We may need the fifth-graders to come back and sort this out.
When Georgia School Superintendent Kathy Cox won $1 million on behalf of the state last year on the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? , she intended that the money go to three state schools for students with disabilities.
But when she and her home-building husband filed for bankruptcy, citing $3.5 million in debts, creditors understandably wanted a piece of the action.
The legal dispute has gotten so heated that students even held a protest outside the bankruptcy trustee's office in Newnan on Wednesday.
The protest is sweet and all, but misguided. The bankruptcy trustee is doing what he should: trying to make the creditors whole.
It will be up to the courts to referee this match. But several things seem clear.
Cox would not have been on the show except for her position as superintendent of schools. And she never intended to take the money herself, citing her charitable intentions from the outset.
Now, all of that might be moot -- and the creditors might get the money -- if Cox actually took custody of the $1 million. Cox might also be in trouble for accepting all that dough as a state official. But a check from Fox Broadcasting was never cashed and was returned.
It seems logical enough that Fox should now simply pay the money straight to the schools and leave Cox -- and her creditors -- out of it.
We bet the fifth-graders would agree.
Comments
Wow, J4. Posting before coffee, I see.
Wait a minute: exactly where is the money and who was the check mad out to?
When a politician is at a loss for words and they want public support for their ideas, nothing works better than referencing the impact of the idea on children. Works all the time. In this case, I am sorry but if they owe people money, then pay the money and if they have left overs give it to charity. I don't remember the show but normally, if the guests are playing for a known charity, the show announces it at the start and people know that the contestant is not in a position to make a personal gain. Does antone know if this segment of the show was for charity only?
I saw the show and they announced it and Mrs. Cox repeated it several times that the money was for the schools!!
While I agree the money should go to the schools, the way Cox and her husband handled the bankruptcy is questionable. They bought new cars on credit a few months before filing. Also, she never intended to give the money directly to the schools. She formed an ongoing "nonprofit" corporation to funnel the money to the schools later. Who were to be the employees of the corporation and how much would they be paid yearly? Lots of tricks going on here.
Is Kathy-With-A-K Cox shrewder and more opportunistic than a fifth grader?
dashiel, that was funny.
When a politician is at a loss for words and they want public support for their ideas, nothing works better than referencing the impact of the idea on children. Works all the time. Posted by disssman on Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:49 AM....Using children as reason for about everything the DIMs have ever done is right out of the DIMocRAT play book, not the Repubs. I am sure the schools for the diabled kids could use the money much better than already wealthy "creditors".
Was she an agent of the schools at the time she won the money? If she was, the money belongs to her principal--Ie. the schools. If she was not acting in an agency capacity for the schools or some other person or corporation--then her creditors have a legitimate claim.
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