Prince Charlie Charms the Round Table

by: Thurman Hart

Tue May 30, 2006 at 06:46:16 PM EDT

Did you hear the one about the state official who used public funds to pay for his vacation?  No, wait!  It gets better!  When he was caught, his buddies decided that he had not been wrong in doing so!

No, it isn't a Walt Disney story.

Following a special closed-door session yesterday, the Jersey City Board of Education has decided to become accomplices in the Londongate affair of Superintendent of Schools Charles T. Epps Jr.

After discussing with Epps his lavish 2004 trip to England, the school trustees felt the excursion was OK by them, said the superintendent was contrite and agreed to pay back about $5,000 of $21,000 the district paid for the jaunt, and opined that enough time has passed and that they should move on.

Asshats for everyone!

So the moral of this story, for the children that are supposed to be under Prince Charlie's watchful eye, is that if you get caught ripping people off that you only have to return a portion of your ill-gotten gains and all will be forgiven.

It was Epps who called for this meeting, according to trustees. The reason was obvious - to put the entire issue to rest. It was cowardly of the trustees to support the superintendent, who apparently did a good of job of practicing his sincerity act before going before the powerless trustees.

This newspaper demanded that the school panel open the session to the public. It not only failed to do so, but did nothing to reprimand Epps for, at minimum, his lack of judgment in spending lavishly on his "vacation" at taxpayers' expense.

This newspaper has also called on the state acting education commissioner to remove Epps. The city's toothless school board indicated that it would not ask for his removal, which means they condone Epps' actions.

This newspaper demands that the state return control of the district to the city, and that a new school election be held to create a real Board of Education with full powers.

Eh, I doubt a local BoE would have done differently.  That's part of the problem.  The only solution is to have a full-scale state-level investigation.  Please contact the Attorney General and the Governor and ask them to investigate Prince Charlie.