WHAS-TV's Adam Walser turned in his big sweeps piece last night. It chronicled the travels of JCPS supe Sheldon Berman, who was on the road 40 days during a 13-month period.
JCTA president Brent McKim and school board member Stephen Imhoff criticized the travel. Same for former JCTA executive director Steve Neal.
The questionable trips included -- a journey to see polar bears in Canada with the Zoo's director, after which he was named to the Zoo's board, and . . .
Berman went to South Africa during the last week of classes, missing every local graduation. That trip, in which he was a presenter at a conference, coincided with a subsequent Berman vacation.
In part 2 of the series at 11, Walser documented the cost to taxpayers of Berman's Cadillac tastes -- even while laying off staffers and operating on a beer pocketbook.
Berman turned in receipts from upscale local dining establishments including Lilly's, Napa River Grill, Seviche and Le Relais. $1,400 worth, all charged to JCPS. Berman claims they were for impressing potential hires from out of town. There was also an unexplained $300 hotel room bill that Walser turned up.
In his own defense, Berman said he turned down a $3,000 raise this year, and maintains the travel is an important part of his job promoting the system. He says cutting back on travel and dining expenses, get this -- could damage JCPS's reputation nationally.
Credit Berman for not ducking the controversy. He faced Walser's questions head on, defending the travel and spending. He obviously thinks it's OK and part of his job.
The piece illustrates the crux of conflict between the school board and the JCTA and Berman on what the JCPS chief should be doing with this time and resources.
Real issues are raised here and I don't mean to completely trivial, but I don't know how big of a deal it is that he missed the graduation ceremonies. I've never heard a parent or student say: "I just wish there had been more dignitaries there so that the whole thing could have been .... longer."
I think the entire story is a non-issue. The guy is the chief executive of an organization with a $1 billion annual budget. He spent $1,500 on business dinners--and that's newsworthy on what planet? I watched the piece fully expecting huge expendutures and a smoking gun. The only thing this piece unveiled was how small minded this town is and how prevalent sniping has become.
I have a real problem with business dinners recruiting out of town hires. There are many well-qualified JCPS employees who have come up through the ranks and have family and community ties to our schools. They are consistently overlooked for the high paying jobs which are
being shuffled to out-of-state transfers.
The bigger issue with his vacation last year at the end of school was not missing graduation. It was requiring all other employees to cancel their vacation plans due to added makeup days causing many people to lose deposits and money paid for reservations, airfare, cruises, etc. He didn't stick around and "make up" those days with us.
WHAS-TV's Adam Walser turned in his 
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