Workers Worried About Jobs

Abraham Azain 
January 10, 1997 
Abraham J. Azain Of Lee Park Towers, Hanover Township, Died Friday At The 
Wilkes-barre General Hospital.

By MELISSA DONOVAN; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Sunday, January 12, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





HAZLETON -- Richard McGettigan's story is the type that has circulated for
decades: reports of envelopes stuffed with cash offered in exchange for
teaching jobs. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 School Board members say the stories are baseless, but they acknowledge
that the rumors won't go away. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; District watchdog groups say they are flooded with rumors of bribes, but
those who spread them are unwilling to come forward. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Last week, McGettigan, a retired Pennsylvania State Police trooper, said
School Board member Ken Temborski told him he had been offered bribes and
wondered if other members might be willing to accept them. Temborski said
McGettigan is lying. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "No, no, no, positively never," said School Board member Thomas Cipriano,
former president of the board. "I'm going on my 14th year and I've never been
offered money." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The constant rumors about bribes are started by rejected job applicants,
Cipriano said. "It's usually sour grapes," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 McGettigan, a trooper for 31 years, applied for the district security chief
job that went to Vincent Zola last summer. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Board President Louis Rossi agreed. "People who are unsuccessful in getting
hired probably look for a reason," he said. "I've heard them rumors for years
and that's just what they are, rumors." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Former board member Deidre Jago thinks the wide-spread belief in corruption
might stem from an unsolved 1974 arson fire at the district administration
building. The building, which contained records subpoenaed by a federal grand
jury investigating allegations of job selling and kickbacks, was torched two
days before the records were to be turned over. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It does raise questions," Jago said. "What were they looking for? Why was
the FBI coming in? It's too much of a coincidence," she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jago, who was elected in 1987, said she was never offered a bribe in her
eight years on the board. But she heard plenty of second-hand stories. When
she offered to investigate, the accusations vanished. "Nobody would ever come
forward." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mark Johnson, spokesperson for Tri-County United Taxpayers, has had the
same experience. "If I knew it to be more than rumors, I'd be doing my
damndest to get people arrested." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But complaints his group receives are hard to pursue. "It always seems to
be somewhat vague," Johnson said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So Tri-County focuses its calls for hiring policy reform on nepotism, which
Johnson said is easier to prove. "We don't focus our efforts on rumors," he
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 People who make claims of job selling are afraid to come forward, said
Vicki Mackin, president of Concerned Citizens of Schuylkill County. The
Hazleton Area School District includes part of Schuylkill County. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "People personally told me that their children wouldn't get a job unless
they paid for it," Mackin said. "But how do you prove that?" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Bribe Tales Just That, Board Says Stories Of Paid-for Teaching Jobs Abound, But Hard Evidence Is Always Lacking, Officials Say