Koch Mind-Set Reflected In Florida School Scandal

An article in the NY Times yesterday gave us all a window into the mind-set of one of the Koch brothers – and, unfortunately, too many other Americans probably have the same view.  The story involved the investigation of improper behavior at the Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches, a private high school that William Koch, a younger brother of the more well-known Charles and David Koch, had poured $75 million into building. According to the Times, the head of school, athletic director, and football coach were all fired “after a sexual harassment complaint and an internal investigation into accusations of kickbacks, grade-changing, excessive spending and violations of the rules governing high school sports”.  The problem, as usual, really begins with the football team. It turned out that the football coach could actually overrule the admissions committee, resulting in a large number of students who really were not qualified to be there. The bigger problem turned out to be the head of school, Robert Parsons, who apparently made unwarranted sexual advances to female employees and gave bonuses of higher salaries to attractive women on the staff.  Needless to say, this environment created higher turnover, resulting in large severance packages for departing staff.

But more telling about William Koch’s mentality, and probably that of his brothers, is how Mr. Parsons came to be head of school anyway. Parsons had been the chief financial officer at the US Naval Academy but was suspended from that job for 5 days in 2009 when an inspector general’s report found that he had been operating a slush fund that paid for tailgate parties.  Now, if you know anything about our military services, you know that protecting their own is of utmost importance. So getting suspended for 5 days at the Naval Academy clearly indicates that a real problem existed. But William Koch didn’t see this as a problem at all when he hired Mr. Parsons because, according to Koch, the government is “all screwed up”. I guess if you have this absolute belief that government can never do anything correctly, even in the US military, then getting reprimanded or even fired by the government would certainly count as a qualification for future employment. Unfortunately, this unfounded mentality extends to way too many Americans these days.