John Q.
Porter-- and his trustees
By Peyton Wolcott
Updated Wed., Jan. 16, 2008 - 12:07 p.m.

NewsOK OKC SCHOOLS COVERAGE HERE

Marble City ES football team
Organization of Rural Elementary Schools (ORES) Division II
2007 state football champions

1. Spectrum ownership
Regarding Oklahoma Public Schools superintendent
John Q. Porter's company, Spectrum International,
Inc., wondering whether the OKC PS school board
made any pre-hire arrangements with Porter
regarding the running of his 24-employee million-
dollar (SOURCE--Dunn & Bradstreet report) company back in
Maryland. Difficult to see how someone can run both
a Maryland company and a major urban school
district -- at the same time.

District Administration magazine featuring
John Q. Porter while still serving as a
Maryland CIO: "I like expensive clothes,
expensive cars. I collect Rolex watches...."

could run both a large public
governmental entity such as OKC
Public Schools and at the same
time turn a profit for their own large
private corporation, especially with
the two half a continent apart.
Wouldn't it be something like
having two wives at the same
time?

The only similar situation that
comes immediately to mind is

Key issues:
1. Spectrum ownership
2. Spectrum SBA status
3. OKC residency
4. Maryland mCLASS partnership

Richard
Bocanegra

Edgewood ISD supe
Richard Bocanegra's
ownership of a
pre-school in San
Antonio a while back
while at the helm of
EISD, but the two
businesses were both
in the same city--San

Antonio--plus he eventually turned
ownership of the day care over to
an associate.

House or home?
Porter's residency issues:
Something else that's confusing is
the issue of where exactly John
Porter lives, and whether the OKC

John Porter's OKC house

PS board that hired him assumed
he was going to move lock, stock
and barrel--including his wife and
all dependent family members--to
Oklahoma City or just purchase a
house in OKC, which latter appears
to be what Porter has done.

According to Oklahoma County tax
assessor records, while Porter
has purchased a house in OKC--
and what a house, one appraised
just shy of $1 million--he has
apparently declined to declare it a
homestead.

Why pass up an opportunity to save
a few bucks on taxes?

Perhaps that's because according
to Maryland legal records Porter's
actual homestead is his residence
back home in Potomac, Maryland,
another million-dollar residence.

Potomac Village, Maryland

FOLLOW UP: I have contacted
John regarding the two issues of
(1) running a company on the side
so far away and (2) his legal
homestead, and will post his
responses if and when.

01.23.08 FOLLOW UP: No response yet from
TERRY ABBOTT, ELI BROAD, or JOHN PORTER re
Abbott's presence at Porter's side--not OKC PS board's--during
Jan. 7, 2008 board meeting

January 2008 / Questions
for John Q. Porter and the
OKC PS board that hired
him and to whom he
reports: "Do you live here .
. .

John Q. Porter's $ 1 million residence
in Maryland as of 01.17.08

. . . or here?

John Q. Porter's $1 million residence
in Oklahoma as of 01.17.08

Which of these two is John Porter's
actual declared residence?
And why does it matter?
By Peyton Wolcott
Updated Friday, January 18, 2008 - 12:007 a.m.

Were John Q. Porter and his
'expensive clothes' and 'expensive
cars' and 'Rolex watches' not a match
for conservative and poor OK City?
By Peyton Wolcott
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 5:00 a.m.

Developing . . .

It's a challenge keeping two households going at the same time. You
go to the store and remember you needed salt then when you get
home realize it was for the other house; this was our experience years
ago, in California.

Oklahoma City superintendent John C. Porter has my complete
sympathy, juggling two houses. And rather than a few hours away from
each other as in our case, his are half a continent apart. Then throw in
also a 24-employee business back in Maryland and his hands have got
to be full indeed.

In addition to the hardship, what's confusing is John's saying that he
had moved to Oklahoma when Montgomery County, Maryland officials
report that he still owns a home in Potomac (see Google Earth photo
above), one which appears to be worth at least a million dollars.

Why John Porter's residency matters
Something caught my attention in the press conferences last week; he
kept emphasizing that he had come to Oklahoma City as part of a
nine-year plan. Having heard so many such speeches from
superintendents in similar circumstances over the years leaves me
wondering whether John was positioning his attorneys to angle for a
nine-year buyout on his $225,000 annual contract--that's over $2 mil in
dog years--then when the board settles for the 2 1/2 years left on his
current contract, the half-mil payout will seem like a bargain. It's an old
labor-bargaining tactic: Ask for more than you really want. Have this
evening emailed John again to confirm whether this might be going on.

HOME

April 6, 2008 / QUESTIONS RE PORTER'S
SETTLEMENT: Friends, I'm especially interested in clause 7.
of John Q. Porter's $326,530 settlement agreement signed earlier
today with Oklahoma City Public Schools, in light of his technology
position with Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland,
including but not limited to that district's mCLASS DIBELS WireGen
partnership, which collects student data, and which product he brought,
unbid, to OKC PS; clause 7. reads, "Superintendent Porter agrees not
to provide to any third-party (other than counsel) any documents of the
District, including any information electronically stored in the District's
computer system."

March 6, 2008 update: Oklahoma City DA
David Prater finds Porter not guilty of any
criminal activity
"Former Oklahoma City Superintendent John Porter
acted like a 'bully' and his expense report file was
'questionable,' according to interviews in a report
released today by the Oklahoma County District
Attorney." (SOURCE--Wendy K. Kleinman/The Oklahoman) District
Attorney Prater confined his investigation to the OKC
PS school board's list of allegations against John Q.
Porter which the board dropped as part of a joint
Porter/board chair Cliff Hudson resignation. NOTE:
This so often happens; district attorneys who are
elected officials will call a press conference and call
for an investigation -- which seldom leads to any
meaningful action.

Former
superintendent Larry
Duane Couch
Marble City School
District-Vian,
Oklahoma; also,
former officer -
Organization of Rural
Elementary Schools
(ORES)

Former superintendent John Quincy Porter/Oklahoma City Public
Schools-Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; previous associate supe -
technology, Montgomery County Public Schools, Baltimore, Maryland);
also, owner SBA-funded tech business: Spectrum International, Inc.)

FEDERAL ASSISTANCE

2006
MARBLE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Oklahoma $269,063
DOED: 84.041: Impact Aid $232,430
DOED: 84.060: Indian Education_Grants to Local
Educational Agencies $22,704
US DOE: 84.358: Rural Education $13,929

2005
MARBLE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Oklahoma $263,938
DOED: 84.041: Impact Aid $226,618
DOED: 84.060: Indian Education_Grants to Local
Educational Agencies $22,975
US DOE: 84.358: Rural Education $14,345

2004
MARBLE CITY SCH DIST Oklahoma             $201,696
DOED - Impact Aid Programs $201,696
Federal dollars: $112,454
DOED: 84.041: Impact Aid $73,623
DOED: 84.060: Indian Education_Grants to Local
Educational Agencies $23,557
USDOE: 84.358: Rural Education $15,274

2002
MARBLE CITY SCH DIST Oklahoma                    $289,625
DOED 84.041: Impact Aid $259,705
84.060: Indian Education_Grants to Local Educational
Agencies $29,920

2001
MARBLE CITY SCH DIST Oklahoma             $243,341
DOED 84.041: Impact Aid $216,983
84.060: Indian Education_Grants to Local Educational
Agencies $26,358

2000
MARBLE CITY SCH DIST                         $436,085
DOED 84.041: Impact Aid $416,870
84.060: Indian Education_Grants to Local Educational
Agencies $19,215
............................................................................................
Also: 2005
COUCH, LARRY DUANE Oklahoma $29,000
Top 5 Programs 10.404: Emergency Loans $29,000
Top 5 Agencies Providing Assistance Dept. Ag. - Farm
Service Agency $29,000

(SOURCE--FedSpending.org)

Lessons to students: 'Steal school
money' and 'Launder money' and
'Falsify tax returns' ?
By Peyton Wolcott
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 1:45 a.m.

We as a society hold our public school
administrators to a higher standard; after all, we
entrust to them what most of us hold most dear:
our children and our money. On top of that, we
encourage and allow our children to look up to
these folks as their role models.

So, if, as News 6 quotes the U.S. Attorney's office,
former Marble City School District superintendent
Larry Couch has been raiding Marble City
school's "piggy bank" -- well, then. Let's take a
closer look at the piggy bank.

Couch Auto Sales

Couch Limousin
Farm

C&A Auto Sales

Couch Body Shop

Couch Body Shop
and Auto Sales

Couch Body Shop
and Salvage

Couch Cattle
Company

Larry Couch (4th from left, rear) accepting
check from Cherokee Nation's license tag sales effort;
chief Chad Smith far right rear.

Marble City "piggy
bank"
Located in the
Cherokee Nation
where most children
qualify for free or
reduced lunches,
Marble City School
District qualifies for
federal dollars, most of
which, as we've seen
with the fed's eRate
and Reading First
spending, appear to
have been
unsupervised.

From Sallisaw, OK
Chamber of
Commerce:
"No Chamber of
Commerce banquet
would ever be
complete or done with
pure style and class
without Carol Couch
and her staff of The
Green House. From
beginning to end, the
evening was perfect."

Larry Couch: One of OK's smallest (160 students)

John Q. Porter: OK's 2nd largest district (37,000 students)

According to the charges filed against former Marble City
superintendent Larry Couch, the federal dollars at left in green box
translated into the activities at right in pink:

Former school boss asks court to review order

BY MONICA KEEN, STAFF WRITER
The former superintendent of Marble City School is asking a
Sequoyah County District Court judge to review a State Board of
Education order that revoked the superintendent's teaching and
administrator credentials.

Larry Duane Couch's credentials were officially revoked Nov. 29 at
the conclusion of a hearing before the State Board of Education, in
which some of the accusations were that school records were
inflated in order to receive more state aid.

Couch is now seeking to have that revocation order reviewed in
order to get his credentials back. As of Monday morning, a hearing
in that case has not yet been set, according to court records.

According to the petition, filed Dec. 26 in Sequoyah County District
Court in Sallisaw and available online Dec. 27, Fourth Scoufos,
Sallisaw attorney, is requesting a judicial review of the order be
granted and for the court to set aside the State Board of Education's
order, "restraining the State Board of Education from enforcing the
order."

The state school board first made the move to revoke Couch's
credentials in August after Couch was charged in district court with
embezzlement of public funds. He is accused of taking $100,000 in
school funds for a private land deal.

The embezzlement charge prompted Department of Education
officials to scrutinize school records and led to the October filing of
the complaint seeking to revoke Couch's credentials.

An ongoing audit has since uncovered $500,000 in questionable
expenditures at the school, audit officials have said.

Terri Watkins, spokesperson for the state auditor's office, said last
week that the audit report is not yet complete. She indicated that
they hope to have the report turned into the district attorney's office
by the first of January or mid-January.

A preliminary hearing set last week in the case was postponed as
officials await the results of that audit.

PETITION

According to the petition filed last week, Couch is seeking a review
of the State Board of Education order "on the ground that the
substantial rights of the petitioner have been prejudiced because
the agency findings, inferences, conclusions, and decisions are in
violation of petitioner's constitutionally protected interests in his
professional licenses and violate state and federal constitutional
guarantees of due process."

Scoufos also alleges in the petition that Couch's due process
rights were violated by the revocation of his teaching certificate
"because no evidence was presented at the hearing bearing on his
qualifications as a teacher. Petitioner further alleges that due
process was violated by the revocation of his superintendent
certificate in the absence of clear and convincing evidence that any
of the six reporting irregularities state in the amended complaint
constituted knowing and willful violations of the school code."

He alleges his rights have been prejudiced because the agency's
findings are "arbitrary and capricious in that the decision to revoke
petitioner's teaching certificate was made without any evidence
regarding Couch's qualifications as a teacher."

The order and findings of fact and conclusions of law were served
on Couch Dec. 7.

Scoufos said Wednesday morning that the petition is Couch's
appeal of the State School Board's decision to revoke his
credentials.

Scoufos explained that Couch could have asked the state board
directly to reconsider their decision or proceed forward with an
appeal in district court. Couch decided to ask the court to intervene.

He said that in the state board's order they make finding that certain
things occurred that were inappropriate. One allegation was that
the school did not have a properly certified teacher for a class. But
Scoufos asserts that Couch did not knowingly and willfully violate
any laws.

"If any oversights occurred, it was a matter of misinformation,"
Scoufos said, adding that Couch did not knowingly or intentionally
violate laws in order for the school to get more funds.

Scoufos argued that the state school board did not present any
evidence to justify why Couch's teaching certificate was revoked. He
noted that if the state board was correct in their assertions that
Couch acted inappropriately, it would have been in Couch's role as
superintendent - not as a teacher.

Scoufos said they are now awaiting Sequoyah County District
Judge Jeff Payton to assign the case to the appropriate judge, who
will then set a hearing date.

ALLEGED VIOLATIONS

In the State Board of Education order, officials list a string of alleged
violations. Those violations, according to the order, include the
following:

- In 2004, 2005, 2006 the school claimed and received state aid for
students in an early childhood class offered by Cookson Hills Head
Start.

- Marble City School District did not provide a certified teacher for
the early childhood class.

- For school years 2005, 2006, 2007, students entered on the
school district's attendance register as early childhood students
were under the age of four years old and as such, the school
district was not entitled to collect state aid on those underage
students. The school collected state aid for an early childhood
class that was not taught on their facility and under their direction
and authority.

- In 2006, students were identified to the State Department of
Education by Larry Couch as eligible for the bilingual weight in the
state aid formula, when the school district had not met the legal
requirements for identification and inclusion of such students. The
evidence additionally reflected that 81 students were claimed to be
bilingual students in a fiscal year when only 46 could be verified.

- In 2004, 2005, and 2006, teacher grade books showed students
being dropped from the teacher class rolls, when the same
students continued to be included on the attendance registers,
allowing the school district to receive state aid for which it was not
eligible under state law. "Couch admitted in testimony that at least
two students were expelled from Marble City School and that the
students were allowed to go to a private religious school while
Marble City School District continued to receive state aid on those
same students. The testimony was that possibly as many as five
students had been in that same situation, but Couch testified that
he knew at least two students had been in this exact situation."

- In 2006, the school paid a regular education teacher using federal
funds, which is prohibited by law. Couch testified that the teacher
provided services to the students, but that the testimony was also
that the teacher had been interviewed and she had not taught a
special education class in at least four years.

- In 2006, Marble City School claimed for federal and state aid
purposed 10 students identified as special education who either
had not individualized education plan (IEP) or whose IEP was
significantly outdated. It was the testimony of Couch that he was the
only person authorized by the school to sign the IEPs as the
administrator. The testimony was that for the 10 students identified
and testified about in the hearing, many of those IEPS reflected no
signature by the school administrator.

The board concluded that it was the finding of the board that
Couch's conduct failed to reach "the highest degree of diligence,
accuracy and good faith in making said records and reports
reflected in the school records."

Published December 07, 2007 06:46 pm -
Muskogee Phoenix

The people speak: Marble City’s missing money raises big
question

I couldn’t agree more with Roy Banks about the Hilldale bond
issue. Superintendent D.B. Merrill should have been gone a long
time ago.

Maybe, just maybe, at the next board election, parents will put some
new folks in office that don’t have to exploit their power and suck up
to the super.

Second: To the Marble City School board members, hats off to you
for tabling the action on Larry Couch ... You bet Couch wanted an
agreement with you. In this case a bird in the hand could have been
just the tip of the iceberg.

Do you really think it stops at $100,000?

If the loss could go up to $1 million then I believe if I had my choice
of a bird or a buffalo pooping in my hand then the mighty bison
would prevail. My God, people, the man said he stole from your kids.

I can’t believe your school attorney would even recommend to
accept the lesser amount — unless, there may be more than one
culprit.

Kind of seems funny that so much money went missing over a
good period of time and nobody noticed. Sure makes me wonder.

But on the other hand, maybe Couch could loan some of it to Merrill
at Hilldale for his projects.

Just a thought.

Wayne Goad

Muskogee

in July that he was not used to the
daily demands of the new job?

Hands on
Or was this a clash of work ethics
and cultures? OKC PS board
chair Cliff Hudson also chairs
another enterprise, Sonic Drive-Ins,
which he joined 25 years ago as
an attorney; at Sonic Hudson
requires his executives to spend
half their time in the chain's stores'

Developing . . .

July 1, 2008 / The resignation yesterday
of Houston ISD PR guy Terry Abbott
(above left) raises further questions regarding
Terry's -- and Eli Broad's -- involvement in the affairs
and business of Oklahoma City Public Schools.

In this image above, captured from TV footage of a
school board meeting at the time of then-OKC supe
John Q. Porter's ouster/resignation from that district,
Terry Abbott while still in the employ of HISD was
moonlighting in Oklahoma City on behalf of the Eli
Broad Foundation, in an advisory capacity to Broad
grad Porter.

Enron spokeswoman Karen Denne said
employees' access to the accounts was
blocked as part of a previously planned
change in the administration of the retirement
plan and that the measure was in effect from
Oct. 26. to Nov. 19. (SOURCE--CNNMoney)

Shall we try and ask Eli Broad and
his folks at the foundation about
this again? Always interesting
going to that particular well given
that Eli's PR gal is Karen Denne,
formerly of Enron. You recall Karen,
she's the Enron spokesperson
who told employees that the
switchover that froze their 401-K's --
at a time when the company's
stock was tanking -- had been in
the works for months:

Interesting, given
that some of the
by-OKC-Schools
standards lavish
receipts for fine
dining listed in the
school board's
plaints against
Porter were for feting
Broad consultants.

Eli Broad (L) with model at gala
(PHOTO--New York Social Diary)

Which raises the question Broad won't
answer: Is Eli Broad sending consultants into
American public schools on behalf of his graduates
or on behalf of the school districts?