Moses Will Not Deliver Us to Greener Pastures!

Choosing Dr. Mike Moses Demonstrates that Killeen ISD is not Interested in Real Change
Mike Pearce

It amazes me how the more things change in Killeen ISD, the more they stay the same. Most reasonable people who know any KISD teachers recognize that the district is in the midst of a crisis, facing record low morale and poor leadership, among other things. In order to quell this terrible predicament, the Killeen School Board unwisely chose to place its trust and confidence to find a new superintendent in the hands of one of the most incompetent and corrupt education consultants in Texas history, Dr. Mike Moses.

According to education activist Donna Garner, “It is common knowledge that it was also under Moses' DISD administration that charges, allegations, and convictions have occurred involving out-of-control spending with school credit cards, lost dollars for health plans, abuse of federal e-rate funds, irregular technology vendor contracts, misspent federal bilingual education funds, costly deals with Kinko's, apparent conflicts of interest involving Voyager Expanded Learning, contributions by computer vendors, questionable bond sales, multiple teacher grievances, eyebrow-raising private consultancies, lucrative Coca-Cola contracts, and special privileges for vendors participating in the Education Research and Development Institute (ERDI) conferences.”

Moses, the former superintendent of Dallas ISD, has been summarily criticized by many for his "top-down management” style. In fact, he negotiated his DISD contract to state that trustees "shall not" discuss DISD business with any employee without his expressed consent, nor can they “communicate with anyone" regarding DISD personnel assignment, reassignment, salary and benefits, evaluation or any other terms of employment unless he agrees in advance." I guess there’s nothing like a good ‘ole iron fist…

While Dr. Moses was the superintendent of Dallas ISD, he pushed that district into a deal with Mercer Human Resource Consulting which was cited for violating state insurance laws and cheating several ISD’s out of thousands of dollars. At the same time he was making decisions that resulted in the burning of DISD taxpayer dollars, he was earning the highest superintendent salary in the nation (over $400,000). Moses' retirement benefits amounted to approximately $224,400 per year for the rest of his life, and he walked away from DISD with $480,850 for his work from January 1 - August 31, 2004.

Additionally, Moses has a track record of very poor policy changes that generally sank DISD into even greater financial chaos. In 2003, his now-disgraced Director of Technology accepted a gift from FedEx/Kinko’s which included a $2,500 entry fee into the Pro-Am golf tournament, airfare from Dallas to Austin, a banquet, two nights at the golf resort hotel and a $500 gift package of equipment and clothes. (The director of technology was later indicted for running an “elaborate and very profitable bribery and money laundering scheme involving DISD technology contracts.”) This was at the same time that FedEx/Kinko’s signed a deal with Dr. Moses to outsource copying and printing for DISD. Moses assured teachers and administrators that the deal would reduce costs. Unfortunately, DISD’s copying and printing costs more than doubled. In 2003, the district spent $5.87 million; by 2005 it was spending $12.82 million

The most famous scandal of a Moses’ superintendency was the abuse of district credit cards for personal use which came to light after his departure. In the end, DISD investigators recommended that 93 employees suffer sanctions for their theft of tax dollars. Most famously, a secretary in Moses’ office, Marsha Olson, was found guilty of using a DISD credit card to run up $56,000 in personal purchases over the course of three years. Ms. Olsen’s defense attorney had the good sense to note that her superiors escaped punishment, despite the fact that they had the ultimate responsibility of monitoring their subordinates.

It is disconcerting that the KISD School Board would ask Dr. Moses to choose our next superintendent, knowing full well (providing they might glance at the news every now and then) that he is renowned for creating a culture of corruption in DISD that has left an indelible scar on the district. There is far more to the sorted legacy of Dr. Mike Moses. If the Killeen ISD School Board thinks Moses is the shining example of what we need, we are all in serious trouble.

As I have stated before, Dr. Ann Farris has the experience, temperament, and common sense to repair the damage done to Killeen ISD. But it is apparent that the members of the Board have just invested thousands of dollars on a ruse to ensure the Interim Superintendent Bob Muller gets the job. Why? Dr. Moses was Dr. Muller's most immediate past boss, prior to his years of sycophancy under Jim Hawkins. Dr. Muller reported to Dr. Moses at TEA before coming to KISD as Dr. Moses was leaving TEA. Who wants to wager that Muller gets a stellar report from Moses? The fix is in, my friends... and the stench is overwhelming.