Grand jury indicts 35 in Georgia school cheating scandal

Atlanta (CNN) -- In what has been described as one of the largest cheating scandals to hit the nation's public education system, 35 Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators were indicted Friday on charges of racketeering and corruption.

The indictment is the bookend to a story that was once touted as a model for the nation's school districts after the district's test scores dramatically improved in some of its toughest urban schools.

Among those indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury was Beverly Hall, the former schools superintendent who gained national recognition in 2009 for turning around Atlanta's school system.

"She was a full participant in that conspiracy," Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard told reporters during a news conference announcing the charges.

"Without her, this conspiracy could not have taken place, particularly in the degree in which it took place."

The indictment follows a state investigation that was launched after a series of reports by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper found large, unexplained gains in test scores in some Atlanta schools.

read the rest in the article....

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/29/us/georgia-cheating-scandal

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to me the people involved got what they deserve but there is a bigger problem.....high stakes testing....its a foul situation

 

I saw this last week. We have 53 teachers and principals being indicted here too for similar stuff. Most have resigned.

The ones who suffer the most are the kids. They lose out on becoming educated. Then America loses because these kids don't learn how to even learn, and the whole intellect level drops.

 

you are too right on that shit

 

But this proves that these Sups and Pricipals indicted DGAF! They care none if their students learn.... just give them their bonuses, hurry-up.

 

Just because a kid does bad on a standardized test doesn't mean he/she didn't learn. So, to say that these kids won't learn is not entirely true. Maybe they lose some good teachers and such, but the children will continue to got school. When it comes time to take those tests, then we will see, but those test usually boil down down to exit exams, SAT and ACT's which don't guarantee you anything.

 

Are they not a measure of what you're supposed to have learned? If you have faith in your teachers, then there is no need to give these kids the answers beforehand, or change them after the fact.

 

Not usually. The tests rely on all children recalling a vast amount of information. Can you imagine being tested on everything in your job for the last four years. The test would need to be weighted heavier on problem solving, using the skills you have gained. But even then, society relies on resources to problem solve, I don't see anyone doing fractions on paper, trig with calculators. I walk into my colleagues offices to see text treferences all over.

 

Then do away with them. And the bonuses, for sure. Why even have these tests.

 

That was wasy,I should've said this a long time ago....we don't need standardized tests, just regular curriculum test.

 

the test are to measure if students are able to meet the benchmarks for the subjects. i know they have some tests that will measure the progression of the students. teachers pay and jobs are tied to the success and the lack thereof to the students scores.

from what i understand it doesnt matter if the student has a learning disability they must benchmark

this is just an example: in alabama and in a districts if a student score (just for convo sake) a 90% on a test and the benchmark is 75% at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year again score 90%, the teacher can be fired due to no progression despite the high score.

 

Testing seems different for different areas, but it never seems totally fair.

 

now there are reports of cheating in other states....michele rhee is coming under fire



http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-b...s-discounted/?cxntfid=blogs_get_schooled_blog

 

I feel a far greater sorrow for the children trapped in those sorry schools.

 

yeah, michele's house of cards is crumbling.

on MSNBC it is rumored that she ignored people saying there was cheating but just wanted to see positivce results. thus if true she didnt care she just wanted to look good