Is This a City or a Sitcom?

UPDATE: Thompson to get bonus pay to avert a lawsuit!
Pittsburgh Public Schools board members agreed to offer him the $70,000 in bonus pay in addition to the remaining salary he would have earned under his contract. Thompson must agree not to sue to get the deal.

I laughed when I read this, all the while thinking this can't be for real. Then I realized this is Pittsburgh, where anything and everything goes.

Pittsburgh Public Schools board members agreed to offer the position of interim superintendent to Chief Academic Officer Andrew King after city school Superintendent John W. Thompson is forced out. Ok, so we fire one guy and put this King in his place. Thompson, by the way, is expected to sue the disgraced over this whole mess. Who knows what that will cost? That's not the story here. Rewind to 1999... Chief Academic Officer Andrew King is arrested and charged with open lewdness. He later plead guilty to disorderly conduct. The board members don't seem to think this little arrest thing should disqualify him.

Fact check folks: In December 1999, King was charged with open lewdness. Police found him engaged in a sex act in the back seat of a vehicle parked in a Hill District alley routinely patrolled by police because it was known for prostitution and as a dump for stolen cars. The area is located a few hundred feet away from Vann Elementary School!!!!! King pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was demoted to administrator on special assignment. This guy has his pants down by a elementary school. He is arrested and charge but no body has problem with him running the entire district! Why is this guy still working around children. He should have been fired in 1999! BUT NO..... Not in this city. King works his way back up, becoming acting executive director for student services in 2001, executive director for student services in 2002 and chief academic officer in 2003.

The state Public School Code provides that "every person elected or appointed as district or assistant district superintendent must be a person of good moral character.'' I don't know Mr. King but have some doubts about his judgment just based on the fact he was caught in a back alley with his pants down. Is he really the best choice here?

These are they people that are to educate some of the most at risk children in the area. Someone needs to step up and do something right for a change. King not only needs to bypassed for this position, the people of Pittsburgh need to take a serious look at who is overseeing the education of their children.