It appears that Plano ISD’s Superintendent Theresa Williams may be joining the disgraced ranks of other educational leaders that have dissertations flagged for plagiarism.
Currently circulating is a supposed copy of a request made to Texas A&M University – Commerce (TAMUC) to investigate plagiarism in Superintendent Williams’ dissertation that she submitted as part of her degree requirement for a doctorate in education from TAMUC.
Attached to that request is a 37 page analysis of Superintendent Williams’ dissertation which alleges offenses of “verbatim plagiarism,” “mosaic plagiarism,” “inadequate paraphrase,” “uncited paraphrase,” and “uncited quotation” as defined by Harvard University and referenced by TAMUC.
The analysis is quite compelling.
Among the strongest allegations the analysis contains is that:
- three times it looks like Williams extracted content from three separate sources that it appears she never credited,
- thirteen times it appears she neglected to use quotation marks for exact words or phrases taken from other authors, and
- seventeen times it appears citations are missing.
Her alma mater should take these allegations seriously since TAMUC calls plagiarism “the ultimate academic offense.”
As a Superintendent, effectively the CEO of a public education system, it is imperative to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity, honesty, and ethics which serve as a model for every administrator, teacher, and student in the district. Our students should not be held to a higher academic bar than the Superintendent.
Understandably, careers have been cut short for other educational leaders that have been found to have committed plagiarism, including a superintendent with roots in Collin County.
For Superintendent Williams, this is not the first time in her tenure in Plano ISD that her integrity, honesty, and ethics have been questioned. The Fire Sara Bonser Coalition wrote about many of these concerns in their emails from February 8, 2022 through May 31, 2022. At a Board meeting, a member of the community addressed the chief concern of what looks like a contrived divorce to possibly assist with committing bankruptcy fraud. The Fire Sara Bonser Coalition’s February 28, 2022 email expanded upon this concern in detail.
Now that yet another shoe has dropped for Superintendent Williams, what will the Plano ISD School Board do if these allegations are true?
Certainly the Board will not use taxpayer funded resources to protect and defend this personal matter of Superintendent Williams anymore than it would for a speeding ticket she received.
Certainly the Board will respect the rights of the individual/s that raise this concern and not allow Plano ISD to retaliate against them, as unfortunately has been the culture of this District for far too long.
Certainly the Board will seriously consider this issue, bearing in mind the other weighty concerns previously raised by the community regarding Superintendent Williams.
Undoubtedly Trustee and Plano ISD Board Vice President Lauren Tyra will be especially troubled by these allegations since she is also a PhD holder and understands first-hand the importance of obtaining this degree with the utmost integrity.
Presumably Superintendent Williams’ career and hefty compensation has benefited from her doctoral degree. If these allegations of plagiarism are true, then she would have defrauded the Plano ISD community not only in her credentials but also in her taxpayer funded compensation increase she was able to demand because of her doctorate.
Educate Plano 