At least 178 teachers and principals in the Atlanta Public Schools conspired in cheating to raise student scores on high-stakes standardized tests, according to a report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The report on the Atlanta Public Schools, released Tuesday, states there was a "widespread" conspiracy by teachers, principals and administrators to fix answers on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), punish anyone who objected, and hide the conspiracy from outsiders.
The investigation did not indirectly implicated recently retired Superintendent Beverly Hall, who was named US Superintendent of the Year in 2009 largely because of the school system's reported gains on test scores – especially in inner-city schools. The investigators said she likely knew, or should have known, what was going on.
“Dr. Hall pledged ‘full cooperation’ with this investigation, but did not deliver,” the report said. “APS withheld documents and information from us. Many district officials we interviewed were not truthful.”
The scandal spreads over three counties — Fulton, DeKalb and Douglas - and the respective DA's will make the decision on whether to prosecute and whom to charge.
Of course, since federal money was received by the school system and what we have here is also a conspiracy to defraud the taxpayers, the US Department of Justice could certainly investigate and indict on federal charges where appropriate. However, given the union membership and racial makeup of many of the teachers and administrators involved, it's doubtful the feds will get involved.
Many teachers claim they cooperated out of fear.
“APS is run like the mob,” one teacher told investigators, saying she cheated because she feared retaliation if she didn’t.
The investigation showed widespread corrections and erasures on test scores, and it's alleged that some of the teachers and administrators even held 'cheating parties'.There was also a widespread pattern of deliberate coverups and failure to cooperate with the investigations.
One thing the article fails to mention is another possible motive for the conspiracy, since we know these teachers and administrators likely could care less about the kids or doing their jobs well.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that a number of them received merit or incentive pay because the kids were 'doing so well.' It also probably helped shield incompetent teachers and administrators from performance reviews.
I would almost guarantee that it's not just these teachers and not just Atlanta. There are at least eight pending investigations in major urban school districts because of similarly abnormal patterns in erasures and suspiciously high test scores.
The Obama Administration's response, via Education Secretary Arne Duncan is to call for reform of No Child Left Behind to de-emphasize test scores while still paying bonuses to teachers who improve test scores in their classes.
Perhaps Zombie is right after all...we may need to destroy public education in order to save it. Certainly we need to get the unions out of it.
Yes...it's for the children.
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