Food Network Has Higher Standards Than ADE

I was devastated to learn that the Food Network recently fired Chef Robert Irvine, host of their hit show Dinner: Impossible, where I get to waste my life in half-hour increments as I watch him create large-scale meals under a tight deadline with limited resources. It turns out that Chef Robert cooked up a plate of hyperbole when it came to the qualifications listed on his resumé.

The Food Network wasted no time in making sure there were harsh consequences for his embellishments - his contract was not renewed - which demonstrates the fact that they have higher standards than the ADE.

A top administrator at the Arizona Department of Education is a convicted felon with no four-year degree, and there are new questions about how he got his job.

Donald Houde, ADE’s Chief Technology Officer, was convicted in 1992 for embezzling $1.7 million from his former employer, Mile High Cable Company in Denver, Colorado.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison, but was released after serving only two years.

“I wasn’t in a position of trust with people, but I was in a position of trust with money,” Houde said.

Houde’s criminal history did not stop him from landing the six-figure state job.

He was first hired as a consultant back in August of 2005, and he admitted he did not disclose his criminal history to the Department of Education for several months.

Within a year, Houde married his direct supervisor, Janice McGoldrick.

Just four months later, Houde was hired full-time and is earning more than $140,000 a year.

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Beautiful.

Good thing the Arizona Department of Education is run by a paragon of virtue. Here's the statement of outrage and condemnation issued by Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne when questioned about Mr. Houde's lack of a degree that is usually required for someone in that pay bracket for the State of Arizona:

“Once I know how good someone’s work is, that’s my sole judge,” Horne said.

Maybe Chef Robert Irvine can relocate to Arizona and revamp school cafeteria menus. Horne doesn't seem to have a problem with a candidate who fabricates their accomplishments.