- an information nexus for resources on publicly funded education programs, policies, and schools in the United States, with the personal stories of whistleblowers working at the local level to challenge those in power who are not helping the children they are paid by our taxpayer money to serve.
We celebrate the alliance of the Internet with the awareness that for too many years people elected to publicly-funded positions have promoted policies that do not serve the public interest. We challenge those who believe they can continue to violate the public trust to stop and listen to the buzz of millions of people visiting websites, emailing each other, blogging and chatting online about what is going on behind closed doors. We promise to hold you responsible for your actions.
We call this process "e-accountability".
Government Lies, Corruption and Mismanagement | Posted 5/5/2008 at 8:25 AM
The lesson is, Ms. Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg, a lack of oversight and weak administrative procedures in support of compliance, accountability and transparency leads people to improper practices based on available options.
Judicial Corruption | Posted 5/4/2008 at 3:43 AM
The case, which many experts believe presents a major test to First Amendment rights in the Internet era, was brought to the federal court in San Francisco by Julius Baier Bank and Trust. The bank, which is based in the Cayman Islands, alleges that an ex-employee provided stolen documents to Wikileaks in violation of a confidentiality agreement and banking laws. SPJ President Clint Brewer said, " Free speech is paramount to a democracy and whistleblowers should not be punished for bringing forth valuable information that serves the public’s right to know.” The Judge reversed his decision on February 29, 2008.
Government Lies, Corruption and Mismanagement | Posted 4/27/2008 at 9:00 PM
All these terms boil down to one question: why do people commit crimes and perpetrate fraud in the workplace...what motives their behavior?
Success Stories: Positive Outcomes | Posted 4/26/2008 at 1:26 AM
The International Association of Whistleblowers is holding their annual conference at the Senate in Washington DC May 11-17. Betsy Combier, Editor of Parentadvocates.org., is Secretary of the IAW, an organization that focuses on the need to reform the system so that our public trust in our government, our employers, and our colleagues can be restored.
Stories & Grievances | Posted 4/12/2008 at 1:19 PM
Mr. Risen shared the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for articles that exposed the National Security Agency’s program of eavesdropping without warrants, and the Justice Department’s effort to identify the sources of those articles and of his book is one of several federal leak investigations singling out reporters and their sources. In 2005, Judith Miller, then a reporter for The Times, was jailed for nearly three months after she initially refused to identify news sources in an investigation of leaks that identified a covert C.I.A. operative. Editor Betsy Combier says: "It's time for a National Shield Law"
Government Lies, Corruption and Mismanagement | Posted 4/8/2008 at 12:03 PM
Opponents of congestion pricing said they resented the pressure and threats that they said emanated from Mr. Bloomberg’s side, including hints that the mayor would back primary candidates to run against politicians who opposed congestion pricing.
The mayor’s allies recently formed a political action committee to finance those campaigns. Those efforts, supporters and opponents agreed, illustrated the gulf between Mr. Bloomberg and lawmakers in Albany, where the mayor sometimes seemed to miscalculate how far his power and prestige could carry him. Many Democrats in the Legislature felt that the mayor’s demeanor in private meetings was condescending.
Current Events | Posted 4/8/2008 at 8:20 AM
There is a dirty little secret with the budget of City Council in New York City. Millions of dollars are hidden in a slush fund, earmarked for organizations that don't exist. City Council speaker Christine Quinn insists she is the whistle blower, even though it is her office that's hidden the money. Two finance officials have been dismissed in this matter. The city Department of Investigations and the U.S. Attorney's Office are investigating. Quinn says she is not the target, but that she tried to clean up the issue. Mayor Mike says he knew nothing about it. We at Parentadvocates.org say: what kind of fiscal management is this?
Current Events | Posted 4/6/2008 at 2:28 AM
"Your responsibility to protecting customers' private information doesn't end when your use for that information ends,...You don't want to be known as the company that throws your consumer records in the trash." says Rebecca Kuehn, assistant director with the FTC's Division of Privacy and Identity Protection.
Current Events | Posted 4/6/2008 at 2:10 AM
Once liquidated damages equal to the amount of the verdict as well as prejudgment interest are added in -- both are mandated under the FMLA -- the former employee's recovery could fall somewhere between $6.2 million and $7.6 million, according to Amanda A. Farahany of Barrett & Farahany, who represented plaintiff Nicholas Lore.
Government Lies, Corruption and Mismanagement | Posted 4/4/2008 at 10:34 AM
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has said his office believes that "multiple acts of fraud" were committed when Long Island school districts put private attorneys on their payrolls so that the attorneys could receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in state pensions. In a statement, Cuomo spokesman John Milgrim said, "We do not believe this is merely a case of innocent mistakes or misunderstandings of the relevant regulations. We have reason to believe there have been long-term and multiple acts of frauds committed upon the state pension system and related to intentional misclassification of contractors as employees so they receive taxpayer funded benefits."