AJC.com > Blogs > Get Schooled > Archives > 2006 > October > 11
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
When a Doctor Isn’t a Doctor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An Atlanta principal at a school that takes parental involvement to new heights quit last night rather than face the parents and the TV crews and explain why she did not correct those who called her “Dr. Spencer.”
Catherine Spencer did doctoral work at two universities - real ones! - but she has yet to complete the degree. When asked, she didn’t deny this. But, she allowed a letter to go out to the community over the summer referring to her as “doctor” 12 times.
The Morningside community - with its proximity to Emory and the CDC - is teeming with parents with advanced degrees. So it isn’t too surprising that they felt Spencer downright lied and misled them. They gave her the opportunity to tell how the miscommunication happened … but Spencer opted to resign. Here’s a short story about it.
UPDATE: Here’s a more detailed story, which includes her salary and a bit more about how this came to light. (Long-story-short: A parent requested her resume and noticed she did not use conventional academic style when listing her degrees. He called the schools and figured it out from there…)
Is your principal a doctor? Do you respect him or her more because of the doctorate? There have been several scandals involving fake doctorates of education … Does this degree have any credibility anymore? Should the Atlanta school system have fired the principal when parents brought their findings about her lack of doctoral status to them?
