NYC Department of Education Manager Stole City Funds Meant For Homeless Children To Go To Disney World With her Family

 

“What happens here stays with us,” Queens manager Linda M. Wilson told her team, warning them not to tell anyone that the staff’s kids and grandkids attended out-of-town trips.Facebook Linda WilsonNew Yorkers have been tormented for several weeks by the huge amount of corruption in the City government. Nothing is unusual about this, except that this is widespread and involves the Mayor, his appointed friends in office, and the NYC Department of Education.

In 2002 Mike Bloomberg became Mayor of New York. He did not support tenure for city employees, so he set up a citywide system of what I call an "approved" disregard for due process in employment and took control of the New York City Department of Education.We have recently heard about the police Commissioner's resignation, his brother's scams, and:

NYC’s chief legal counsel Lisa Zornberg steps down from Adams’ office week after FBI raids homes of mayor’s top aides

Eric Goldstein, Former NYC Department of Education Employee in Charge of School Food, Found Guilty of Taking Bribes and Serving Kids Tainted Food

NYC school chancellor’s brother bragged about political connections — but scrubbed his website after FBI raid of Adams’ aides

2 retired FDNY chiefs arrested in connection with corruption probe

With a culture of corruption "approved" by people at the top, how can law-abiding citizens get their rights and needs heard?

We can't. We do not have a voice. We need to hold an election for a new Mayor who is partnered with an accountability monitor, someone who protects fiscal checks and balances. We also need to have the State legislature vote out mayoral control of the NYC Department of Education, strengthen the agencies authorized to stop corruption and fraud in city agencies and give resources to watchdog agencies so that the culture of taking public money for private benefit stops.

Pronto.

Betsy Combier

betsy@advocatz.com

Editor, ADVOCATZ.com

Editor, ADVOCATZ Blog

Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, NYC Public Voice

Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials

NYC Department of Ed manager brought family to Disney World with funds meant for homeless children

ANew York City Department of Education manager and five other employees brought their own family to Disney World and on other excursions with city funds meant for homeless students, according to a report.

The New York Post first reported that the Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) for New York City schools alleges the workers’ actions robbed disadvantaged children of the opportunity to go to the Magic Kingdom and on other trips to Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Boston, Rocking Horse Ranch Resort in upstate New York and Frost Valley YMCA campground between 2016 and 2019.

Linda Wilson, the regional manager for the NYC Department of Education’s Queens Students in Temporary Housing, took her two daughters on city-funded excursions while encouraging her colleagues to do the same with their families, according to the SCI report released this month.

While some students were brought on these trips, investigators alleged that spots were taken up by the employees’ family members. DOE rules state that employees cannot bring family on trips even if the DOE is reimbursed.

Wilson allegedly skirted the rules by "forging permission slips in the names of students," the report said. 

Wilson scheduled some of these trips under the belief that students would be visiting colleges, according to the report. Instead of visiting the schools, the investigation found that Wilson would take trips to other destinations.

On one such trip in June 2018, Wilson allegedly went with students to visit Syracuse University. But the university said that Wilson never toured the school. The subsequent investigation alleged that Wilson instead took a detour to Niagara Falls.

In 2018, Wilson learned that someone told others within the DOE of their actions, the report says, prompting her to cancel a visit to Philadelphia. She then allegedly told her colleagues, "What happens here stays with us."

DOE staffer Shaquieta Boyd said she took her daughter on some city-funded trips for homeless students because her boss, Linda M. Wilson, “not only gave me permission, she encouraged it.”Facebook Shaquieta Boyd

Workers have blamed Wilson for telling staff that they could bring family on these trips, with one employee telling the Post that Wilson instructed them "to lie to investigators."

"She said everyone should stick to the same story that we did not take our children on the trip," the employee said.

The other Students in Temporary Housing workers accused of bringing family members on these trips include Program Manager Shaquieta Boyd, Family Assistant Joanne Castro, Family Assistant Mishawn Jack, Family Assistant Virgen Ramos and Community Coordinator Maria Sylvester.

The SCI completed its probe in January 2023 and recommended to Chancellor David Bank that all six employees be terminated and pay restitution to the DOE. 

The cases were not referred for criminal prosecution due to "the lack of available documentation," an SCI spokesperson told the newspaper.

Original article source: NYC Department of Ed manager brought family to Disney World with funds meant for homeless children

What happens in Disney stays in Disney: NYC educrats took own kids to Magic Kingdom on trips meant for homeless students