Ann Arbor School Aide Unqualified?

ANN ARBOR - A young woman who holds a $2(í,000-a-year job as assistant to the superintendent of Ann Arbor schools is under investigation for allegedly falsifying her credentials. Mildred E. Bautista, 25, has become the center oí controversy because all of the qualifications she posted for the job have been challenged. Allegedly, she does not have the university degrees or scholastic honors she reported to the Ann Arbor school system. Dr. R. Bruce McPherson, superintendent of Ann Arbor public schools, refused yesterday to discuss the merits of his assistant, who also is secretary to the board of education. At issue are the basic qualifications Miss Bautista presented to the school board when Dr. McPherson brought her with hun from Philadelphia to Ann Arbor last July when lie baca me superintendent. Her qualificamns, including Tier cfaimecT degrees from tlie University of California, have been denied by university officials, soihe Ann Arbor board has begun an investigation. Dr. McPherson would say no more than that "the investigation is under way" and then walked to Miss Bautista's office and told her: "This is a News reporter; I caution you to give no statements." I Miss Bautista said: "My attorney is handling this, so I have nothing to say." She refused to name her attorney. The key questions are: Did Miss Bautista, as she claimes in her resume, earn a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley campus, in January, 1966? Did Miss Bautista earn her Ph.D. or even workfor it as she claims? Is there validity to her claims for articles published in quarterly magazines published in 1967 and 1968? Can she claim to be a Phi Beta Kappa scholar? The answers will ibear directly on the future of both Miss Bautista and her boss, Dr. McPherson. A statement issued by Dr. McPiherson and Cecil W. Warner, president of the school board, said: "Miss Bautista's performance has been outstanding, both as assistant to the superintendent and secretary to the school board. "The board and superintendent will undertake an orderly process of reviewing the charges and clarifying the facts. Answers will be sought and found which meet the satisfaction of the board and superintendent." Warner, a school board member for three years and a senior engineer at Bendix Corp. Aero-Space Systems, gave strong support to Miss Bautista.