Detroit (WWJ) -- Former Detroit Public Schools Reform Board Chairman Freman Hendrix testified Wednesday before the DPS District's panel on questionable real estate transactions during the first state take over of the district.
Hendrix testified about the Board's limited role and he denied having knowledge about an up front multi-million-dollar payment by DPS to the city for a 99 year lease for property for school construction.
“I don't recall any public discussion about real estate transactions and certainly there was no private discussions about that,” Hendrix said.
Hendrix also defended the board's decision to make Ken Burnley the highest paid public employee in Michigan at $240,000 reported WWJ Newsradio 950's Florence Walton.
“I was anxious to come up with a contract that would work for him, but at all times having this benchmark of what other major, urban school superintendents were being paid and compensated for,” Hendrix said.
However, Hendrix testified that he couldn't recall the details of the district's $220,000 loan to Burnley to entice him to take the job.
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