Resignation Calls Mount After Maryland Superintendent Public Records Destroyed In Test Score Scandal

The nation’s fourth most funded school system has a grade rigging scandal and now a cover-up. There are mounting calls for Maryland Governor Wes Moore and the State Board of Education to remove Maryland State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury for a Maryland Public Information Act violation. 

Investigative journalist Chris Papst from Fox45 News’ Project Baltimore published a damning report (read: here) on Feb. 6 about how 23 Baltimore City Schools, with zero students, among those tested, scored proficient on the state math exam. The story went viral, forcing the state to cover up the education blunder. 

In a public records request, Papst’s team found metadata for 98 text messages sent or received by Superintendent Choudhury in the first quarter of this year — around the time the state changed the grades that no longer can be seen. 

Before

After

Papst believes these text messages hold the answer to why the state government made the statistical cover-up. However, Choudhury’s text on the taxpayer-funded cell phone was automatically set to delete just after 30 days — something a government watchdog group has called foul while a local community group has called for Choudhury’s resignation. 

“Most people would take a look at this circumstance and say it’s a cover-up,” said Adam Andrzejewski, the founder of Openthebooks.com, a non-partisan government watchdog group, told Papst. 

The public records expert said the deleted text messages are a “big problem.” He said this is grounds for the superintendent to resign. 

Here’s where the cover-up is very obvious:

Project Baltimore filed the initial public records request on Apr. 10. At that time, according to the metadata of the 98 text messages, there were 12 texts that were not yet 30 days old. According to state law, as soon as the public records request was filed, those documents should have been preserved. But they were not. Those 12 text messages were also deleted.

98 text messages GONE. @MdPublicSchools State Superintendent’s taxpayer-funded phone set to AUTO-DELETE texts in 30 days. But 12 texts were NOT 30 days old when we filed a PIA for them. They too are gone. Criminal investigation?@Project_Bmore @FOXBaltimorehttps://t.co/Xkik0GxCRL

— Chris Papst (@chrispapst) August 17, 2023

Papst said, “The State Board recognizes that text messages cannot be deliberately deleted after they are requested as part of a PIA [Maryland Public Information Act] request.”

“This needs to be investigated immediately as record concealment or destruction of the public record,” said Andrzejewski. He added, “Those records belong to the people.”

Calls mount for Governor Moore and the State Board of Education to remove the top school board official. 

New overnight, the group People Empowered by The Struggle writes to Gov. Wes Moore and MSDE demanding the State Superintendent of Schools be removed. @FOXBaltimore @chrispapst https://t.co/zL2vFkgmtA pic.twitter.com/t0y2juLTL7

— Project Baltimore (@Project_Bmore) August 17, 2023

Why is the top school official in the progressive state not being transparent about student academic performance?