Principal resigns after student journalists question credentials

A newly hired school principal in Kansas, USA, resigned after student journalists published an article exposing her dubious and questionable credentials.

Out of curiosity, student journalists at Pittsburg High School newspaper The Booster Redux delved deeper into the educational credentials of Amy Robertson, who had been hired as the school’s head principal last month. The team, which consisted of six writers and editors, began researching about Corllins University, where Robertson obtained her master’s and doctoral degrees, Kansas City Star reported.

To their shock, the said university’s website was dysfunctional and discovered that Corllins University was not an accredited academic institution. Moreover, Robertson also failed to show evidence confirming her bachelor’s degree from the University of Tulsa.

“She was going to be the head of our school, and we wanted to be assured that she was qualified and had the proper credentials,” Trina Paul, an editor of The Booster Redux, told the news site. “We stumbled on some things that most might not consider legitimate credentials.”

The students’ “homework” didn’t stop right there; they further found that the English language school where Robertson taught for nearly two decades in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, had its license suspended in 2012, Gulf News reported.

“That raised a red flag,” Maddie Baden, one of the writers of the article, told Kansas City Star. “If students could uncover all of this, I want to know why the adults couldn’t find this.”

March Booster Redux – New principal's background called into question https://t.co/GB9CF7yEJG

— Emily Smith, CJE (@emilysmith41) March 31, 2017

They published an article criticizing Robertson’s resume on the newspaper’s front page on March 31. On April 4, the Pittsburg Community Schools Board of Education announced that Robinson had resigned from her post and thanked the courageous students for their investigation. “We thank the students of The Booster Redux for the role they played in bringing this situation to light. We admire both their original reporting and the manner in which they have handled the national attention their story has earned,” the board said in a statement.

Emily Smith, the faculty adviser of The Booster Redux, said that she was proud of her students’ diligence and gutsy determination to unravel the truth. “They were not out to get anyone to resign or to get anyone fired. They worked very hard to uncover the truth.”  Gianna Francesca Catolico /ra