Most educators at Mineral County School District know that the district won’t pay for their licenses. Hope Blinco routinely tells people they don’t pay for anyone’s credentials. Unfortunately, that isn’t wholly true.

Anyone that has been in Hope Blinco’s office sees the SHRM diploma that she so cherishes. It is the highest level of education that she could obtain. I won’t even go into just about anyone can get one, including myself. The problem is Hope Blinco gets Mineral County School District to pay for the continuing ed credits, and the renewals.

In getting that free credential, I would guess Hope Blinco enjoys a small bump in pay. So while she is telling people the fee for an educator license is their problem, a sack of money falls from the sky for hers in addition to the likely premium pay she receives. Worse, that completely voluntary sham of a credential isn’t required for her to do her job. All it does is allow her to claim she is an expert at everything, although her depth of knowledge is actually extremely limited.

Perhaps it is time for educators to demand that their classes and license fees be paid. A teaching license is required to be a teacher; her credential is not required and is paid for in full. There is no equity in that. Just yet another example of her unethical behavior.

Recommendation: The Mineral County School District should consider either eliminating the payment for one person’s credentials or by defining a policy that allows for equitable access to all staff.