More Answers From Board

I Editor, The News: f "J( )' ' I It is regrettable that the Bautista affair has provided a focus for oíd hatreds. However, some of the frustration that I many of us feel as we contémplate our I floundering schools will be alleviated if I the school board will make an honest effort to answer meticulously those quesI tions that should be answered in relation I to the employment of Miss Bautista. I I am not sure just what these questions I are, but it is better that the school board I over-investigate and over-report then I that it give the impression of ignoring unpleasant fácts. Since The Ann Arbor News performed such a commendable service by first obtaining the basic information that Miss I Bautista's credentials had been falsified, I I would hope that The News might, I I through its editorial staff, cali the I board's attention to questions t h a 1 1 should be answered. Here are a few that I come to mind : 1) Is Miss Bautista's offense a civil or I criminal offense? Is not the school board I responsible for attempting to secure I repayment of the honorarium paid Miss I Bautista during her stay in Ann Arbor? I Should she depart the city with $20,000 reward for the ffense she committed? wnen was me last payment made to Miss Bautista for her services? 2) Should we not have a chronology of Miss Bautista? Precisely, what has she done each year since high school graduation? 3) Was the original falsification of Miss Bautista's credentials effected in order to secure employment in the Philadelphia schools, so that the false credentials filed here are copies of the original false documents? Or were the false documents in our files tailor-made for Ann Arbor? If these documents are a home town product, through what processes did they get in our files? 4) Exactly how long and under what circumstances has Mr. McPherson known Miss Bautista? Just what was the nature of her work in the Philadelphia schools? 5) Why was it necessary for ANYONE to travel to California to learn whether I Miss Bautista holds a degree from a I tain California school or is working on a I Ph.D. program with a particular I sor? There are things called telephones. I This trip is momentarily the strangest I phenomenon in the entire case. t_seems_to me that items 3 and 4 I above are of crucial importance. Mr. McPherson has stated that he believed that Miss Bautista's credentials described correctly her educational background. This gives the impression that he inherited her from the Philadelphia schools, and that the original blunder was made in that city when Philadelphia was persuaded to accept false credentials. For Mr. McPherson's sake, this needs to be checked. Otherwise, since there is a deplorable tendency for most people (possibly because they know themselves so well) to put unfavorable interpretations upon the actions of others, it will be believed by many that Mr. McPherson did know Miss Bautista's real qualifications.