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.
“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.
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