Listen as Larry spoke with Prince George’s County Board of Education Member Edward Burroughs III regarding staff members being pressured to graduate students.
During the interview, Burroughs addressed Superintendent Dr. Kevin M. Maxwell’s claim that this issue is politically motivated:
O’Connor: What’s at play here?
Burroughs: What I can tell you is that every single person that signed that letter is a recent graduate of the school system. I am the longest serving member of the school board. I care very deeply and I’ve dedicated my entire professional life to this school system. And so it is personal because I care and love this school district, that I do this. It brings me no joy to have to have to, month after month, deal with these issues but I’m not going to sit silently by. And when it comes to politics, Dr. Maxwell is a political appointee, not me. The chair of my school board and the vice chair of my school board are political appointees, not me. And so when we look at what’s political, it’s not any individual that’s on that letter…we have a student member on the school board, he’s a high school student at Parkdale who signed onto that letter. I mean, what incentive would he have to make these things up.
O’Connor: Well you are an elected official. You’re making it sound like only those individuals that you just cited are political appointees or are in any way politically motivated. And certainly there are politics in you being on the board as you’re looking for votes.
Burroughs: Actually, we just got re-elected. My chair is not up until 2020. I’ve never had a close election. And so I do this because I care for my school district. And so no, I’m not looking for votes. I’ve never had a close election. Dr. Maxwell is a political appointee. The board chair is a political appointee. The board’s vice chair is a political appointee. And so I look at this from a very different lens than them.
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