fbpx
Breaking Campus News. Launching Media Careers.
Eleven Atlanta educators convicted in cheating scandal

The verdict is in and it is guilty.

Eleven (former) Atlanta Public Schools teachers, administrators and testing coordinators were convicted of racketeering in a case that stretches back to 2005.

The (former) educators were “motivated by pressure to meet federal and local standards to receive bonuses or keep their jobs.

Judge Jerry Baxter threw the book at those convicted, ordering them taken into custody immediately. They could face up to 20 years in jail.

The New York Times reports:

“Our entire effort in this case was simply to get our community to stop and take a look at our educational system,” District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr. said, adding, “I think because of the decision of this jury today that people will stop. I think people will stop, and they will make an assessment of our educational system.”

The dozen educators who stood trial, including five teachers and a principal, were indicted in 2013 after years of questions about how Atlanta students had substantially improved their scores on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, a standardized examination given throughout Georgia.

In 2009, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution started publishing a series of articles that sowed suspicion about the veracity of the test scores, and Gov. Sonny Perdue ultimately ordered an investigation.

The inquiry, which was completed in 2011, led to findings that were startling and unsparing: Investigators concluded that cheating had occurred in at least 44 schools and that the district had been troubled by “organized and systemic misconduct.” Nearly 180 employees, including 38 principals, were accused of wrongdoing as part of an effort to inflate test scores and misrepresent the achievement of Atlanta’s students and schools.

Defense attorneys were visibly miffed at the judge’s call to jail their clients right away. Considering these were non-violent crimes, they might have a point.

This entire affair has put even more focus on the controversy surrounding the plethora of standardized testing taking place in schools … not to mention the ever-increasing pressure teachers and administrators are under to keep their schools’ scores up to par.

Read the full story.

Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter

IMAGE: minusequalsplus/Flickr

Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.

About the Author
Associate Editor
Dave has been writing about education, politics, and entertainment for over 20 years, including a stint at the popular media bias site Newsbusters. He is a retired educator with over 25 years of service and is a member of the National Association of Scholars. Dave holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Delaware.