Edward E. White, Lawrence
To the editor:
District Attorney Suzanne Valdez has been placed on leave from her job as a KU clinical law professor. She is accused of improperly withholding her students’ final grades as leverage in a $7,500 pay dispute. Valdez’s explanation for withholding the grades is “This was a teaching moment … sometimes you have innocent parties who are caught up.” The students were not “caught up”; Valdez intentionally used them. Valdez’s misconduct is amplified by her inability to appreciate that she is grossly overpaid.
According to openpayroll.com Valdez made about $170,000 in 2019 as an untenured clinical law professor. (The Kansas governor and attorney general make around $100,000.) Her husband, U.S. Attorney Steve McCallister, was the law school dean.