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Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Thanks, Search Firm!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
School boards rely heavily on search firms to bring them candidates for school superintendent, a tradition that gives such firms tremendous power in public education.
When DeKalb went fishing for a new HR director - the HR department in the DeKalb school system has been in some state of transition for years, maybe decades - the district hired a search firm, which delivered them a dynamic candidate named Darren Ware. He blew DeKalb officials away with his personality and his resume. They hired him at a salary of $155,000 a year.
His resume, however, was padded, according to Kristina Torres’ story. Oh yeah, he didn’t exactly pass the background check with flying colors. In New Jersey, he faced charges ranging from burglary, theft and violating parole.
Lanta Group, a search firm, was paid almost $40,000 to bring DeKalb this gem. (Neither the search firm nor the school district verified that Ware graduated from the colleges where he said he earned degrees. Kristina called UCLA and Rutgers and was told they had no record of Ware. )
Ware didn’t want to comment for Kristina’s story.
Anybody out there care to comment?
