Staff Writer
Eight
former Atlanta educators were convicted of racketeering on April 1 due to a
cheating scandal that included 44 schools and nearly 180 teachers. The massive
scandal affected thousands of students in Atlanta Public Schools between 2001
and 2009.
The
schools involved had a sudden increase in scores in the 2001 statewide aptitude
tests. The Governor at the time, Sonny Perdue, ordered a review which revealed
cheating that spanned over half of the district’s elementary and middle
schools. Further investigations uncovered ‘cheating parties’. Gatherings
outside of school where teachers met in groups to alter student answer sheets.
Educators earned bonuses and got their respective schools’ funding because of
the inflated scores.
Former superintendent, Beverly Hall, had a major role in the scandal despite her fervent denial that she had any part in it. In 2009, she received the prestigious National Superintendent of the Year award for turning Atlanta into a ‘model of urban school reform’. Hall retired in 2011, just days before the state investigation uncovered the unexplained gains in test scores in several of the Atlanta Public Schools. According to her indictment, she placed improbable goals on educators and rewarded those who achieved her goals even if done through cheating. Allegedly, she fired the principals who failed to achieve her target goals. Teachers who tried to report test fabrication faced threats and retaliation. Hall died in March after a battle with breast cancer.
In
total, 12 defendants stood trial, and 21 people took plea deals in 2013. The
trial that occurred on April 1, 2015 sentenced eight educators, two of whom accepted
plea deals. The remaining defendants will face various amounts of community
service, jail time, probation, and fines.
A few
accounts were submitted to the court detailing specific happenings of the
affected children. One child, a third grader at the time, failed a benchmark
exam in 2006. She was held back, but when she took another assessment test not
long afterwards, her scores were well over the passing mark. Suspecting
something was awry, her mother inquired about the grade but was apprised by the
school that she was good at taking tests. As a result, she continued to move
through the school system and as a ninth grader had only achieved a fifth grade
reading level. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of students were ineligible for
remedial help due to their high test scores.
“I
think there were hundreds and thousands of kids who were lost in schools,” said
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter, who was noticeably angry.
“That’s what gets lost. Everyone’s crying, but this is not a victimless crime
that occurred in this city.”`
To
see some of the trial, click here.
