Superintendent Gets Raise for Fake Doctorate Degree
A Freehold Regional High School District school board member said she would seek the resignation or removal of the superintendent and an assistant superintendent if they don’t pay back the district for tuition reimbursement and raises given for doctoral degrees obtained from an “online, unaccredited diploma mill.”
Fake Doctor of Education
Katie Goon, the Marlboro representative to Freehold Regional, also demanded that Superintendent H. James Wasser and Assistant Superintendent Donna Evangelista stop using the title “doctor.” Goon made these remarks in a statement to the Asbury Park Press on Wednesday.
Goon insisted that Wasser and Evangelista pursue doctoral degrees from a recognized institution on their own time, without the aid of the district.
Wasser, Evangelista and retired Assistant Superintendent Frank J. Tanzini received $2,500 raises based on doctoral degrees obtained from Breyer State University, and the district paid $8,700 in tuition to Breyer State.
Breyer State was kicked out of Alabama by officials there in June. The diploma-mill issue has spawned state investigations and statewide controversy.
Goon, the first board member to openly criticize Wasser, wrote that the administrators’ actions have caused Freehold Regional to “become the subject of ridicule.”
Freehold Borough representative Bunny Hammer said Wednesday that district school boards past and present should be held responsible for allowing these payments to be made.
The past board members “did not have foresight,” Hammer said, in allowing contract language that did not specify that administrators graduate only from accredited institutions.
The current board, the board attorney and “(Wasser), for taking advantage of the situation,” should be held accountable, Hammer said.
“The board has not done its job,” and has allowed district money to fund questionable degrees, she said.
The board needs to set a strict policy, she said.
State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said Wednesday that she felt strongly that the practice of using unaccredited degrees for monetary gain is wrong.
But she declined to express an opinion when asked if school boards should demand that administrators return the money given for tuition or salary increases.
“There are legal implications because there are contracts that folks have entered into,” she said. “So I don’t think that’s an appropriate question for me to give an opinion on. Because it’s a legal issue.”
The board’s Freehold Township representative, Michael Caiazza, also addressed the matter Wednesday. Caiazza said he is focusing his energy on what he can do to help the situation by tightening board policy and procedure.
The board will address the recommendations of the state Department of Education’s Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance at Monday’s board meeting, Caiazza said.
That office urged the board to change its policies.
The Asbury Park Press has reported that separate investigations are being conducted by the state Commission on Higher Education and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Repeated calls to the commission this week remain unreturned. Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Peter E. Warshaw Jr. declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
The commission is investigating whether the Freehold Regional administrators’ use of doctoral titles violates a statute regarding the use of academic titles.
Carl Viola, who drafted the statutes in 1986 and contacted the Asbury Park Press on Wednesday, disagreed with Freehold Regional attorney Lawrence Schwartz, who said at the July 28 board meeting that Wasser is “fully within his rights” to use these titles.
Schwartz argued that the statutes apply when the individual works for a post-secondary institution.
Viola said the statutes apply to anyone in New Jersey.
When the statutes were first passed, letters were sent to those known to have degrees unrecognized by the state, informing them of the law and a $1,000 civil penalty should they continue to use academic titles or designations, Viola said.
A psychologist with a private practice was told to take a tile off his building that stated he had an advanced degree because the degree was not state-recognized, Viola said.
Viola said the title doctor and the letters Ed.D., for example, fall under this category.
Viola, president of Educational Consultants in New Jersey, was assistant director of the Department of Higher Education’s office of independent institutions, licensing and credentials.
The intent of the statute is twofold, he said.
People have “the right to expect” that any institution in the state is credible and that anyone using academic titles has received degrees from institutions that are equally credible.
The law states that, to be state-recognized, an out-of-state institution must be fully licensed in its own state and be either regionally accredited or seeking accreditation by a recognized agency, Viola said.
On Tuesday, state Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, condemned the actions of Wasser, Evangelista and Tanzini. He urged swift action by the Attorney General and commissioner of education, and pledged to introduce legislation this fall to allow districts to reimburse and give salary advances to teachers, principals, and administrators only if the degree is received at a state-recognized institution.
“This amounts to a serious abuse of taxpayer dollars. Anyone, particularly someone in the education field, should understand the importance of obtaining a degree from an accredited university,” Codey said.
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I am an unfortunate resident in this particular school district. They are currently a “Laughing Stock” for allowing this thing to happen.
Darkgovernment is an understatement. I am not HAPPY at ALL!!
This is corruption at it’s best…..or worst!!….Whatever!!
NJ School Administrators Still Using Unaccredited Degrees in NJ schools
Are you aware that there are still New Jersey School administrators who are still using titles from unaccredited doctoral programs in the State of New Jersey? Of particular concern is the following newly hired administrator (superintendent) at the Cumberland (County, NJ) Regional High School (CRHS) in southern New Jersey William J. Stonis. This information was readily available on the internet at the web address listed. Stonis formerly worked as a vice-principal in Burlington County New Jersey, but was hired by CRHS in the late spring/early summer of 2008. THIS SORT OF BETRAYAL OF EDUCATIONAL VALUES MUST BE EXPOSED FOR THE GOOD OF THE STUDENTS THESE DECEIVERS ALLEGEDLY SUPERVISE! It is also my understanding that the NJ State Department of Education has ordered NJ public school administrators to stop using titles from degrees received at unaccredited institutions after the Asbury Park Press expose of abuses by administrators in the Freehold Regional School District.
SMART TEAM – Student Mentors and Resource Team – A Resource Guide for the Social and Academic Mentoring of At-Risk Male Students of Color. William J. Stonis http://www.breyerstate.com/recentdissertations3.htm
State Senator Jennifer Beck testified, “When my staff and I researched this issue and the legality of all of it, we quickly came to a shocking realization; while it is against the law in New Jersey to use the title ‘Doctor’ or any letters after your name which indicate you have received an advanced degree if you have received that title from an unaccredited institution, the law is silent on the issue of tuition reimbursement or the granting of additional compensation based on such a degree. So basically, you can’t call yourself ‘Doctor,’ but you can be paid like one.”
Breyer State University, also called Breyer State University-Alabama, is an unaccredited distance education, for profit, private university that used to have an office in Birmingham, Alabama.[1] It has been described by The New Republic magazine as a diploma mill that “claimed official-sounding accreditation to attract hundreds of people to obtain degrees”.[2] Breyer State University disputes this categorization.[3][4][5]
In June 2008 Breyer State’s license to operate in Alabama expired and was not renewed. The Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education reported that the school had moved to Idaho.[6]
Accreditation status
Breyer State is not accredited by any accreditation institution recognized by the United States Department of Education,[13][14] nor is it a state institution.[15] It is on the list of “Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas”.[16] It is also on the lists of unaccredited institutions maintained by Oregon,[15] Maine,[17] and Michigan.[18]
On its website, Breyer states instead that it is accredited by Central States Consortium of Colleges & Schools (CSCCS),1 a subsidiary organization of the American Institute of Health Care Professionals (AIHCP).[19] CSCCS lists Breyer president Dominick L. Flarey as Executive Director.[20] Formerly Breyer was licensed by the Department of Postsecondary Education of the State of Alabama.[21] According to the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education website, a license permits institutions “to operate in the State of Alabama AND IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ACCREDITATION” (capitalization in original).[22] The license expired on March 30, 2008,[21] and was not renewed by the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education.[22][23]
[edit] Controversy
In July 2008, the Asbury Park Press reported that the superintendent and two other administrators of the Freehold Regional High School District in central New Jersey had received tuition reimbursement for enrolling at Breyer State and had been given salary increases based on doctoral degrees issued by Breyer State University, described by the newspaper as “an unaccredited institution deemed an ‘apparent diploma mill’ by education officials in its home state of Alabama.” This was stated to be a violation of a New Jersey law against the professional use of titles and degrees earned from unaccredited institutions. The superintendent stated that he did not intend to seek an accredited doctoral degree, but he planned to continue using the title “Dr.”[24] [25] The superintendent had to be ordered to stop using the title “Dr.”. The Education Commissioner then sent letters to the districts reminding educators that use of unaccredited degrees was illegal.[26]
REFERENCES FROM THE ASBURY PARK PRESS:
Standardize school contracts Sun Oct 12, 2008
Because the state Department of Education determined Wasser violated no rules, regulations or laws, the board will have to wait until his contract expires in 2011 to get rid of him, should it choos… more…
Wasser apologizes to district over diploma-mill flap Wed Oct 8, 2008
EDUCATION WRITER H. James Wasser, Freehold Regional High School District superintendent, apologized to the public and school board during a Monday night board meeting for obtaining a doctoral degr… more…
Wasser issues apology to Freehold Regional district regarding doctoral degree Mon Oct 6, 2008
FREEHOLD BUREAU H. James Wasser, Freehold Regional High Schools superintendent, apologized to the public Monday night for not being more in diligent in his choice of a higher education institution… more…
DON’T ANYONE EVEN DARE MESS WITH MY MOTHER!!!! I DONT WISH TO READ THE WHOLE THING, BUT IF I HEAR ANY NASTY THINGS ABOUT MY MOTHER, YOU WILL BE SO SORRY YOU HAVE NO IDEA!
Listen kid, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but um this stuff was history. No one even pays attention to this stuff anymore. There was stuff about me in there, but I csn care less.