TOPEKA — State Board of Education member Connie Morris today said she has reimbursed the state $2,890 for expenses she had previously billed taxpayers for a conference she attended in Florida.
But Morris, who had charged the state for six nights in a $339-per-night hotel in Miami to attend the conference in April on magnet schools, was unapologetic.
She said in a prepared statement: "No amount of media bullying can take from the good people I serve the vision and knowledge I gained at the conference.
"God says to avoid the appearance of wrongdoing. My dad says that if you want to know the character of a man look in his billfold. I prefer to take the higher ground."
News reports of the expenditures by Morris, a Republican from St. Francis, had caused an uproar. The trip also included airfare, a registration fee, cab rides and meals.
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DonnieDarko (anonymous) says…
Awwwww, Connie...you really don't prefer to "take the higher ground". Higher (class) accomodations, perhaps. And probably a higher floor in the hotel--maybe that's the "vision" you gained at the conference (you probably couldn't see the beach from the Holiday Inn down the road). Or maybe the executive suite on the 42nd floor just put you closer to God, who obviously speaks to you.
Baille (anonymous) says…
I went to a well-known Florida city at the expense of a Kansas educational institution within the past year. We stayed in a hotel that was less than a third of that in which Connie stayed. We took the (free) hotel shuttle to and from the proceedings for which we were there. We used our per diem for food only, and we paid for any excesses out of our own pockets. And in the end we all had a great time and brought back honors and, ultimately, money for the institution that sent us there. All without having to justify our actions or apologize to anyone.
High road, my ass.
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Wilbur_Nether (anonymous) says…
This is such a non-issue. Board member Morris attended a professional conference. The conference rate at the hotel was over $300--but it WAS the conference rate for the hotel. The hotel is in an area that commands those sorts of prices. For location, time of year, and similar factors the cost does not seem unreasonable or prohibitive to me.
On another thread, the importance of the free market and pseudo-Smithian theory is suggesting that local businesses who can't afford the rent of downtown should expect to go out of business. Yet on this thread (and the similar thread from today's article) there is righteous indignation against an executive on one of the State's boards paying what the free market demands. Consistency is required--is the free market the correct method for determining pricing, or should it be what the State's willingness to reimburse is?
I'm not at all concerned about the cost of this trip; it's part of the cost of doing business in the Board-of-Educationing industry. What I AM concerned about is that this Board Member's public comments indicate a lack of self-awareness: her accusation that the Garden City mayor was an illegal immigrant; her demeaning her colleagues on the board in a newsletter (and not even according to the AP Stylebook!); her acknowledging at the science standards hearing that she doesn't bother herself with reading details but instead skims through the tedious stuff. These are more alarming concerns for me, by far.