Remember all that hoopla Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Sheldon Berman fed us when we publicly questioned his involvement in the Virtual High School (VHS) organization and whether or not it was ethical?
Remember when he assured us that there was nothing fishy going on? That there was no way he’d use his position as superintendent of schools to help promote the organization/business he was tied to so they could make money?
You’ll want to read everything about the Sheldon Berman-VHS Mess here:
- Sheldon Berman Has Major Explaining to Do [April 23]
- The Sheldon Berman & C-J Spin Job Begins [April 27]
- Background on Sheldon Berman-VHS Issues [May 4]
Remember all that?
Turns out that VHS decided to keep him on board in 2007 when he came to Louisville because – get this – they planned to use him to make money!
As the Hudson superintendent for 14 years, Berman was one of the architects of Virtual High School – a Maynard organization that provides online courses for schools across the nation.
Berman helped start the business by writing a grant proposal in 1996, and is on the board of directors. As part of an agreement between VHS and Hudson, School Committee members select one of VHS’s 11 board members each year.
Even though Berman is now the superintendent of Jefferson County, Ky., the School Committee voted June 30 to keep Berman on the board.
“One of the hopes is he’ll be presenting VHS to Louisville and presumably to other people in Kentucky,” said School Committee Chairman Thomas Green.
-SNIP-
“Shelly helped to write the original grant proposal,” said Pape. “He brought his knowledge of what kids need by way of support in the classroom to what kids need by way of instruction online.”
When VHS became a nonprofit organization in 2001, it signed an intellectual property agreement with Hudson, said Pape. Through this 15-year contract, once VHS reaches a certain revenue amount, a small percentage of it will be given to Hudson.
Green said that is another reason the School Committee voted to keep Berman on the board – so he can introduce VHS to Jefferson County and potentially boost its revenue.
How bout them apples?
It appears that Sheldon Berman has NOTHING to explain. It’s all been laid out for us. He’s deceitful or at the very least, wholly dishonest. He and his staff told us point-blank that he did not remain on the board of VHS so VHS could benefit financially.
Low and behold, that’s exactly why he remained on the board.
Shame on us for not being able to locate that article published in June 2007. Shame on us.
Oh, and after the story we published two days ago on the evaluations roughly 1,000 JCPS teachers provided for Berman? It’s pretty clear that the Jefferson County Board of Education will be derelict of it’s duty if this newly discovered (for Kentuckians, anyway) piece of information isn’t heavily considered.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Novena // Jun 18, 2009 at 11:36 am
“Accountability Is a Foreign Word”
Will either the JCPS Board or the UofL Board protect any thread of honesty and integrity? Please do so quickly because the Loo-a-ville public is fast losing all confidence in public P-12 and university education. They deserve so much better than they are receiving.
P.S. Jake, don’t be too hard on yourself regarding this story being told a bit late. There is still time for the Board to act–if they have any decency or guts.
2 Kuki // Jun 18, 2009 at 11:36 am
Once again, Page One is on it. The C-J, WHAS, everybody else … (crickets).
3 jcpshope // Jun 18, 2009 at 12:22 pm
berman should resign and go home.
4 Just me // Jun 18, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Since Jake first reported this, I’ve never understood the need for VHS when KY has it’s own version. Thanks for the follow-up, Jake.
5 Jeff // Jun 18, 2009 at 9:27 pm
I agree with Novena. Things are getting really messy. UofL still is still tarnished, though they did well in hiring Hebert for the makeover, and now Berman is tarnished, too . The combined student enrollments of UofL & JCPS = approx. 119689. The county population is 713877. These affairs of money & power are affecting about 1/5 of us.
6 Novena // Jun 18, 2009 at 11:19 pm
“Not So Happy Days in the ‘Ville”
Jeff, nicely said and excellent stats. As P. J. O’Rourke might say in this instance, “Giving money and power (to guys like Felner and Berman) is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” The two Boards (at UofL and JCPS) need to ground the lead Fonzies before education, Loo-a-ville style, becomes an utter farce.
7 Mona Lisa // Jun 19, 2009 at 8:01 am
WOW! Am I understanding this correctly?
1. Berman is the founder of VHS
2. The taxpayers and school system pay nothing for his product.
3.The taxpayers and school system of Jefferson County pay for the product.
4. The taxpayers and JCPS could be supporting the school system of Hudson.
5. This was a pre-arranged deal before Berman to the position of Superintendent.
6. Berman lied to School Board members, and Taypayers, then misrepresented his involvement with VHS.
I’m beginning to wonder if the divorce is a set up to protect stakeholders on the east coast.
I noticed that Tinker is also on the board of directors of VHS. Is this the same Tinker of “Tinker and Haavind”?
Is this criminal. It appears he is funneling JCPS money to Hudson.
8 jake // Jun 19, 2009 at 8:10 am
For any other state employee, it’d be a violation of ethics portions of the KRS. Unfortunately, school officials are exempt, according to the Office of the Attorney General.
9 402kid // Jun 19, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Impression from a famous Economics Teacher in 1986.
Berman? Berman? Berman?
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