I don't think these sentences are such a big deal, especially given that most of these people will never even see a day in jail, due to appeals and "deals" to come. Widespread conspiracy across the school district to protect their jobs and gain bonuses... sounds like a good reason for a prison term to me. They don't seem to care about the kids at all, just their jobs and bonuses.
3
A critical problem with high-stakes tests is that they are shrouded in secrecy. Teachers are not allowed to see these tests, the very tests that have serious consequences for them and their students.
Of course, teachers do look - and they are often appalled. They see test questions with poor grammar, confusing wording, and misspelled words; they see trivial and ambiguous questions; they see flawed graphs and confusing charts; they see questions about material that they have not taught; they see questions testing reading skills that bear no resemblance to any authentic texts that the students have read. The list goes on.
But teachers cannot speak up because that would reveal a violation of stringent test security rules.
Many state-level tests are poorly constructed. Contractors cut corners, and bureaucrats are intimidated (or enamored) by statistics and lack staff with requisite editorial skills and pedagogical sensitivity.No wonder teachers have doubts about the validity of these tests. No wonder that some teachers treat the tests in as cavalier a way as the tests appear to have been written.
When tests are crude measures of learning, they are poor indices of teacher quality. Unfortunately, this leads many teachers to reject all accountability measures.
Yes, we can construct tests that people would agree are fair measures of what a student has learned - and what a teacher has taught. But it costs money. And expertise. And leaders who care enough to insist on them.
Of course, teachers do look - and they are often appalled. They see test questions with poor grammar, confusing wording, and misspelled words; they see trivial and ambiguous questions; they see flawed graphs and confusing charts; they see questions about material that they have not taught; they see questions testing reading skills that bear no resemblance to any authentic texts that the students have read. The list goes on.
But teachers cannot speak up because that would reveal a violation of stringent test security rules.
Many state-level tests are poorly constructed. Contractors cut corners, and bureaucrats are intimidated (or enamored) by statistics and lack staff with requisite editorial skills and pedagogical sensitivity.No wonder teachers have doubts about the validity of these tests. No wonder that some teachers treat the tests in as cavalier a way as the tests appear to have been written.
When tests are crude measures of learning, they are poor indices of teacher quality. Unfortunately, this leads many teachers to reject all accountability measures.
Yes, we can construct tests that people would agree are fair measures of what a student has learned - and what a teacher has taught. But it costs money. And expertise. And leaders who care enough to insist on them.
2
The NYT reporter repeatedly states, as fact, that students were harmed by the test inflation. How exactly were they harmed? Nobody explained this. The student who had to repeat seventh grade twice, how would she have done any better if her tests were not inflated? It fails the most basic test of logic and common sense yet is mindlessly repeated by reporters whose job is to distinguish between fact and partisan claims. What it all boils down to is that somebody must be scapegoat for the nation's abysmal failure to invest in a decent 21st century public education system, and who easier to scapegoat than a bunch of black teachers from a desperately poor school district.
In other news: Los Angeles school district cancels contract with Apple and Pearson that would have cost the district $1.3 billion dollars, almost every one of which would have been a total waste, as critics have pointed out from the beginning. FBI is investigating for improprieties. In Chicago, a $20 million no bid contract for superintendent training is being investigated. My predictions: nobody will serve anywhere near 7 years for stealing millions if not billions from vulnerable children, and no Judge Baxter will use his court room to insult white collar executives and bellow at their elite lawyers. No sir, ain't gonna happen. This is America, after all.
In other news: Los Angeles school district cancels contract with Apple and Pearson that would have cost the district $1.3 billion dollars, almost every one of which would have been a total waste, as critics have pointed out from the beginning. FBI is investigating for improprieties. In Chicago, a $20 million no bid contract for superintendent training is being investigated. My predictions: nobody will serve anywhere near 7 years for stealing millions if not billions from vulnerable children, and no Judge Baxter will use his court room to insult white collar executives and bellow at their elite lawyers. No sir, ain't gonna happen. This is America, after all.
7
If inflating student test scores is a crime, I wonder how long it will be until that hotbed of racketeering, Harvard University, will come under prosecutorial scrutiny. Will we see professors and deans in shackles before Judge Baxter.
in case you think I am being facetious: the median grade students get at Harvard is an A- and nobody seriously doubts that grade inflation is in play (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/12/20/why-grade.... I am seriously concerned for the well-being of those Harvard students who are misled by their professors into believing in their own awesomeness. Is there no Justice for rich kids?
in case you think I am being facetious: the median grade students get at Harvard is an A- and nobody seriously doubts that grade inflation is in play (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/12/20/why-grade.... I am seriously concerned for the well-being of those Harvard students who are misled by their professors into believing in their own awesomeness. Is there no Justice for rich kids?
6
There are so many teachers SLEEPING WITH STUDENTS and don't get this much of a harsh sentence. They do not deserve these harsh sentences. This is absolutely disgusting.
2
The outcome of this case illustrates the lingering racism that still afflicts our country: The judge was using legal cover (all agree that a crime was committed and that the perpetrators deserved to be punished) to express his racism by meting out the harshest possible sentences, and accompanying those sentences with the kind of commentary that would normally be reserved for a mass murderer. In the same way, congressional Republicans have displayed their latent racism by the extraordinarily vitriolic character of their opposition to President Obama; as the opposition party they, of course, have legitimate differences with his policies, but their extreme rhetoric is way out of proportion to those differences.
6
Federal Judge Kent Dawson sentenced Irwin Schiff, a well-known opponent of the IRS's illegal (in Schiff's view) enforcement of federal income tax laws, to 13 years in prison. Schiff was 78 at the time of his sentencing, so the sentence could well have amounted to life in prison. Schiff's real crime, the reason why the feds came down on him like a ton of bricks was because he wrote a book entitled, THE FEDERAL MAFIA, HOW IT ILLEGALLY IMPOSES AND UNLAWFULLY COLLECTS INCOME TAXES. A federal court also prohibited Schiff from selling his book, a clear violation of the First Amendment,
It wasn't harsh enough. they all should have gone away for a minimum of ten years before parole would even be considered. The victims were in the thousands and included the parents whose hopes for a good education for their children were stolen from them and children who will suffer from the loss of a quality education which was stolen from them.
2
Really? Even taking into account the tremendous pressure on teachers from a test-happy educational system? There are rapists who get shorter sentences. Honestly, who would want to be a teacher in schools serving areas of social deprivation, given that they will be blamed for any underperformance?
7
So... teachers who did as they were told and changed answers on a meaningless test (it's educationally useless--doesn't effectively evaluate students OR teachers because of the way it's been misused) should be locked up longer than criminals who've robbed and killed people?
If you're looking for rabid, senseless anti-teacher vitriol, check out these comments.
If you're looking for rabid, senseless anti-teacher vitriol, check out these comments.
7
HRM, how does a forged test score steal a child's education? Since you are so law and order, what jail sentences do you think should be given to 1) that police officer who shot that guy Walter Scott in the back, or 2) that 73 year old reserve volunteer deputy who shot and killed that other guy by mistake? His firearms training papers were forged. Do you think the people that forged his training papers should get 7 years in prison?
Like employees at the VA hospitals, the defendants manipulated statistics to please their superiors and keep their jobs. Yet, unlike in the VA situation, we are not shining a light on the system itself which pressured them to cheat. Does anyone really think that a different test score would have transformed these students' education into something satisfactory? We should be putting the mistaken idea that standardized testing can be substituted for improving our educational system on trial.
5
These cheating educators have had their chances. Sentences would not have otherwise been as harsh if they had admitted responsibility and cared to show an ounce of remorse of the huge disservice they did to the children that they were paid to serve over the years. As it happens, they are not the least bit remorseful, probably betting that sentencing to educators has never been that harsh in the past, and they would just get a slap on the wrist. I'm glad that they get the long sentence that they truly deserve.
If only the children could get the times and years back, in catching up on their education and learning. It's the total shame and disgrace.
If only the children could get the times and years back, in catching up on their education and learning. It's the total shame and disgrace.
2
I'm going to confidently say that the people saying that the punishments are overly harsh or that the teachers shouldn't have been punished at all are mostly teachers, administrators, or other people who know how the US education system is run in 2015. I'm also sure that the people saying these teachers belong in jail do not know how the system works.
The kids' education wouldn't have been better if the scores had been reported accurately. In fact, given that they'd have been subject to punishments put in place by politicians who refuse to listen to educators, it would probably have been worse. The shame is that we ordered these teachers to cheat (there was no other way to get the results we demanded) and then threw them in jail for doing what we said.
The kids' education wouldn't have been better if the scores had been reported accurately. In fact, given that they'd have been subject to punishments put in place by politicians who refuse to listen to educators, it would probably have been worse. The shame is that we ordered these teachers to cheat (there was no other way to get the results we demanded) and then threw them in jail for doing what we said.
3
That is the purpose of Common Core. To eliminate inefficient schools and school systems. The state of GA agreed to use Common Core. If the teachers didn't like it they had 10 years to move to Texas and teach there. In Texas they do not use the Common Core curriculum.
I will confidently say that if these teachers knew they'd be thrown in jail they'd not have played the martyr hand. Rather they'd have stood in front of the judge, taken responsibility for their actions and apologized. That would have looked good for their students too!
I will confidently say that if these teachers knew they'd be thrown in jail they'd not have played the martyr hand. Rather they'd have stood in front of the judge, taken responsibility for their actions and apologized. That would have looked good for their students too!
1
Im so glad the court decided to teach them a lesson. Public school teachers have such little accountability. I get it, its a tough, thankless job and probably one of the most challenging careers out there...but unions protect good teachers along with the bad teachers, to a fault.
2
Unions protect the contract, which allows the firing of bad teachers, but not good ones. What you're describing is the propaganda spread by anti-education groups, not reality. Public school teachers are so accountable that they're routinely held responsible not only for teaching, but for learning and parenting. Which is, ultimately, what led to this story.
8
I'm an Atlanta public school graduate who is treated with suspicion when I look for a job.
I'm a public school teacher in another city who is equally pressured by testing, but I didn't cheat.
I'm an Atlanta parent who wants the best for my child, but can't afford a private school.
These teachers and administrators broke the public trust and harmed students, parents, and their profession. They refused plea deals in which they accepted responsibility and apologized for their actions. They deserve prison.
I'm a public school teacher in another city who is equally pressured by testing, but I didn't cheat.
I'm an Atlanta parent who wants the best for my child, but can't afford a private school.
These teachers and administrators broke the public trust and harmed students, parents, and their profession. They refused plea deals in which they accepted responsibility and apologized for their actions. They deserve prison.
6
Maybe it is time to ask why educators felt it necessary to cheat.
7
And to answer it: because they were required to get certain results or lose their jobs and see their students punished, and there was no way to get those results without cheating.
4
Then don't punish the students when they plagiarise. and cheat on tests because you have to understand that they don't want to be held back a grade .
1
Student plagiarism is not analogous. I know people who want any excuse to bash teachers are desperate to argue that it is, but it isn't. Students are rarely asked to do the impossible; they're asked to put in effort. The "results" teachers are asked to produce (in quotes because they're usually mostly the results of parenting) are frequently impossible to get just by teaching, yet we insist they get them anyway. That's a clear directive to cheat.
2
I asked myself, before looking, if, just maybe, the judge was white and the defendants black.
6
@ franco - Justice is blind, what difference does the judge's color make?
1
Did you ask yourself before looking what color were the kids whose lives were damaged by the cheating teachers?
2
DA that brought the charges is ... black
2
What children need to succeed in life is knowledge, not grades. To fool them into believing they have knowledge when they do not is the worst type of cheating.
Students need knowledge, and to get that they need effective schools. The interventions for low-scoring schools recommended by the Bush and Obama education departments, and enshrined into law by state legislatures at their behest, make schools LESS effective. Odds are, the kids got better instruction because their cheating teachers shielded them from the "fixes" than they would have if scores were reported accurately and the penalties for low scores had been put in place.
Now, the teachers shouldn't have cheated. But more importantly, the political hacks that have been trying to ruin education shouldn't have put them in a position of having to choose between cheating on one hand, and on the other hand losing their jobs and seeing their students' education destroyed. Most people in those teachers' positions, understanding what was going on, would probably have cheated.
Now, the teachers shouldn't have cheated. But more importantly, the political hacks that have been trying to ruin education shouldn't have put them in a position of having to choose between cheating on one hand, and on the other hand losing their jobs and seeing their students' education destroyed. Most people in those teachers' positions, understanding what was going on, would probably have cheated.
5
WOW. Does the punishment fit the crime? I think so. There are so many under educated children in today's society and we
trust the teachers. Although jail is horrible. It's sad that with rampant cheating going on in many schools that they should be singled out. This is a very harsh reality. PERHAPS THEY CAN WORK IN THE JAILS.
trust the teachers. Although jail is horrible. It's sad that with rampant cheating going on in many schools that they should be singled out. This is a very harsh reality. PERHAPS THEY CAN WORK IN THE JAILS.
5
These people got what they deserved -- if not more. The judge needed to set an example. Educators cheating, for heaven's sake. It's disgusting.
6
There is wrong on so many levels here:
- testing scores that punish teachers in poor performing schools, but these are the hardest to teach
- teachers here and society in general who think cheating is ok - getting caught is not.
- a judicial system where years in court cost society so much money that could better be used to improve those very schools.
Now, what will prison teach them, do you really think they come out a better person? Why not make them volunteer to teach summer school - or in prisons for 10 years?
- testing scores that punish teachers in poor performing schools, but these are the hardest to teach
- teachers here and society in general who think cheating is ok - getting caught is not.
- a judicial system where years in court cost society so much money that could better be used to improve those very schools.
Now, what will prison teach them, do you really think they come out a better person? Why not make them volunteer to teach summer school - or in prisons for 10 years?
3
Fortunately, I doubt any of these convictions will stand on appeal. Particularly the sentences, they are totally disproportionate to the crime. We put armed robbers in jail for less time. (My opinion is, lock up more armed robbers, not teachers who helped children pass meaningless tests.)
Unless their attorneys were all suffering from a group delusion, it's a fair bet they carefully considered whether to take the lame plea deals or go to appeals courts. And that they thought they had a very good, to certain, chance they would prevail on appeal. If this were one attorney, I would write it off as an outlier. The number of defendants who choose to do it means it, most definitely, isn't an outlier.
The convictions were born of emotion, not evidence.
Unless their attorneys were all suffering from a group delusion, it's a fair bet they carefully considered whether to take the lame plea deals or go to appeals courts. And that they thought they had a very good, to certain, chance they would prevail on appeal. If this were one attorney, I would write it off as an outlier. The number of defendants who choose to do it means it, most definitely, isn't an outlier.
The convictions were born of emotion, not evidence.
3
Were the PARENTS drilling them nightly on their homework and supplemental essentials?
The PARENT(S) need to be charged. Education/Learning starts AT HOME! School will just teach you the "basics."
The PARENT(S) need to be charged. Education/Learning starts AT HOME! School will just teach you the "basics."
7
were the parents illegally altering the tests or the teachers?
2
I'm saying that in reference to the below.
Mr. Howard introduced Colleen Banks, a woman whose daughter attended a school where cheating took place; the daughter later had to repeat seventh grade twice.
Mr. Howard introduced Colleen Banks, a woman whose daughter attended a school where cheating took place; the daughter later had to repeat seventh grade twice.
1
Young people starting out fresh in life must realize at an extremely tender and impressionable age that cheating and crime don't pay. I expect even harsher sentences in the future to show that the system isn't rigged and it's fair for everyone. Compete!
5
"It's fair for everyone" As much as we all wish that was true, it simply isn't. When schools perform poorly on their standardized tests, their funding gets cut. When their funding gets cut they have to do with fewer teachers, fewer books, less access to technology and on and on. These teachers were just trying to tip the scales back in the favor of these kids. I'm not saying they were right to do it or that they shouldn't pay for committing a crime, I'm just making it clear that things are not fair for everyone and the system is absolutely rigged.
4
Psysword, the "system isn't rigged and it's fair for everyone." Is that a joke? Don't you recall the DWI Texas teenager who killed 4 people, then didn't go to jail because his parents are rich?
2
The people who should get seven years are the ones who ordered there be standardized tests and made teachers' job security and chances for bonuses or other compensation dependent on test scores. Ugh. And this statement but the judge: "The sickest thing that’s ever happened in this town." This is Atlanta, Georgia, right? Either he has a brilliant sense of irony or zero knowledge of history. My guess is the latter.
15
'Social promotion' is unfair to everyone, and particularly cruel to young people who discover, too late, that their diploma turns out to be a worthless piece of paper.
10
The lengthy prison sentences, unusual for educators, contrasted to the treatment of two defendants in the case also found guilty by a jury this month. Both accepted responsibility under a deal with prosecutors that spared them significant time behind bars. One must serve six months of weekends in jail and five years of probation. The other avoided jail and was sentenced to five years probation, with one year of an evening home curfew.
3
I'm trying to get my head around all the comments about investment bankers, etc. Is the logic here that since O.J. walked and the bankers got a slap on the wrist, that we should just give up on courts and sentencing? I'm upset about the bankers too, but I'm not ready to empty the prisons because of it.
8
My honest advice to my students: Do NOT go into education. It's a thankless poorly compensated job comprised of the nation's future scapegoats.
13
After 40 years in the classroom as a high school teacher, my reaction to this abomination is this: As usual, the people at the top don't get any blame. That means from the SecEd, Arne Duncan down through the ranks of the Educrats. The teacher who is at the bottom of the feeding chain gets it in the neck. Same is true of almost every field of endeavor. The leaders go about their way and the peons go to jail. Remember My Lai in the Vietnam War. NO person above the rank of Lieutenant got punished but the Lieutenants and below caught it all. Such in life in a bureaucracy. The teachers did wrong but wanted to keep their jobs. The principals wanted to keep their jobs. They were threatened. I understand. It wasn't just the teachers and students who were victims. It was the system that created this mess from the SecEd on down.
16
but was it not the teachers who altered the tests? So they should get off free despite the tremendous damage they did for those bonuses?
3
Go ahead and tell me what damage they actually did.
4
The teachers cheated to save their butt! To save their job. They ought to have thought of the children first. That useless school would have been shut down and the students transferred into other schools.
Judge Jerry W. Baxter,-“the sickest thing that’s ever happened in this town,” No the sickest thing that has happened in that town was Jim Crow laws, lynching and other recorded and unrecorded hate crimes. You attach peoples lively-hood to theses stupid test scores and expect people to be fired and penalized because of them. You force educators to do what ever they can just to live, get a paycheck and survive. It might not be right but neither is sentencing these people to jail terms worst than drug dealers The problem will not be solved by the judgement of a test but by the quality of education given. Give these children the resources to learn and not on how to pass a test that they will fail because the basic of learning isn't taught anymore.
16
There's no political gain in being logical or objective. Therefore elected judges will never be either logical or objective.
Besides, we live in a punitive society. Any deviation from imagined and legislated 'norms' must be punished severely. They are in Georgia. They're really lucky. If they had been in Texas or Florida, they would have gotten the death penalty and all been executed by this time next year.
Besides, we live in a punitive society. Any deviation from imagined and legislated 'norms' must be punished severely. They are in Georgia. They're really lucky. If they had been in Texas or Florida, they would have gotten the death penalty and all been executed by this time next year.
I'm glad that this judge is sending a message to those who would cheat on standardized tests for their own personal benefit.
You don't like standardized tests? Fine, change the laws. You think that the state should prosecute bankers and police officers more? Go for it, I tend to agree.
Just don't let these criminals off lightly or excuse them after the damage they've done to the children of their schools and to society.
You don't like standardized tests? Fine, change the laws. You think that the state should prosecute bankers and police officers more? Go for it, I tend to agree.
Just don't let these criminals off lightly or excuse them after the damage they've done to the children of their schools and to society.
9
Odds are they did no damage to students. The consequences for low scores are BAD for students, and they didn't land on these kids.
Yes, the laws should be changed. Should've been changed 15 years ago. But they WEREN'T, because the politicians refuse to listen to the educators, and kids' education has suffered because of it. If we just wait another 15 years for those laws to be changed, millions more kids will suffer.
Yes, the laws should be changed. Should've been changed 15 years ago. But they WEREN'T, because the politicians refuse to listen to the educators, and kids' education has suffered because of it. If we just wait another 15 years for those laws to be changed, millions more kids will suffer.
5
Eric, I can appreciate your opinion while not totally agreeing with it. I can see the value of standardized testing done properly. Your opinion or mine doesn't excuse what the teachers did, though.
2
They were wrong to cheat. They would also have been wrong not to cheat, as their kids would have suffered from penalties required by bad education policy.
There was no ethical option available to them.
There was no ethical option available to them.
2
We need to give every lawyer and every executive involved in falsifying signed forclosure documents 20 years in prison.
15
What benefits did they receive from their fraud? How many times as much as these teachers? The jail terms should be the same multiple.
The bankers and lawyers would all be in prison for life.
The bankers and lawyers would all be in prison for life.
5
“I know a lot of people who do illegal things every day, and maybe they get like a month,” Malik Andrews, 19, said near the courthouse. “So I think they went overboard.”
At the risk of someone crying racist, if people of that area are anything like the person making this comment, maybe that's the problem. I don't know anyone that would do anything like this. Maybe Atlanta in general has moral issues. If she knows "a lot of people" that do illegal things "everyday" maybe Atlanta needs to do a self check on what it considers right and wrong.
At the risk of someone crying racist, if people of that area are anything like the person making this comment, maybe that's the problem. I don't know anyone that would do anything like this. Maybe Atlanta in general has moral issues. If she knows "a lot of people" that do illegal things "everyday" maybe Atlanta needs to do a self check on what it considers right and wrong.
9
It's sad to see this reaction in comments. I don't think you know the whole story. The New York Times has had good coverage, but a July 21 in-depth article in The New Yorker about one of the schools, Parks Middle School, "Wrong Answer", gives a good feel for the atmosphere this happened in. It's truly heart-breaking.
5
No one is saying the teachers should not be punished, but it should fit the crime. That man who ran into the White House with a knife is only going to do between 12 and 18 months in prison.
If you are so worried about the morals of your fellow Americans, maybe you should start with all the casual killing of unarmed "suspects" thesedays. Oh -- but they are not black so nevermind.
If you are so worried about the morals of your fellow Americans, maybe you should start with all the casual killing of unarmed "suspects" thesedays. Oh -- but they are not black so nevermind.
9
I read the New Yorker article, twice--first when it was published and again yesterday. I still agree with Hig. The atmosphere of need in the community and school do not justify years of criminal behavior by the teachers and supervisors Many educators tried to expose the cheating--they are the ones in Atlanta who did the right thing not people who think crime is OK.
2
Teachers should be setting examples for students, showing by example what is acceptable and what is not. When teachers cheat to gain bonuses, please superiors or to make a school look academically better it is a strong statement to the students that its OK to get ahead by whatever means you have or to cave into an employer's demands no matter the moral cost. Apparently our kids are learning at least those lessons well. Poll after poll shows students think it's OK to cheat on tests.
People have commented on this type of cheating as commonplace in our schools. Perhaps these stiff sentences, if upheld on appeal, will cause a change in that.
People scream their heads off about Wall Street cheats and Enron. Those corrupt CEO's didn't develop their moral code in the boardroom, they were shown that "get ahead no matter the cost" is business as usual from the time they were very young. Each time you cheat, telling yourself it's just this once, the next time it gets easier and easier.
People have commented on this type of cheating as commonplace in our schools. Perhaps these stiff sentences, if upheld on appeal, will cause a change in that.
People scream their heads off about Wall Street cheats and Enron. Those corrupt CEO's didn't develop their moral code in the boardroom, they were shown that "get ahead no matter the cost" is business as usual from the time they were very young. Each time you cheat, telling yourself it's just this once, the next time it gets easier and easier.
6
Perhaps, but probably not. So what's the real takeaway here? We threw these people in jail for an unconscionably long amount of time just because we didn't want to address the actual issues and hoped against any evidence that a quick, brutal fix would solve the problem.
And one more thought. The harshness of this sentence is just the government trying to pretend that NCLB only failed to save American education because of cheating.
5
What's with all these false moral equivalences NY Times readers are making about how these educators get unfairly punished while home loan bankers go scott-free after mortgage fraud? Sometimes politics gets in the way of moral and ethical clarity.
Our criminal justice system can and should charge, prosecute and convict both types of crimes. It isn't an either/or process. These educators robbed a lot of young people of both honest appraisals of the students true capabilities in their academic studies, and acted as corrupt role models for these same student. This double whammy assists in producing more adults like these educators who believe that rigging the system for their own gain is the best approach to dealing with their problems. What these educators did is not nothing and is not without further bad, cascading in society as a whole. They should be punished.
7
fine, let's forget the "false moral equivalences" but please explain what you think is wrong with our country. we imprison more folks than any other nation in the world. is that because we have a freakishly disproportionate number of criminals in our midst or are we a little too puritanical in doling out prison time?
in any case, every time we incarcerate someone, we are rending the social fabric of our communities. spouses, parents, children, friends, coworkers all pay when someone is incarcerated. and taxpayers pay. instead of paying to punish someone when things go wrong, let's invest in building and strengthening our nation.
in any case, every time we incarcerate someone, we are rending the social fabric of our communities. spouses, parents, children, friends, coworkers all pay when someone is incarcerated. and taxpayers pay. instead of paying to punish someone when things go wrong, let's invest in building and strengthening our nation.
5
The financial institutions (bankers, Wall Street and I formerly worked there ) brought down a nation in it's criminal behavior (sub-prime "crash"). The "tax payer" you the American Stooge page for their behavior.
No one served time - Many Wall Street workers go on to Government positions.
These individuals will serve their time. It amazes me however, that rapist, baby killer (there is a baby, sex trade alive and well here in America), CEO's even our Congress people (insider trading) and our own representatives do much worse and serve either no or little time.
...............................
Insider-Trading Ban Passes Congress, But Some See Missed Opportunity
That's what happened when Congress moved to undo large parts of a popular law known as the STOCK Act last week.
A year ago, President Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act into law at a celebratory ceremony attended by a bipartisan cast of lawmakers.
"I want to thank all the members of Congress who came together and worked to get this done," he said.
The law wouldn't just outlaw trading on nonpublic information by members of Congress, the executive branch and their staffs. It would greatly expand financial disclosures and make all of the data searchable so insider trading and conflicts of interest would be easier to detect.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, shown in August 2011, criticized the STOCK Act that passed Thursday, saying it didn't go far enough.
It's All Politics
No one served time - Many Wall Street workers go on to Government positions.
These individuals will serve their time. It amazes me however, that rapist, baby killer (there is a baby, sex trade alive and well here in America), CEO's even our Congress people (insider trading) and our own representatives do much worse and serve either no or little time.
...............................
Insider-Trading Ban Passes Congress, But Some See Missed Opportunity
That's what happened when Congress moved to undo large parts of a popular law known as the STOCK Act last week.
A year ago, President Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act into law at a celebratory ceremony attended by a bipartisan cast of lawmakers.
"I want to thank all the members of Congress who came together and worked to get this done," he said.
The law wouldn't just outlaw trading on nonpublic information by members of Congress, the executive branch and their staffs. It would greatly expand financial disclosures and make all of the data searchable so insider trading and conflicts of interest would be easier to detect.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, shown in August 2011, criticized the STOCK Act that passed Thursday, saying it didn't go far enough.
It's All Politics
Those teachers should be punished--but a 7 year sentence?? Keep in mind that Texas "affluenza" teenager that killed four people driving drunk and he got no jail time; GOP Congressman Trey Radel was sentenced to 1-year probation for cocaine possession; and Du Pont heir Robert H. Richards IV was convicted of raping his 3-year-old daughter and served no jail time because, a judge said, he would "not fare well" in prison.
16
that is why justice, since antiquity, has been considered "blind".
1
The entire education system should be on trial. These poor teachers are scapegoats for a government that won't admit that demanding "improved test scores" while cutting funding and programs is criminal.
If these kids HAD been given failing scores, does anyone in the public actually think they would have received extra help or support to get them to where they needed to be? Or you'd just have another poor kid failing to get a diploma, and crippled from finding decent work.
You want your kids to be able to read and write when they leave high school? Put some money into education!!
If these kids HAD been given failing scores, does anyone in the public actually think they would have received extra help or support to get them to where they needed to be? Or you'd just have another poor kid failing to get a diploma, and crippled from finding decent work.
You want your kids to be able to read and write when they leave high school? Put some money into education!!
12
This has nothing to do with education. Standardized testing is BIG money. Somebody has to write those tests and sell them to the schools. If you allow people to marginalize the tests, you run the danger of cutting off the stream of government money to the companies that write the tests. Not to mention the graft these companies pay to state legislators and congress critters.
These teachers challenged the necessity and effectiveness of standardized testing. They had to be stomped down hard. If they weren't, sooner, rather than later, more people would have realized the tests are pointless and destructive to education and the testing companies go out of business.
Standardized testing was a Bush gift to the 1%.
These teachers challenged the necessity and effectiveness of standardized testing. They had to be stomped down hard. If they weren't, sooner, rather than later, more people would have realized the tests are pointless and destructive to education and the testing companies go out of business.
Standardized testing was a Bush gift to the 1%.
while you're punishing so-called cheaters, what about the so-called white historians who manipulate fact , mix truths and write fables about the past, this is more criminal to Black people than anything on earth. from elementary school to high school and beyond white people are forcing people to digest their garbage bags of historical non-knowledge and become brain dead people so that the medias and Politians can sell you on anything and at the same time rob you of not only your precious sensibilities but you hard earned money as well. and what about the mega corporations who get most of your paycheck monies keeping you poor as a church mouse. cheaters, why most of the people in these ivy league and other so-called prestigious colleges got their by way of all kinds of underhanded manipulation/cheating, plus the graduates carry on the legacy of cheating into the real world as the con especially the poor out of every penny they earn.
3
Teachers are asked to work ridiculously long hours as educators, parents, babysitters and mentors, often to low performing and disrespectful students, for minimal pay, and their success is measured by the results these students achieve on standardized testing, not how well the students can think critically and contribute to society. Is it any wonder there are teachers and school administrators out there trying to trick the testing system (not that it's justified)?
4
The really sad thing about this is just how poorly these students are educated in Atlanta. Even worse, the level of education at community colleges I have attended is lower than my Junior High School years in New York's school system.
4
Let me get this straight . . . we toss cheating teachers in prison but let rich, white investment bankers who crashed the world economy by cheating egregiously on all sorts of issues continue to receive outrageous salaries and bonuses? OK, now I understand.
22
Last year the New Yorker had a long essay about all that led up to this "cheating scandal."
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/21/wrong-answer
The scandal wasn't changing answers on a test, but how these black teachers were expected to have outstanding results with crumbling infrastructure, few computers, shared textbooks, and kids from very broken homes and tough neighborhoods with black on black crime.
Perhaps all the commenters here so quick to judge these teachers should go back and read this story. You will see how these teachers wanted to help these kids succeed and learn but it was impossible. They started out behind white school districts in Atlanta and never had a chance of catching up. They were in an untenable situation...and cheating was the LAST thing they wanted to do.
When will we finally get it that reparations need to be made to our black brothers and sisters?
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/21/wrong-answer
The scandal wasn't changing answers on a test, but how these black teachers were expected to have outstanding results with crumbling infrastructure, few computers, shared textbooks, and kids from very broken homes and tough neighborhoods with black on black crime.
Perhaps all the commenters here so quick to judge these teachers should go back and read this story. You will see how these teachers wanted to help these kids succeed and learn but it was impossible. They started out behind white school districts in Atlanta and never had a chance of catching up. They were in an untenable situation...and cheating was the LAST thing they wanted to do.
When will we finally get it that reparations need to be made to our black brothers and sisters?
21
Au contraire, helping the kids succeed was not impossible and neither was "catching up". These teachers chose to take the easy way out which is endemic in the culture from which their students come, thereby cheating the students they were paid to educate out of a real education. Schools all over the world succeed without any infrastructure or computers or textbooks. Excuses, excuses.
8
No, Skeptical, it was certainly not the easy way out. Please do read this New Yorker article and open your eyes.
1
My children attended Atlanta Public Schools, and I was a PTA president and served on BoE committees. You are uninformed. There are no "white school districts" in Atlanta, and almost no majority white individual schools. APS is about 85% "minority", almost all of that black, and the system is led by a monolithicly black administration, taught by majority black teachers under majority black principals and reports to a majority black Board.
If any school district should have protected the educational quality delivered to black students, it is Atlanta Public Schools. Instead, it is a racially-based jobs program that protects itself and deeply betrayed the children in its collective care, whatever their color.
If you want "reparations", an entire school system dedicated to black advancement should have satisfied part of that irrational greed. Instead, it turned into a criminal enterprise that pimped kids' scores for bonuses and promotions.
Playing the victim card doesn't get anyone anywhere.
If any school district should have protected the educational quality delivered to black students, it is Atlanta Public Schools. Instead, it is a racially-based jobs program that protects itself and deeply betrayed the children in its collective care, whatever their color.
If you want "reparations", an entire school system dedicated to black advancement should have satisfied part of that irrational greed. Instead, it turned into a criminal enterprise that pimped kids' scores for bonuses and promotions.
Playing the victim card doesn't get anyone anywhere.
5
I question the real "harm" that has been inflicted on the children, as stated in the article, social promotion happens all the time and there is no indication that this would not have happened regardless of test scores.
But I do wonder about the clear warning this gives: proprietary standardized tests must be preserved no matter what, after all it's a huge business. It is not, however, education. We must separate out these two ideas.
But I do wonder about the clear warning this gives: proprietary standardized tests must be preserved no matter what, after all it's a huge business. It is not, however, education. We must separate out these two ideas.
7
I am wondering if these convicted educators lost their teaching certificates. It should be part of the punishment if convicted. This is a sad thing. It is not just about the money. High stakes testing can push individuals who would normally behave ethically to cave in to demands from administration for improved performance. You have no ideal how much pressure can be applied.
2
What a double standard? The 6 black teachers have been punished harshly for their sins, but thousands of other school teachers in the Country are exactly doing the same, almost 45% of students in the junior and senior high and even colleges are using many dubious ways to cheat during the exams, and almost all the school and college teachers know what is going on, but no one is getting punished or even making noise of this trend.
5
This was systematic cheating from the top down. That is the difference.
4
Two wrongs don't make a right.
1
These judge did everything but beg these "teachers" to admit their guilt-which was proven beyond the shadow of a doubt, so that he could give them a lenient sentence. It was their arrogance that put them where they are. They intended to appeal (and still do), so they weren't going to give in. O.K., let them appeal. I'm a teacher and I know exactly what I would have done if I'd been told my job depended on going to grade changing parties. I would have contacted a reporter and gone to a few sessions wearing a wire. Then I would have gone to the police.
14
What if your job depended on test results? Nobody told you to cheat, but they told you to get test scores up while crowding more kids into your room, cutting programs, cutting funding, cutting special ed help and testing... etc. Not only does your job depend on it, but your school's funding does as well??
These teachers were trying to help their students and school survive in a climate that is attacking every virtue of public education.
These teachers were trying to help their students and school survive in a climate that is attacking every virtue of public education.
1
A certified, honest teacher can get another job. A child can never recover their youth and get another education.
These teachers were not trying to help anyone but themselves. One call to the FBI or the NYT would have blown this situation up and given them whistleblower protection. And this was never about school funding. This was about their own pockets.
These teachers were not trying to help anyone but themselves. One call to the FBI or the NYT would have blown this situation up and given them whistleblower protection. And this was never about school funding. This was about their own pockets.
5
"These teachers were trying to help their students and school survive in a climate that is attacking every virtue of public education. "
No, they were trying to line their pockets. big difference.
No, they were trying to line their pockets. big difference.
The judge drew a line in the sand. These teachers refused a plea deal. I applaud the judge and condemn the teachers who made poorly educated students think they were better educated than they are.
21
After 40 years of teaching I finally discover a judge who sends the right message to secondary and college level administrators.
Every day in this country individuals in education, both high and low, as administrators, break the law, but clothed in the cloak of education they receive a pass from the courts for their acts. Why? It is probably the long cherished idea that educators are above criminal acts. After decades of observing such administrators in the field of education, the answer should be if they do the crime they should do the time, yet time after time everyone in the criminal process acts as if no body talks every body walks.
Kudos to the Atlanta judge and may he impress judges in other states to do the same. The results will be a better education system overall and that benefits teachers and students.
Every day in this country individuals in education, both high and low, as administrators, break the law, but clothed in the cloak of education they receive a pass from the courts for their acts. Why? It is probably the long cherished idea that educators are above criminal acts. After decades of observing such administrators in the field of education, the answer should be if they do the crime they should do the time, yet time after time everyone in the criminal process acts as if no body talks every body walks.
Kudos to the Atlanta judge and may he impress judges in other states to do the same. The results will be a better education system overall and that benefits teachers and students.
11
Looks like they got what was coming. You cant take street corner mentality into a state funded institution and expect to fly trough by the seam of your pants.
5
I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record telling people to read the New Yorker's in-depth article from July 21 on this, "Wrong Answer". It is really insulting to hear what the teachers did called "street corner mentality". It was survival, done under duress.
These harsh sentences are disgusting. Their lives are already ruined, as their names are smeared and they cannot work in the education industry again. Beverly Hall should be the one in jail, but while the charges were filed, she was filmed on vacation in Hawaii, and now she is dead from breast cancer and never got convicted as she should have been. No Child Left Behind is a mistake, Hall's poor leadership caused this, and no one wins - except test administration companies. There is definitely a racial element to this, as well. Sad and disgusting situation.
6
Amazing. All of the these criminals were college educated, well paid careers, and they tossed it away.
4
Criminals with college educations and well-paying careers?
Are you thinking of the bankers? The teachers went to college, but they were being paid teachers' salaries.
Are you thinking of the bankers? The teachers went to college, but they were being paid teachers' salaries.
Rich white guy shoots unarmed black man...mistaking taser for loaded gun...and faces 4 years max in prison.
Blacks teachers caught helping students cheat...get 7 years in prison.
American justice.
Blacks teachers caught helping students cheat...get 7 years in prison.
American justice.
6
Students were not cheating. Teachers were cheating, "correcting" tests after class hours. Huge difference.
4
OK my comment is BEFORE I've read the story: It is abhorrent the system is sooo wedded to its disfunctional testing system it sends teachers to jail!! The prison industry must have too many lobbyists keeping business alive/well. I believe the correct punishment is firing them.
7
Where is the evidence that testing to determine curricula learned is [sic] disfunctional? Millions of students throughout the world attend, study, learn, test and pass such tests.
This just provides proof that 1) the school system has failed and 2) teachers/administrators are passing students just to pass them. The last thing we need to do to students is have them believe they are at the level of learning that they need to be. I can't even explain to you what I experience with individuals, IN COLLEGE, who can barely write a sentence or a 1 page paper. It's not fair to other students who are in the same classroom that have to sit and relearn terms that should have covered in secondary education, it's not fair to professors who took a job of profession to FURTHER what students already know, and most importantly, it's not fair to the student. This shows that school systems aren't willing to go the extra route in making sure students at least, at least, get a quality B education. If there is such a thing. This is why it is hard to find a good school to put kids in along with finding a great teacher who is willing to go the extra mile to make sure a student is not only being taught but also understanding what is being taught. I can't emphasize this anymore. It's truly sad that students in different states all over the US are on a different level. When administrators stop focusing on the ways testing should be applied or making it a little "easier" for a student to learn material but focus on the inside of the school (teachers, principles, subs, coaches, etc.). This just proves that education facilities are more concerned about their reputation of best score
6
I knew reading the comments to this article would drive me crazy. But because you have a thoughtful comment and you may be young (college students aren't always young...), I'm going to give this one more shot. You are misunderstanding what happened here. The teachers weren't "passing students just to pass them". This is not about education, it's about the standardized testing required by the, what many would call disastrous, "No Child Left Behind" program. The cheating was totally random, not directed at any particular students--it was just manipulation of statistics to attempt to keep results at a level that would keep their schools open. Because you are young, it would be good for you to learn the processing of really understanding a subject before judging--it's as important as learning math and good grammar. Again, I highly recommend the July 21 New Yorker article called "Wrong Answer".
1
'NCLB' is as faulty a concept in academia as it would be in foot racing.
1
They're not asked to give kids an education anymore. Nobody cares if they do, and they're not given the resources that would be necessary to do so. They're told to get the test scores up, by any means necessary. Told in no uncertain terms. They're not given the resources to do that, either, which is where the "by any means necessary" comes in.
They did what they were told, not explicitly but very clearly, to do. And they were thrown in jail for it.
They did what they were told, not explicitly but very clearly, to do. And they were thrown in jail for it.
3
Arne Duncan says "Get these kids' test scores up, no matter what. No matter if it's impossible. I don't care whether it's valid. Get them up, or you're out of a job."
The state legislature says "Get these kids' test scores up, no matter what. No matter if it's impossible. I don't care whether it's valid. Get them up, or you're out of a job."
The superintendent and the principals say "Get these kids' test scores up, no matter what. No matter if it's impossible. I don't care whether it's valid. Get them up, or you're out of a job."
And the teachers listen. They get the test scores up no matter what, even though it's impossible. And because they do, they get small bonuses, and kids get to learn in schools that aren't subjected to "interventions" and "fixes" that make things much worse.
And then we throw the teachers in jail.
The state legislature says "Get these kids' test scores up, no matter what. No matter if it's impossible. I don't care whether it's valid. Get them up, or you're out of a job."
The superintendent and the principals say "Get these kids' test scores up, no matter what. No matter if it's impossible. I don't care whether it's valid. Get them up, or you're out of a job."
And the teachers listen. They get the test scores up no matter what, even though it's impossible. And because they do, they get small bonuses, and kids get to learn in schools that aren't subjected to "interventions" and "fixes" that make things much worse.
And then we throw the teachers in jail.
10
Why is it impossible?
3
Because Skeptical, the bar kept getting raised and these were poor schools with poor resources. As the New Yorker article that was recommended to you earlier pointed out, at least in the instance of Parks Middle School, once the test scores met the requirements, the requirements kept getting raised even higher, even above the standards of other schools. It became a vicious cycle. As the article says, it was amazing that anyone believed the high scores--it was rather obvious something was fishy. In the case of Parks, there resulted a kind of ebullient joy that such an impoverished neighborhood could be producing such good test scores and kids even started taking pride in the school and in trying to do better. What a strange result--I thought they had actually uncovered the key to testing--tell people they are capable of succeeding and they will try harder! But you know, even in wealthy schools (I have family members who teach in them), testing is a fearful scourge.
Having been a teacher in elementary school in this decade, I know this type of cheating goes on not only in Atlanta.
13
If it didn't, there'd be very few schools that weren't "failing."
Not failing in reality. Schools aren't failing when students who can be bothered to do their part can get a good education, and that's true of the vast majority of public schools in the US. But "failing" at the rigged game set up by the testing companies and political hacks like Arne Duncan and Michelle Rhee.
Not failing in reality. Schools aren't failing when students who can be bothered to do their part can get a good education, and that's true of the vast majority of public schools in the US. But "failing" at the rigged game set up by the testing companies and political hacks like Arne Duncan and Michelle Rhee.
1
A few days the NY Times ran an article in the Opinion section complaining of the lack of teachers "of color" and increasing this ethnic group in the teaching profession would improve edcuational outcomes and they would serve as "role models". This event proves how this does not have to be the case. The NY Times (as well as a sizeable portion of society) should be ashamed of itself.
6
You are judging ALL black people based on one group of teachers? How come the entire white population is never judged based on the actions of one person or a small group of people?
So funny that these teachers are the world's worst villains for desecrating the public trust and the holy career of teaching. Yet, when budget time comes around, everything they do is minimized and they are almost uniformly portrayed as union leeches. So which is it? Are teachers eminent members of the community who teach, protect and nurture the future of America? Because these sentences would indicate yes, and these people blackened that profession. Yet, their pay and their support says, "No. Actually, we don't respect what you do at all."
10
This is a symptom of a few problems in education that we are not addressing. And if we think that teacher evaluation is the way to go, we'll find that we're getting rid of teachers but the students' performance is not improving. So glad I gave myself a swift kick and forgot about becoming a teacher. Too much politics and politicians in education. There's no room for real educators.
5
YES YES YES!!!
Yes, the bankers and the Bush Administration thug-and-idiot dance troupe should all be in jail. The fact that we the people did not indict them is an indictment of us. They are all inexcusable.
BUT our communal failure to strip them of their assets, pride and power does not excuse everyone else from whatever they choose to do. And whining and whining and whining about the lack of accountability for their conduct advances nothing.
This case is about abusing children for profit. These teachers were guilty, as were many, many of their colleagues and as were far too many of their superiors, including several who are still alive and who somehow have escaped justice.
The fact that the bankers walked is irrelevant. These teachers should not have, and did not.
Yes, the bankers and the Bush Administration thug-and-idiot dance troupe should all be in jail. The fact that we the people did not indict them is an indictment of us. They are all inexcusable.
BUT our communal failure to strip them of their assets, pride and power does not excuse everyone else from whatever they choose to do. And whining and whining and whining about the lack of accountability for their conduct advances nothing.
This case is about abusing children for profit. These teachers were guilty, as were many, many of their colleagues and as were far too many of their superiors, including several who are still alive and who somehow have escaped justice.
The fact that the bankers walked is irrelevant. These teachers should not have, and did not.
5
This harsh sentence has to go down as one of the sickest things in Atlanta history. Wall Street execs steal billions and go unpunished, but teachers with spotless records are harshly punished. Those who have pushed the testing mania and "education reform" that would take funds from schools with large numbers of poor students who perform poorly on standardized tests should shoulder most of the blame.
4
Why weren't the politicians who insisted on these meaningless tests brought to trial???? Politicians are not trained educators; and generally, as soon as they get involved in defining what students need to learn and how it should be measured, the quality of education goes down the drain.
4
When the bankers' fraud and corruption threw the economy into a recession, there were no prosecutions, let alone jail sentences. This is ridiculously unjust for teachers who were put between a rock and a hard place with a deliberately false "accountability" ruse - mandated experimental curricula and dubious test results. The school privatization AKA "reform" schemes should be put on trial instead.
4
The evil empire of the U. S. strikes again -- constant attack on workers of every kind! Until there is a mass and determined movement in the streets, this brutal and ridiculous judge and all his fellows up and down government will suffer consequences they hardly dream of -- not the violence they themselves like but mass, hopefully peaceable, removal of all those who sit on high and condemn common people.
It would be frightening for me to live in the state of Georgia, with its love of boss-ism over working people, its hideous prisons and detention centers, its electric chair and love of executions.
TESTING is a total farce -- little reason for most of it other than the profits of the testing companies! This tragicomedy may help educate people about the whole testing charade. Kids hurt? They're hurt over and over again every year by hours and hours and hours of absurd and wasted TESTING -- for business, and business is all in Georgia! A hateful place in every respect.
It would be frightening for me to live in the state of Georgia, with its love of boss-ism over working people, its hideous prisons and detention centers, its electric chair and love of executions.
TESTING is a total farce -- little reason for most of it other than the profits of the testing companies! This tragicomedy may help educate people about the whole testing charade. Kids hurt? They're hurt over and over again every year by hours and hours and hours of absurd and wasted TESTING -- for business, and business is all in Georgia! A hateful place in every respect.
2
Forget it, Jake. It's Atlanta.
3
Criminalining is how patriarchal, and racist, America solves its social problems.
1
yes, we should just let illegal go unchecked. No doubt those students that were passed and denied the remedial help they so desperately needed are better off as a result.
Cheating on tests may be unethical, but should not be illegal. Subjecting the perpetrators to penal institutionalization only serves American Sadists and the prison industry, not justice.
These sentences are ridiculous.
3
The real culprit here is standardized testing.
No such thing exists without standardized socio-economic levels and standardized access to wealth, health, and safety.
Children no longer learn how to problem-solve; they learn how to memorize. Then, when faced with even the simplest life issues, they are lost.
The only people or entities that benefit from standardized testing are the companies that produce the tests and the legislators whose pockets they line.
Kids, parents, and educators? They are collateral damage.
No such thing exists without standardized socio-economic levels and standardized access to wealth, health, and safety.
Children no longer learn how to problem-solve; they learn how to memorize. Then, when faced with even the simplest life issues, they are lost.
The only people or entities that benefit from standardized testing are the companies that produce the tests and the legislators whose pockets they line.
Kids, parents, and educators? They are collateral damage.
15
So how would you determine if students have learned the material? And would you eliminate exams from colleges also? If so, I repeat my first question. I await a coherent answer.
Is there any difference between a terrorist threatening to shoot you if you do not sign a confession and Judge Baxter threatening to impose long sentences if these defendants did not sign confessions and forego appeals?
It is all extortion under threats!
It is all extortion under threats!
3
I can't believe the school workers got jail time when the Wall Street bankers who stole money got none. This is a RACIST system and the judge would not have done the same thing to whites.
4
This trial seems to have one and only one purpose-- The continuance of blaming poor education on the victims. Apartheid is certainly alive and well in Georgia. The sentencing and indeed the criminalization of people put in a bad situation by a corrupt and ill designed educational policy is the only criminal act committed in this whole affair. We need to fix what caused these people to commit this act rather than make criminals out of otherwise upstanding citizens. But this has ever been the purpose of the criminal (in) justie system in this country-- to subjugate the poor and minorities rather than to deal with teh actual criminal element who are the people behind such policies.
2
no, the purpose was to put so-called teachers who were cheating on trial. And to send a message it will not be tollerated. May other teachers watch and learn.
This is what can happen when there is an unrealistic expectation that teachers can totally change a child's life in a few hours for nine months. What about their parents who they were raised by, the environment they live in, the poverty, the hunger, the fear of violence, druggie parents, alcoholic parents. Believe me, when children are stressed, they can not learn. So we're going to blame the teachers for the low test scores? Completely ridiculous!
Stop blaming the teachers, instead infuse more money into the public schools to truly help the low achieving students. Then no one will be compelled to cheat on these ridiculous standardized tests.
Stop blaming the teachers, instead infuse more money into the public schools to truly help the low achieving students. Then no one will be compelled to cheat on these ridiculous standardized tests.
1
There has been money infused into these schools. Atlanta schools have been getting quite a bit from the state. Per capita spending between these schools and the surrounding suburbs is roughly the same. The problem is the environment, as eptimized by the moral fabric of these so-called teachers.
Yet again, the children have been set up to fail by the one resource that is supposed to help them succeed. Sad statement about education, happens on all levels (eg UNC and the NCAA probe) and happens elsewhere but have not been caught yet. Word to all educators: primary, secondary and higher education- keep it real or get out of teaching.
2
The judge called this the sickest thing in the history of Atlanta?
He needs an education. How about the case of Leo Frank? Go to the history books for that one. His lynching 100 years ago by a mob of white Georgia vigilante racists differs from the thousands of lynchings by white Georgians of black Georgians for 100 years only in that he was white and Jewish.
The sickest thing ever to happen in Atlanta and everywhere else in Georgia?
How about 300 years of slavery, 100 years of Jim Crow, thousands of lynchings, all that "strange fruit hanging from a southern tree", how about Ku Klux Klan night riders and burning crosses.
Get off your high horse judge and apologize for insulting my intelligence and that of every one else who knows the bloody history of your state because the Peach State is no barrel of peaches and this is hardly "the sickest thing" that ever happened there.
He needs an education. How about the case of Leo Frank? Go to the history books for that one. His lynching 100 years ago by a mob of white Georgia vigilante racists differs from the thousands of lynchings by white Georgians of black Georgians for 100 years only in that he was white and Jewish.
The sickest thing ever to happen in Atlanta and everywhere else in Georgia?
How about 300 years of slavery, 100 years of Jim Crow, thousands of lynchings, all that "strange fruit hanging from a southern tree", how about Ku Klux Klan night riders and burning crosses.
Get off your high horse judge and apologize for insulting my intelligence and that of every one else who knows the bloody history of your state because the Peach State is no barrel of peaches and this is hardly "the sickest thing" that ever happened there.
45
Don't change the subject nor take the judge's comment out of context. This care has nothing to do with slavery, the KKK or burning crosses. What it has to do with is a school superintendent who sets the bar high for her teachers and then tells them how to cheat the system. Unfortunately it is our children, not these educators, that pay the price. You have 20 year olds that have language skills of a 19 year old. Math? Forget about it - they are clueless. Next time you go to the food store and while checking out, pay the clerk with enough that he/she needs to calculate your change - then ask that it be done without the digital cash register! Wake up folks. People speak racism and then allow our children, black, white, yellow or red, to be treated like this.
Well said and covers the real history of Georgia.
You might want to climb-down-steadily from your lame horse!
This is the "sickest thing" in the history of Atlanta because these teachers, one of their own, have lynched these young men and women's futures by denying them basic education.
What future do they have besides "hanging" on the corner of streets selling drugs?
This is the "sickest thing" in the history of Atlanta because these teachers, one of their own, have lynched these young men and women's futures by denying them basic education.
What future do they have besides "hanging" on the corner of streets selling drugs?
As an elementary school administrator, I sometimes resent the amount of time spent on standardized testing. However, it is through standardized testing that we can see the disparity of academic success between populations and we, as a nation are finally addressing the inequality of education, especially for children of color. These educators put their energy into cheating instead of educating black children. Were they demonstrating that Black Lives Matter, or were they securing their own job security?
9
The sentence is unreasonably harsh. It is another example of our broken "justice," or more accurately injustice, system. One man, a judge, should not have this much power.
Lead to believe their race was both a cause and shield, arrogance ruled their refusal to accept responsibility. Shameful bunch.
12
but there are many in society who put forth the claim that increasing the number of people "of color" in the teaching profession would improve it.
I couldn't be more pleased that the Judge threw the book at these folks. Finally, finally, a Judge that "gets it."
This case was more than much, much more than some cheating teachers. It spoke to the CORE of the African American educators community, its validity, its progress, and its value. Allowing the cheaters to "skate" would have sent a signal to African American educators nationwide, many of which are charged with improving the poorest and neediest among us, that they have no hope, that they have no chance of success, that the struggle is not worth fighting.
Nothing could be further from the truth. These children deserved hard work from their teachers AND the truth. And they got neither.
Lock 'em up and throw away the key. The damage they have done is uncountable.
WR
This case was more than much, much more than some cheating teachers. It spoke to the CORE of the African American educators community, its validity, its progress, and its value. Allowing the cheaters to "skate" would have sent a signal to African American educators nationwide, many of which are charged with improving the poorest and neediest among us, that they have no hope, that they have no chance of success, that the struggle is not worth fighting.
Nothing could be further from the truth. These children deserved hard work from their teachers AND the truth. And they got neither.
Lock 'em up and throw away the key. The damage they have done is uncountable.
WR
15
I see the real issue here as these stupid standardized tests. Even parents in our affluent 99% white school district are complaining about the inordinate amount of time spent on standardized testing.
7
Glenn Beck is complaining about it too. Perhaps he, along with most parents, should put more effort into their children's education.
If DC officials had investigated its cheating scandal as Georgia just did, Michele Rhee would be in jail right now rather than on the cover of Time Magazine. Clearly this "accountability" movement is only for the teachers and other little people; corruption by senior level union busters and charter supporters is bad for Business and is ignored.
16
Okay, they were wrong, but how does this treatment compare to the treatment of the Wall Street financiers who helped swindle millions with inflated evaluations of stock, bonds and other investments?
Teachers and Administrators should have lost their licenses, but to put them in jail for being coerced into changing scores to protect their jobs and schools is absurd. High stake tests will tempt students and adults alike especially when they are told their future depends on it. Get rid of high stake tests in the public schools. Don't tempt honest people.
Teachers and Administrators should have lost their licenses, but to put them in jail for being coerced into changing scores to protect their jobs and schools is absurd. High stake tests will tempt students and adults alike especially when they are told their future depends on it. Get rid of high stake tests in the public schools. Don't tempt honest people.
17
Honest people won't yield to tempttation like this. Only insecure people.
1
"Get rid of high stake tests in the public schools."
OK, so how are we, without tests, to gauge student performance over time and cohort? Use ESP? Voodoo? This is the one questions that anti-testing advocates are so unable to answer.
OK, so how are we, without tests, to gauge student performance over time and cohort? Use ESP? Voodoo? This is the one questions that anti-testing advocates are so unable to answer.
1
Black Lives Matter! Initially, I thought prison time for cheating educators was outrageous. I’ve reconsidered, although seven years seems excessive, some time behind bars is appropriate. These educators did far more than simply defraud their (public) employer of a few dollars. They swindled their students out of their educational rights, and by extension, in a very meaningful way, cheated them out of the lifetime of benefits born of a good education. How many of these kids won’t reach their full potential because they will not get the educational service they need? How many will be placed in the wrong classes and become so frustrated they drop out, and become an incarcerated statistic? We know that education can be the silver bullet to so many problems, and these educators stole it from many of the students entrusted to their care. Most of the victimized students were black kids from the most impoverished parts of the city, that’s why I started, and will end this commentary with Black Lives Matter!
9
The educational approaches mandated as a consequence for low test scores are often more destructive than helpful. It's very possible that the students got a better education because the test scores were falsified than they would have if scores were reported accurately and the schools were taken over by for-profit charter operators.
1
While I think the sentences do seem over the top, reading about how other educators involved did work out agreements that would allow them to eventually have the charges moved and would involve minimal jail time and community service, it does seem like these that decided to try and get off completely free were trying to just get out of it completely. Acknowledging zero guilt and therefore having to not give back any public service to the community after they stripped so much away. I think that the judge sentenced out of emotion and not necessarily to fit the crime, but these people will have a chance to appeal their sentence/verdict and be out on bond at the same time, so hopefully the thought of what the punishment could be will make them realize that what they did was wrong and they need to make up for it with good.
4
This judge has too much power and is out of touch with the issue. These teachers are put in an unreasonable position where test scores determine whether or not they can keep their jobs -- so absurd! So they cheat to keep their low-paying jobs and some judge who sits on his rear all day, and is barely intelligible himself, has the power to hand outrageous sentences to citizens of a supposedly free country. Meanwhile, all the bankers who ruined people and families financially either sit for a year in country club prisons or get meaningless slaps on the wrist. The judge is the criminal here!
9
Test scores determine whether or not they cn keep their jobs? Well seems to me you answered the problem. Teach the kids and they will score high.....let them drink the kool-aid and they will flunk.
"These teachers are put in an unreasonable position where test scores determine whether or not they can keep their jobs -- so absurd! "
Perhaps they should move to a profession with no outcome performance? What profession would that be?
Perhaps they should move to a profession with no outcome performance? What profession would that be?
This is very complicated but was justice really served for all parties in this case? I suspect that from the start of requirements for testing of the students on a national and state level a no win situation was set up for all participants students, teachers, and administrators.
4
“Social promotion has been around since we were children,” said Barbara Holly-Lutalo, 53. What part of CHEATING and LYING is "Social Promotion"? The Judge gave these defendants an opportunity to fess up and take responsibility. The comparison to other sentences in different parts of the country does not matter one iota. Different crimes and different sentences. This Judge was not going to be bullied by these lawyers or take pity on individuals who ROBBED the children of Atlanta. Seven years seems like an appropriate time to reflect on the conceivably life long harm caused to these children. These "Educators" abused these children and by teaching that getting ahead means LYING and CHEATING. All done to collect bonuses by the "Educators". No wonder the Judge handed out stiff sentences to a group of folks who aren't sorry for their actions; only sorry they got caught. I think this article gives a very good picture of what that courtroom looked like yesterday. A group of defiant defendants screaming "not me".
9
"“Social promotion has been around since we were children,” said Barbara Holly-Lutalo, 53."
This is why social promotion needs to be replaced with hard work and good grades instead. Expecting to move up automatically with no effort is no way to go through life.
This is why social promotion needs to be replaced with hard work and good grades instead. Expecting to move up automatically with no effort is no way to go through life.
I am amazed at the number of people who are making excuses for these teachers. What they did was criminal. They ran a scam on the community, accepted bonus checks and pay raises without batting an eye, and now refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Children get expelled for cheating. As teachers and roll models they, too, should be expelled from ever teaching again.
10
Amazing that the Federal Government uses the RICO statute to prosecute black teachers as if the ran this huge illegal financial operation, and some receiving 7yrs in jail and 13 more year on probation?
However we got two other races on Wall Street getting homes in the Hamptons while no RICO charges are brought in the $30 trillion crime they committed, but Federal prosecutors are not cleaver enough for the legal help the 1% has hired to intimidate or work in concert with the Justice Dept.
Not saying these teachers did not do wrong, and I would not be writing if the white guys on Wall Street where treated the same way as with their illegal bonus receivers of billions of dollars, instead of the thousand of dollars these teachers received!
In the black world it never Justice, but "just us" getting convicted! Where the Obama cheerleader in Mayor Reed speaking out on the unfair sentencing of blacks, but quick to point out the GOP for being discriminating against Obama? Reed like other black leaders are quiet now as they been quiet in the discrimination in lending and foreclosing on blacks!
Not saying crimes are not committed by blacks, but I am saying whites are not convicted or even charged by the Federal Government!
However we got two other races on Wall Street getting homes in the Hamptons while no RICO charges are brought in the $30 trillion crime they committed, but Federal prosecutors are not cleaver enough for the legal help the 1% has hired to intimidate or work in concert with the Justice Dept.
Not saying these teachers did not do wrong, and I would not be writing if the white guys on Wall Street where treated the same way as with their illegal bonus receivers of billions of dollars, instead of the thousand of dollars these teachers received!
In the black world it never Justice, but "just us" getting convicted! Where the Obama cheerleader in Mayor Reed speaking out on the unfair sentencing of blacks, but quick to point out the GOP for being discriminating against Obama? Reed like other black leaders are quiet now as they been quiet in the discrimination in lending and foreclosing on blacks!
Not saying crimes are not committed by blacks, but I am saying whites are not convicted or even charged by the Federal Government!
8
Your observation is on point !!!
So much for the "blinders" our justice system supposedly wears - the countries economy is flipped upside down by Wall Street professionals and we "look forward, not back". Atlanta education professionals fail in their professional obligations and punishment is dished out by a judge that rants about professional failure. The country is wobbling in its orbit.
7
I can't help but believe that had these teachers and administrators worked with an investment bank on Wall Street to form a public corporation with shares being widely held throughout the financial sector, no one would have been prosecuted, let alone sent to jail.
9
The Atlanta business community kept defending Hall until it was untenable.
1
Judge Baxter was out of bounds when he entered into plea negotiations in this case. It also diminishes respect for our constitutional system for those who declared their innocence and who exercised their right to a jury trial to be bullied into accepting a plea deal or suffer unprecedented stiff prison terms. As we saw, the lenient post-trial deals were conditioned on their giving up their right to appeal the convictions. In my opinion based on what was reported in the press, for I was not present, and on my 40 years of practicing criminal law in Georgia, the process broke down and justice and the appearance of justice was not served.
4
I join those who feel these sentences are out of whack with reality....as is the judge who handed them down. ",,,the sickest thing that ever happened in this town" -- really? He knows he's in Atlanta, doesn't he?
9
Seems like a case of arrogance to me. These "teachers" were the guiltiest of the guilty (many more were involved, only the worst offenders were charged). So they refused to admit guilt, figuring they would get a slap on the wrist and then appeal that. Looks like they were wrong-both times. Sorry, but as a teacher myself, I'm much more concerned for the kids than these supposed teachers.
24
Wake Up America.
Promoting a struggling student
is Not racketeering!
Fix the stupid law.
Promoting a struggling student
is Not racketeering!
Fix the stupid law.
4
The only factor which should be considered, and is being discounted is the amount of intimidation teachers often face. Doesn't make it right, but as always the folks who created this mess get off. Lots of teachers spoke out against this testing. What did they get for their efforts?
so we should "promote" everyone regardless of performance? That is not sending a realistic message to students. One should have to achieve certain goals to get somewhere in life, not expect it automatically.
Of course race is an issue here. Whoever heard about educators being sentenced because they let through rich white kids? Or great athletes? That the prosecutors are of color too has nothing to say - they want a celebrity case and convictions and they can get it by doing in these educators.
16
Cheating has no color!
Black lives matter! This is pure black on black crime. These teachers should be given stiff crimes. They should be made examples so others think twice before ever doing anything like this again. They affected lives of kids most at risk- the ones that need their communities and their leaders to help most were sold short. I would like to know where the Rev. Al Sharpton was on this one. A real tragedy for for the kids.... And so many commenters say "it's the system...punishment doesn't fit the crime"....I don't think so.
5
I heard this judge on TV say this is the worst thing that had ever occured in Atlanta. Such Hyperbole to justify his overt racism. How about the Olympic bombing or the serial killer who targeted children a few decades ago, or KKK lynchings. So this cheating scandal was the worst thing to ever happen to Atlanta? Did they bring in this judge from Ferguson, Missouri? If this was a white suburban school would he have been so sever? I doubt it. And worst of all is the judge's hubris in laying out these sentences because they challenged him. Just like violent police, god forbid you should question or challenge them, they beat you up or kill you. This judge did the same thing but with years instead of fists or bullets. There is nothing worse in this country than crusading right wing judges and prosecutors. We lose all rights when dealing with judges and police like that.
12
As a 50 year Atlanta native, I agree with the Judge. These so called "Educators" ABUSED these children. The lifelong harm created by these LIARS and CHEATS brings immeasurable harm to these children, the least advantaged and the poorest, because of money hungry "educators" who couldn't even say: "I'm sorry". I hope they all serve every single second of their deserved sentences.
1
The judge is a real hero for punishing these people.
What better way to teach students what happens when you cheat. The people knew what they were doing all along and they got what they deserved. If we prosecuted more white collar criminals like this, there would probably be a lot less crime. In this case, the students were the losers.
4
Living in Atlanta and having children who were until recently in APS (but not at one of the schools involved in the scandal), I've followed this case with interest.
The initial report, released I believe by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, read like a script to a movie. The lengths that some of the school administrators went to were astonishing. I recall one school admin who stole the completed tests from the office of a testing administrator, who was a straight arrow & extremely observant: he noticed when anything was out of place. To ensure no suspicions were raised, the school admin photographed the office to make sure everything was returned exactly as it was previously.
My gut reaction was that the jail terms were too harsh. But considering that these educators had AMPLE opportunity to make a plea deal and even after the guilty verdict could have avoided jail time simply by admitting that they had cheated tells me that they would do it again if they had the chance.
In the meantime hundreds of children who couldn't pass a series of tests that, despite my opposition to standardized testing, was laughably easy missed out on potential services and remediation.
It is unfortunate the Beverly Hall did not survive to go to trial, as well, as the culture of high tests scores at all costs came directly from her. As the saying goes, excrement rolls down hill.
The initial report, released I believe by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, read like a script to a movie. The lengths that some of the school administrators went to were astonishing. I recall one school admin who stole the completed tests from the office of a testing administrator, who was a straight arrow & extremely observant: he noticed when anything was out of place. To ensure no suspicions were raised, the school admin photographed the office to make sure everything was returned exactly as it was previously.
My gut reaction was that the jail terms were too harsh. But considering that these educators had AMPLE opportunity to make a plea deal and even after the guilty verdict could have avoided jail time simply by admitting that they had cheated tells me that they would do it again if they had the chance.
In the meantime hundreds of children who couldn't pass a series of tests that, despite my opposition to standardized testing, was laughably easy missed out on potential services and remediation.
It is unfortunate the Beverly Hall did not survive to go to trial, as well, as the culture of high tests scores at all costs came directly from her. As the saying goes, excrement rolls down hill.
16
EWood, I am, also, from Atlanta. I agree with your comment!
I, always, am glad to see, Atlanta, or Georgia, in general, mentioned in any National news article. NOT LIKE THIS, THOUGH!
SHAME on the, Atlanta School Education System, for allowing this, miscarriage of testing! The ones that got away, I can only hope, will never try this, crime, again!
I, always, am glad to see, Atlanta, or Georgia, in general, mentioned in any National news article. NOT LIKE THIS, THOUGH!
SHAME on the, Atlanta School Education System, for allowing this, miscarriage of testing! The ones that got away, I can only hope, will never try this, crime, again!
Once again, the real culprits get to walk away. Bush, Obama, Arnie Duncan I mean. Bush's NO Child Left Behind and Obama's Race to the Top are bonanzas for the testing industry. Meantime the Atlanta community and others are unable to "fix" the problem of getting kids to love learning because they (BUsh, Obama, Duncan et al) start at the wrong end. Teachers account for at best 14% of educational outcomes. Parents about 60%. If you don't focus on the parents as a start you're going nowhere. And in these poor communities, where parents struggle with multiple jobs just to get by, and where kids grow up with constant stress of poverty and uncertainty--who's got the time and the luxury for learning. And if the goal is learning to be cog in the corporate world, why would any sane kid bother; why would any sane parent encourage her (it's mostly a single female parent ) kid to bother?
18
Presidents do not legislate public education willy nilly. They get together with the brightest academics available to determine the best way to educate the generation of kids who will be leading our country into the future. And they don't do it within three or four meetings inside a casino either. Strategy is well planned and implemented.
Education is one area the Federal Government needs to act as a rudder. And it does so. A few bad apples, a few conspiracies within the public education system is bound to happen with such a large group of people.
Don't blame the presidents for producing corruption with a public school system.
Education is one area the Federal Government needs to act as a rudder. And it does so. A few bad apples, a few conspiracies within the public education system is bound to happen with such a large group of people.
Don't blame the presidents for producing corruption with a public school system.
Yea just so much easier to sell drugs or go on welfare... But you are also missing the point, no president can fix the problem of single parenthood, that has to be fixed by the community itself and by the govt NOT rewarding and incentivizing bad behavior. It's been proven many times over that people don't change behavior by rewards - they only change when pain is involved - sorry libs, but it's the truth...
1
The late Senator Ted Kennedy wrote the NCLB and it was his baby.
1
For the most part, these are good people who were trying to cope with the nonsense of misguided high-stakes testing. We never learn the right lessons.
22
chaspack Red Bank, nj No! They were inflating and distorting test results with no compunction whatsoever. They did not care about what happened to the kids since they would not be identified as those that truly needed remedial assistance. The teachers weren't "coping" with "nonsense" of misguided high-stakes testing. The teachers were allowing the existing system to stay in place without assisting children. The tests also may have been viewed in some quarters as damning of the teachers and the schools. Thus the teachers were promoting their own welfare by saying the kids passed when in fact, they did not. Teachers were trying to escape blame and responsibility for failing kids. That's corrupt. That's cheating. That denies education to children who needed more education, not social promotion. The teacher manipulated the system for their own benefit. That's the point of this punishment. And sadly those teachers still do not understand what they did that was wrong and they refuse to accept any responsibility. The long sentences should stand. The kids who missed out are sentenced for a lifetime.
7
The "assistance" kids get when they score badly on standardized tests is usually harmful rather than otherwise. Yes, the teachers cheated. But far from being robbed of an education, the students probably got a better education because of it than they would have if the teachers hadn't.
1
@chaspack
These are NOT good people. These are evil people. I live in Atlanta, GA. For a while I worked with a charter high school in Atlanta Public Schools. I watched as these evil people (APS senior administrators) and others of their ilk did everything they could to put this charter high school out of business. Why? Because this charter high school was truly succeeding with students who came from the worst schools in the city and arrived at 9th grade with 4th or 5th grade (or worse!) reading skills. Through intensive work and a lot of unpaid hours by teachers, these students were gradually brought up to grade level in math and reading. APS senior administrators were desperate to shut down this charter high school because it made other APS schools look so bad by comparison. They finally managed to kill the school and I often wonder what became of those students -- and others who might have had a chance if they had attended that school. APS senior administrators were all about maintaining status quo, though they were not above lying and cheating and bullying to fill their pockets with undeserved cash "awards." I wonder if the IRS ever saw any mention of that money at tax time?
These are NOT good people. These are evil people. I live in Atlanta, GA. For a while I worked with a charter high school in Atlanta Public Schools. I watched as these evil people (APS senior administrators) and others of their ilk did everything they could to put this charter high school out of business. Why? Because this charter high school was truly succeeding with students who came from the worst schools in the city and arrived at 9th grade with 4th or 5th grade (or worse!) reading skills. Through intensive work and a lot of unpaid hours by teachers, these students were gradually brought up to grade level in math and reading. APS senior administrators were desperate to shut down this charter high school because it made other APS schools look so bad by comparison. They finally managed to kill the school and I often wonder what became of those students -- and others who might have had a chance if they had attended that school. APS senior administrators were all about maintaining status quo, though they were not above lying and cheating and bullying to fill their pockets with undeserved cash "awards." I wonder if the IRS ever saw any mention of that money at tax time?
3
I couldn't believe my ears when I heard some of these teachers complain that they were forced to falsify records. We used to call that The Nuremberg Defense. These teachers sounded like they were saying, "I was only following orders". The difference is that they were unable to claim their lives would have been in danger had they refused. The price was cheaper, they might lose their jobs.
7
Yep, they might have lost their jobs.
A reasonable person might say we should then look, instead, at the people who GAVE them the orders, up to and including Arne Duncan and President Obama.
A reasonable person might say we should then look, instead, at the people who GAVE them the orders, up to and including Arne Duncan and President Obama.
1
In recent decades there has been a mania to send people to jail. As a result the prisons are overcrowded with mostly nonviolent felons. In comparison to other industrialized countries the U.S. has lost all proportion when it comes to fighting "crime."
Those in this case are being punished by not being allowed to continue to work in their profession. I'm sure there are other punishments rather than incarceration to send a message that such behavior is not to be tolerated.
Those in this case are being punished by not being allowed to continue to work in their profession. I'm sure there are other punishments rather than incarceration to send a message that such behavior is not to be tolerated.
11
This horrendous decision is yet another indictment of an American justice system, including the police who support it, that has returned to 19th century standards of irrationality.
American exceptionalism--we lead the world in incarceration and, to judge from a number of recent cases, disproportionate punishment.
American exceptionalism--we lead the world in incarceration and, to judge from a number of recent cases, disproportionate punishment.
28
“....while declaring the cheating scandal “the sickest thing that’s ever happened in this town,” he (the judge) imposed sentences that appeared to be more harsh than those in similar cheating scandals elsewhere and that exceeded what criminals sometimes receive for violent crimes.”
Everything about this case seems “over the top.” It starts with racketeering charges, gets defined by a hostile judge as “the sickest thing that’s ever happened in this town,” (really?) and ends with excessive sentences.
But there were some other “over the top” factors I think. Was there ever any consideration of how well and appropriately funded were the schools to which these pupils went? Was there ever any consideration of why test scores were the sole determinant of student achievement and success? Was there any real attempt to desegregate the schools socially, racially, and economically, as so many studies prove to be important to overall student achievement?
Yes, the children were victims. But in this instance other victims already had been made the scapegoats when they were hired – the teachers, supervisors, and administrators whose jobs and careers depended on producing the results for a system that never was given the appropriate resources and policies to accomplish the results demanded of them.
Everything about this case seems “over the top.” It starts with racketeering charges, gets defined by a hostile judge as “the sickest thing that’s ever happened in this town,” (really?) and ends with excessive sentences.
But there were some other “over the top” factors I think. Was there ever any consideration of how well and appropriately funded were the schools to which these pupils went? Was there ever any consideration of why test scores were the sole determinant of student achievement and success? Was there any real attempt to desegregate the schools socially, racially, and economically, as so many studies prove to be important to overall student achievement?
Yes, the children were victims. But in this instance other victims already had been made the scapegoats when they were hired – the teachers, supervisors, and administrators whose jobs and careers depended on producing the results for a system that never was given the appropriate resources and policies to accomplish the results demanded of them.
15
I do not remember "social promotion" being based on test scores . This was a case of institulized cheating. I have no simpethy for these Cheats. They did this for personal gain. It was a gross disservice to the students.
8
The punishment just doesn't fit the crime. How many white collar criminals who Ponzi millions go to jail, and/or for this long? Yes, they cheated; yes, they enabled and participated in a corrupt system, but state and federal educational policies created and maintained this system with tax dollars. NCLB essentially monetizes student test performance, which copious research has shown, is primarily based on socioeconomic status. So that game is over before poor children start Kindergarten. Basing jobs, bonuses, and job performance evaluations makes public education about adults, not kids, who become meaningless, almost a hindrance to filling in the test bubbles. If only they had used computers to cheat instead of humans, the results would have been better for the adults, and no different for the children. How much of student performance do standardized tests measure? So many factors come into play, but very little if students receive anything like a well-rounded education. If they receive anything less, their test performance means even less.
14
Some 40 states have reported the same criminal activity by teachers. Enough! We have a right to see our children receive the best education possible and if some teachers want to cheat to fatten their wallets then they need to go to jail.
The real tragedy here is that a Bush educational policy has cost these educators their freedom. The notion that educators would be held accountable for the educational progress of the students they are educating is ridiculous. Many school system is this country has become an important extensions of the welfare/social service system. Many of the children in school systems of cities like Atlanta have significant social/economic needs that render the educational objectives secondary to the process. The school systems are now in the business of providing meals, healthcare and childcare. The schools districts also have a basic responsibility to provide economic stability for many wage earners who would not other wise be able to earn the type of income they can as teachers. The teachers union has been an inportant stabilizing influence to ensure jobs for a vulnerable group of people. I am hopefull that the appeals process will correct the injustice.
10
@ Dan Bank - "The real tragedy here is that a Bush educational policy has cost these educators their freedom."
They should have used "Bush did it" as their defense!
They should have used "Bush did it" as their defense!
1
OK, now it's time to go after the for-profit testing corps that lobbied for this legislation to begin with, which directly resulted in the teachers vying for bonus pay, trying to avoid being canned. Also, let's not forget Michelle Rhee, who's talent for adversity added to the toxic environment these teachers found themselves in all of the sudden.
7
no mention of their teaching credentials, none of these racketeers should ever be allowed into a classroom again...if the sentences are unprecedented so is the sum of their crimes - the degree of conspiracy, the extent of the harm they've done and the arrogance demonstrated in their refusal to accept responsibility.
9
Good. They deserved to go to the jail. Honesty is the best policy.
4
The pressures have been the same all over the country, but these are the only folks who have gone to jail? This looks like racism, pure and simple. And the sentences are abusive.
10
What these Liar and Cheater "Educators" did to these children deserves your word: "Abusive".
The bottom line from all this mess is that teachers promoted kids into a higher grade which they weren't prepared. The struggle and insecurity and fear caused by the inability keep up with their classmates can promote suicide at the worst. These kids need to be taken care of ASAP. Most important the teachers deserve the punishment of 7 years incarceration.
12
The bottom line is that teachers all over the country are constantly promoting kids into higher grades for which they're not prepared. The bottom line is that those teachers, like these, were told to do so by their bosses and by law. The bottom line is that most of what determines standardized test scores is the kids' home lives, and that the consequences of low scores are punitive, not extra help but punishment that degrades educational quality.
We're punishing the symptom here and pretending there's no problem.
We're punishing the symptom here and pretending there's no problem.
2
Perhaps the greatest challenge of my life was to start a college program at a rural cooperative in Maine. The students signed up as a favor to me and despite their hatred of “education.” I understood their attitude toward education as I had lived for a while across the road from a farm family and had often been visiting when the kids came home from school with their school papers covered with ugly red slashes. Their grammar wasn’t “standard” and their grades were low. What they were learning was that the culture of school was both foreign and hostile, something to be avoided.
In my college program, dubbed The Rural Education Program, we approached subject matter as exciting and largely unexplored territory, using books as our guides in the way we might use a compass to guide us in unexplored lands. One of the students, not enrolled for credit as he was functionally illiterate, often offered the keenest insights into the material. What passes for education in the U.S. has become largely a matter of conforming to some established standard. I think teachers have to be aware that Shakespeare spelled his name 14 different ways when they put a red slash on a student paper upon seeing any but one of those different spellings that Shakespeare himself used.
In my college program, dubbed The Rural Education Program, we approached subject matter as exciting and largely unexplored territory, using books as our guides in the way we might use a compass to guide us in unexplored lands. One of the students, not enrolled for credit as he was functionally illiterate, often offered the keenest insights into the material. What passes for education in the U.S. has become largely a matter of conforming to some established standard. I think teachers have to be aware that Shakespeare spelled his name 14 different ways when they put a red slash on a student paper upon seeing any but one of those different spellings that Shakespeare himself used.
4
This is another example of the misuse of incarceration. These persons need to be punished. Civil punishments should include the revocation of their teaching certificates and the forfeiture of their pensions for dishonest services and defrauding the taxpayers. Criminal punishments should include fines, restitution, and short periods of incarceration. These punishments would serve the principle of deterrence. Incarceration for several years further burdens taxpayers and serves no public purpose.
17
The defendants WERE offered: "... fines, restitution, and short periods of incarceration. " They were offered these lighter punishments several times but turned them down hoping the judge would be even more lenient. Also, the cheating went on for years--during those years there were many chances for them to decline to be involved. Many educators did the right thing and spoke up against the cheating--these folks did not. That's why they are facing jail time.
It's not about punishment itself; the people who did this scam should be punished. It's about the punishment fitting the crime. These punishments do not. Losing one's job and being, in principle, banned from getting a new one in a similar setting, is punishment enough. The justice system has to desisit in meting out judgements like this. All the economic crimes committed by various bankers which destroyed the reputation of the country and it's financial institutions and created huge financial damage to many individuals and the world, have been met by small, almost symbolic, slaps on the wrist. Just compare... on any level be it moral ethical or financial. These people have received enough punishment already.
7
They destroyed the lives of thousands of children. For that, give them time in jail. None of them apologized and could care less.
The tragedy of education in minority and major urban pockets of poverty is that teachers are not allowed to educate children, they are required to follow policies developed by administrators often years removed from class rooms and some who were never in a classroom at all set policies programs and standards by some mystical formula not rooted in reality and when things like this happen everyone acts indignant, but this is a common practice and it is happening everywhere.
The teachers exercised poor judgment in an attempt to normalize their program to an defunct system instead of educating the children to the best of their ability and letting the chips fall where they may. The courts then criminalized their behavior and committed the grievous error of perpetuating the greater crime by, not challenging the system or administration to improve the inept process, but totally placing the blame on these teachers.
We have failed our children and so we jail the teachers who are trying to comply with our ridiculous demands. We didn't provide additional training our seminars to improve their performance, we send them to jail. Our educational system which once made us a world leader in innovation has been reduced to a shambles and the pension funds and school budget is being ravaged to balance the budget at the expense of those less fortunate.
We are better than this....
The teachers exercised poor judgment in an attempt to normalize their program to an defunct system instead of educating the children to the best of their ability and letting the chips fall where they may. The courts then criminalized their behavior and committed the grievous error of perpetuating the greater crime by, not challenging the system or administration to improve the inept process, but totally placing the blame on these teachers.
We have failed our children and so we jail the teachers who are trying to comply with our ridiculous demands. We didn't provide additional training our seminars to improve their performance, we send them to jail. Our educational system which once made us a world leader in innovation has been reduced to a shambles and the pension funds and school budget is being ravaged to balance the budget at the expense of those less fortunate.
We are better than this....
8
Prison? Sounds a bit harsh, and like a waste of tax dollars.
8
I just got into work, and haven't time to read all 330 comments. It is important to note that those teachers, principals, and administrators had no choice but to change the test scores or else lose the federal funding needed for them to keep their jobs. That whole No Child Left Behind nonsense has done nothing but try to quantify something that is pretty much unquantifiable as a means of eliminating tenure and making it easier to fire teachers.
8
They had a choice. Many teachers and administrators in Atlanta refused to be involved and some wrote letters trying to expose the cheating. These educators chose to cheat. They chose not once but many times. There were students who were denied special education support because of their "high" scores--the teachers chose to deny them this support. Then they chose to turn down plea deals. They made many, many choices that lead them to this point.
7 years won't stand. Wrong as it may be this is exceptional. The judge is being over-emotional.
5
Ah, these were not violent people.
Their superiors, evidently the Superintendent, wanted the scores changed.
Superintendent pushes on Principals who push on Teachers...
No one wanted to lose their job.
To sentence them to Jail for 7 years will ruin their lives.
Yes, take away their license to teach/work in school.
Community Service.
Maybe a year in jail for the instigator.
Of course they did not want to admit guilt - who does
but perhaps they thought they could hang onto to their license to teach/work
in schools.
After all the Wall Street Hyenas ruined the economy,
took 2.7 Trillion in taxpayers money and how many of them have
gone to jail over it all -
I think one and he is appealing or is out on appeal...
Their superiors, evidently the Superintendent, wanted the scores changed.
Superintendent pushes on Principals who push on Teachers...
No one wanted to lose their job.
To sentence them to Jail for 7 years will ruin their lives.
Yes, take away their license to teach/work in school.
Community Service.
Maybe a year in jail for the instigator.
Of course they did not want to admit guilt - who does
but perhaps they thought they could hang onto to their license to teach/work
in schools.
After all the Wall Street Hyenas ruined the economy,
took 2.7 Trillion in taxpayers money and how many of them have
gone to jail over it all -
I think one and he is appealing or is out on appeal...
8
@ skanik - "Ah, these were not violent people." "After all the Wall Street Hyenas ruined the economy, took 2.7 Trillion in taxpayers money and how many of them have gone to jail over it all"
Ah, those Wall Street Hyenas weren't violent people either!
Ah, those Wall Street Hyenas weren't violent people either!
It was not merely cheating on a test.
It was systematically changing student answers so troubled students were not identified as needing help. It was also qualifying for bonuses and pay raises due to falsely claiming excellent student performance.
Thus, for several years students were harmed while the cheaters got additional pay.
It was systematically changing student answers so troubled students were not identified as needing help. It was also qualifying for bonuses and pay raises due to falsely claiming excellent student performance.
Thus, for several years students were harmed while the cheaters got additional pay.
10
In truth, standardized testing has done more harm than good, because it essentially robs teachers from preparing bona fide lesson plans and engaging with students for the sake of learning. Under the current structure, teachers are tasked with ensuring that their students pass a series of exams based on rote/memorization, not critical thinking.
I don't condone cheating for the sake of getting bonuses, but I know that teachers who work in low income/urban areas usually take on multiple roles (i.e. social worker, care giver AND teacher) w/out any additional compensation.
I don't condone cheating for the sake of getting bonuses, but I know that teachers who work in low income/urban areas usually take on multiple roles (i.e. social worker, care giver AND teacher) w/out any additional compensation.
1
The raises and bonuses were teachers' raises and bonuses--small.
The "help" that's usually mandated when student test scores are low usually makes things worse. Policies are written by politicians, not educators, and they're usually punitive rather than helpful.
I can't say for sure, but it's certainly possible that the teachers did what they did to shield their students from harm rather than for their own benefit.
The "help" that's usually mandated when student test scores are low usually makes things worse. Policies are written by politicians, not educators, and they're usually punitive rather than helpful.
I can't say for sure, but it's certainly possible that the teachers did what they did to shield their students from harm rather than for their own benefit.
1
It should be recognized as unconstitutional to deprive Americans of a jury or any other trial, by coercion of exorbitant punishment.
If the end result is fewer people in prison, so be it.
If the end result is fewer people in prison, so be it.
3
It's too bad that all the money spent on prosecuting these teachers and administrators wasn't first used to pay for preschool and hire more teachers so that these children could have a fighting chance of passing these stupid high-stakes exams. Our society is too anxious to invest in punishment and too reluctant to invest in children's futures.
47
The fact that we can discuss as potentially reasonable a seven-year sentence of imprisonment for these crimes shows that our nation's culture of imprisonment is recklessly out of control. The defendants' actions were despicable, but our impulse to imprison is far more shameful. And, of course, someone has to pay for all that prison time. With money that might better be used for . . . public schools.
17
It is so sad to note that many comments simply focus on the sentences handed down and the issue of testing. Yes, excessive testing is not the answer. However, Atlanta has been a leading city in spending per pupil over the last decade, yet continually shows poor results. The issue is complex and deserves greater attention if any progress can ever be obtained. Atlanta has been an African American led city since the mid 1970's, yet community leaders have made little progress in getting parents involved in reading to pre-school children and emphasizing education throughout the primary and high school years. More than 70% of the children continue to be born to single, teenage mothers and 50% of boys still drop out of high school. The teachers know the problem and the City and school administrators are unable to find a path forward. There are after school programs at local YMCA's and others that try and reach a small portion of these kids. The teachers panicked under the new testing regimes, knowing full well the children would not pass. The teachers also took the easy way out to protect their jobs. Let's stop focusing on the sentences and look more on urging the community to work to solve the problem.
36
This scandal is happening in a variety of school districts around the nation. It is only a matter of time before they are uncovered. Critics of the one-size fits all approach to education known as the common core have mocked, ridiculed and dismissed as whiny Cassandras. The sentencing is harsh but also deserved but people have short memories and I predict most of them will be set free in about three to nine months.
1
It wasn't common core. No Child Left Behind is the legislation that mandates the testing *and* the consequences these teachers were (misguidedly) trying to avoid. Because of the threat of lost federal funding, many districts nation-wide linked bonuses and jobs to the test results.
Common core is a curriculum reform, not a structural reform. High stakes testing and the top down management of NCLB is the law behind these teacher's actions. (Though I acknowledge their culpability)
Common core is a curriculum reform, not a structural reform. High stakes testing and the top down management of NCLB is the law behind these teacher's actions. (Though I acknowledge their culpability)
2
It's called accountability. It's what educators should be teaching students and leading by example. The moral of this story is that there are consequences for breaking the law. I hope Atlanta school children pay close attention.
6
Ask yourself this, ‘What is the goal of a good education?’ Is it not to equip students for many of life’s responsibilities, such as analyzing problems in the workplace and solving them?
Educators and students who get into the habit of cheating may fail to learn those valuable skills. Thus, people who habitually cheat mask their weaknesses and undermine their chances for success in many areas of life.
What is more, “people who cut corners early in life—such as cheating a lot in school—usually bring those habits into the workforce later in life.
In a way, such ones are like a fake brand-name garment or wristwatch that looks genuine but is not.
The damage done in Atlanta is incalculable.
Educators and students who get into the habit of cheating may fail to learn those valuable skills. Thus, people who habitually cheat mask their weaknesses and undermine their chances for success in many areas of life.
What is more, “people who cut corners early in life—such as cheating a lot in school—usually bring those habits into the workforce later in life.
In a way, such ones are like a fake brand-name garment or wristwatch that looks genuine but is not.
The damage done in Atlanta is incalculable.
5
So yesterday the judge said “Somehow this morning it just came to me, you know, that the only reason that I’d send you to jail is for retribution” and encouraged everyone to make a deal. Today, a frustrated judge sentenced some of the teachers to prison terms that are longer than those given to some violent criminals. How is this just?
12
I'm afraid this is only the tip of the iceberg. You can bet this has occurred in a wide variety of school districts around the nation. It is only a matter of time before another scandal of this sort is uncovered. It is also likely to continue for as long as this corrupt system is championed by politicians and entrepreneurs who put dollars before people.
Anyone who knows anything about pedagogy,-- primarily those with experience in the classroom-- are never consulted about so-called education reform in our nation's schools. Rather they have been mocked and ridiculed.
For the past 15 years the one-size fits all "common core" that passes for education policy has been designed to drive out experienced teachers because they are perceived to be earning too much money and replaced with naive neophytes just happy go lucky to find a job in an otherwise miserable job market.
IN attempt to divide and dismantle the teacher's unions, politicians with no qualifications whatsoever in the field of education have encouraged a war between public and charter schools that fosters hostility and pits teachers against teachers in a competition that never existed before and for good reason.
Meanwhile, students sit by and watch and wait until graduation knowing they will not be held accountable for poor performance with grade inflation one of the consequences. Ask college professors today how well prepared American high school students are for the rigors of academic work.
Anyone who knows anything about pedagogy,-- primarily those with experience in the classroom-- are never consulted about so-called education reform in our nation's schools. Rather they have been mocked and ridiculed.
For the past 15 years the one-size fits all "common core" that passes for education policy has been designed to drive out experienced teachers because they are perceived to be earning too much money and replaced with naive neophytes just happy go lucky to find a job in an otherwise miserable job market.
IN attempt to divide and dismantle the teacher's unions, politicians with no qualifications whatsoever in the field of education have encouraged a war between public and charter schools that fosters hostility and pits teachers against teachers in a competition that never existed before and for good reason.
Meanwhile, students sit by and watch and wait until graduation knowing they will not be held accountable for poor performance with grade inflation one of the consequences. Ask college professors today how well prepared American high school students are for the rigors of academic work.
20
Unions paint teachers with the same brush whether they are good, lousy or mediocre teachers. Unions sap the excitement out of teachers that would to be recognized for good work and not be thought as equal to the least productive teacher. And "common core" does not produce teachers who lie, cheat, and harm school children. Because if it does do that i'll bet my last thin dime that a Teachers Union is protecting a whole bunch of sleazy teachers. similar to the protection provided to sleazy cops by their Wall of Blue union.
The common core has not been effect for 15 years in any state. Politicians are not using reform to get rid of experienced teachers. Where are your facts? With allegations such as these you should be obligated to support them with facts. I agree with the judge here. It is a terrible time for children and I add it is a terrible time for education when people who know better and are in a trust position cheat. What happened to, "do the tests and work with the results"? "See what the children can do; work on what they cannot"? Work from within to make changes? What happened to work?
Yep. The bosses ask for the impossible. The people who actually understand education tell them it's impossible. The bosses say "Make it happen anyway." And the people who understand education do--and then go to jail.
1
This punishment does not fit the crime. They should be fired and not allowed to teach again. But prison terms? They are not a danger to anyone.
17
I wouldn't even go that far. Just forget about it.
The main idea is deterrence.
The whole sorry mess is the inevitable result of the diseeased testing mania
which is sweeping the educational establishment, making the choice of a career in this profession absurd.
2nd generation, retired teacher
which is sweeping the educational establishment, making the choice of a career in this profession absurd.
2nd generation, retired teacher
10
The teachers and school officials were under enormous pressure to cheat on test scores - their promotions and even their jobs were at risk.
It is not clear that the educational progress of their students were actually harmed.
The racketeering charges seem to be a serious legal stretch. Some of the sentences seem excessive. The insistence upon immediate imprisonment is mean spirited.
This was a totally non-violent crime. Pocketing the bonuses was indeed theft, but there was no way to turn down the money without exposing the whole scheme.
It is not clear that the educational progress of their students were actually harmed.
The racketeering charges seem to be a serious legal stretch. Some of the sentences seem excessive. The insistence upon immediate imprisonment is mean spirited.
This was a totally non-violent crime. Pocketing the bonuses was indeed theft, but there was no way to turn down the money without exposing the whole scheme.
7
Very tough call on this one, but when it comes down to it I have to agree with the judge. I think the Mea Culpa and apologies, made in public to those whom you have harmed is beneficial. It was obviously called for in this case and I agree that such arrogance and stubborn refusal to say "I'm sorry" and shed a few tears of remorse is damning.
Then, on top of that it looks like they're all going out on bond, until some nebulous date in the future, so they may never see a day in prison. On the other hand, their careers are ruined and I'd sure hate to see their lawyer bills… Sad state of affairs any way you look at it..
Then, on top of that it looks like they're all going out on bond, until some nebulous date in the future, so they may never see a day in prison. On the other hand, their careers are ruined and I'd sure hate to see their lawyer bills… Sad state of affairs any way you look at it..
8
The testing system that subjects all students to a single standardized scoring system that places teachers in a terrible bind is the primary villian here.
10
No. The villains here are the educators who suffered a complete and total ethical failure, and harmed numerous children.
2
" I know a lot of people who do illegal things every day and they get like a month," Malik Andrew, 19, said......
" So I think they went overboard."
Hum. So someone who knows people who do illegal things every day is a fair judge of whether the sentences were overboard. What's wrong with this picture?
" So I think they went overboard."
Hum. So someone who knows people who do illegal things every day is a fair judge of whether the sentences were overboard. What's wrong with this picture?
8
Judge Baxter: “the sickest thing that’s ever happened in this town”.
This must be way up with some of the loonier things ever said in a US Court of law. It is frankly disturbing.
Nothing on the slave auctions, the lynchings, racial segregation, police brutality, a comprehensive apartheid until the 1950s quite comparable to racist South Africa.
American Justice! And, the swindlers who nearly managed another Great Depression still on a rampage, unmolested in spite of the catastrophe they caused here and around the globe.
This must be way up with some of the loonier things ever said in a US Court of law. It is frankly disturbing.
Nothing on the slave auctions, the lynchings, racial segregation, police brutality, a comprehensive apartheid until the 1950s quite comparable to racist South Africa.
American Justice! And, the swindlers who nearly managed another Great Depression still on a rampage, unmolested in spite of the catastrophe they caused here and around the globe.
23
Deliberately making disadvantaged children suffer for your own selfish ends?
I have no sympathy for any of these people.
I have no sympathy for any of these people.
10
@Lucian Roosevelt: The children did NOT SUFFER until the pressure to raise test scores OR ELSE became so severe that the teaching suffered. The teachers WERE TEACHING and improving, but the administrators were not satisfied; they demanded a miracle.
11
I have to agree. They're "professionals", TEACHERS for God's sake! What did their actions teach the kids about personal responsibility? Integrity?
They can't even apologize for what they did? Really?
That members of the community, presumably educated in Atlanta's schools, don't get it speaks volumes about the example they've set. Sad.
They can't even apologize for what they did? Really?
That members of the community, presumably educated in Atlanta's schools, don't get it speaks volumes about the example they've set. Sad.
1
Tom F,
don't worry, "racism" will be blamed as opposed to inability to see how perverted this line of logic ethically is.
don't worry, "racism" will be blamed as opposed to inability to see how perverted this line of logic ethically is.
The kids they Did Not Teach for 15 YEARS Got Life Sentences of poor paying jobs and a lack of opportunity !...This was Academic Child Abuse!
Child Protective Services should file Charges against everyone of them for Child Abuse!
If a parent repeatedly prevented their child from learning.... Child Protective Services would be Charging the Parent!
I hope the Parents of these kids will SUE the teachers and Administrators and take away those salaries and big houses they bought...
....Students have Rights.... and.... Students Lives Matter!
Child Protective Services should file Charges against everyone of them for Child Abuse!
If a parent repeatedly prevented their child from learning.... Child Protective Services would be Charging the Parent!
I hope the Parents of these kids will SUE the teachers and Administrators and take away those salaries and big houses they bought...
....Students have Rights.... and.... Students Lives Matter!
9
@Jay Jay: Read the New Yorker article. You can't judge without that. The teachers DID TEACH and the school WAS IMPROVING, but not at the rapid rate demanded by the administrators.
7
Our future depends on educating kids properly, even if it is hard.
Today's hard work pays in the future (good citizens).
Today's hard work pays in the future (good citizens).
1
I am disappointed that the NEA and the Teachers Union did not step in and try to stop this. These educators are heros and deserve recognition not prison. The children were obviously willing participants, so to make them out to be the victims is just silly.
4
Well, at least they have tenure; so they'll still collect their paychecks in prison.
2
@Lucian: You should be ashamed. I'm sorry to say it, but you're writing in vicious anger without bothering to ascertain facts. You bought into the corporate/Republican (with too many Democratic politicians also) anti-teacher smear campaign. Do you really think the teachers will retain their jobs? They will lose everything, and it's the fault of their bosses, who threatened them if they didn't make a miracle happen.
I'm disappointed at the number of people who denounce teachers gleefully and jump to utterly wrong conclusions such as that the students were not being taught. Yes, they were taught. No, the teachers did not fail to teach. The sole issue in this case is the tests.
I'm disappointed at the number of people who denounce teachers gleefully and jump to utterly wrong conclusions such as that the students were not being taught. Yes, they were taught. No, the teachers did not fail to teach. The sole issue in this case is the tests.
7
I agree totally with you but I also think that our public school systems should look more into the types of testing and administrative restrictions that should be placed on the schools. Should there not be and independent testing program? Also, It sounds to me that the judge had his own agenda, don't you think? What's the influence there? Perhaps he's guilty of the same crime? Who's he protecting! Or perhaps just a bad year at home and for that no one should pay for!
I'm joking while making a point about how difficult it is to fire teachers.
School failure can start before school. Obedience, delayed gratification, knowing right from wrong, paying attention are prerequisites for Kindergarten. For those who haven't learned that, Kindergarten is another chance to prepare for the real work of first grade. By third grade, children should be reading for information, not just puzzling out how letters make a word. I'm a retired classroom teacher now tutoring, and I believe that early education is the most crucial and most overlooked period in a child's life. By the time the Atlanta children were doing so poorly that the only chance their teachers saw for them was to change grades, the academic opportunity was running out; school happens only at a certain age. I'm ashamed for my profession, but along with feeling disgust I understand that the cheating teachers probably saw no way out except the way they took.
4
Public officials seem to despise teachers these days. Added to that, if a teacher is black then - bad news for the teacher. Seven years in prison? White people have committed murder and been paroled after serving less time than this.
10
A man who sodomized a three year-old only received 10 year years. Seven years for cheating on a test?
http://ktla.com/2015/04/06/oc-judge-cuts-15-years-off-mandatory-sentence...
http://ktla.com/2015/04/06/oc-judge-cuts-15-years-off-mandatory-sentence...
6
Many posters here refer to the crimes committed on Wall Street during the financial collapse. I refer these posters to the results of the National Mortgage Settlement which occurred in February, 2012. The attorney generals of 49 states had sued the five largest mortgage servicers in the U.S. A settlement was reached and a group of auditors began to review the loan files of all the mortgage borrowers who had taken out mortgages in the period 2008 through 2011. The auditors were looking for borrowers who had been deceived about the terms of their loans, wrongfully foreclosed, or were the victims of any form of dishonesty or discrimination by their lenders or mortgage servicers. Over a year of the review went by and the auditors had spent over $1 billion in their review. But they had not found any significant number of victims. The search for victims was abandoned and the proceeds of the settlement were then divided among all those who had lost their homes. The moral of the story is this. Stupidity is not a crime.
Certainly the defendants cheated. Why? Because in the current testing mania, jobs, promotions, and salaries are tied to the scores of tests that are largely meaningless measures of teacher performance and the preparation for which interferes with meaningful learning. The incentive for cheating was handed to the defendants and they acted as economically rational actors in response to the incentive. But the real scandal of of this matter is part of the general dysfunction of the criminal justice system. The length of a sentence should be proportional to the seriousness of the offense, not just to the whims of the judicial bureaucracy. If A and B commit the same offense, then A and B should generally get the same sentence, be it 6 months or 7 years. If A pleads guilty and performs a submission ritual to the court and gets 6 months, and B gets 7 years because he or she did not plead guilty or did not perform the ritual the judge wanted, then justice has been violated. This isn't just an outrage in one court in Atlanta, it's a sickness affecting the criminal court system virtually everywhere.
10
Since when do you go to jail for lying to your employer?
2
The government has deviated and corrupted its purpose for years. Inevitability dictates that all aspects of America's social fabric will eventually succumb to this disease. Fail
1
In Normandy and Riverview Gardens in St. Louis County, the staffs did not fake the scores. The schools were punished by the state legislature and judicial system for having low scores by calling the districts "unaccredited." The good teachers that could find other jobs left. Others were fired. Some kids were shipped out on buses; others were not allowed to be shipped out on buses. It's an ongoing mess bankrupting both districts. So who is the judge kidding saying that the kids lost out by not getting the help they would have gotten. That's not even part of the equation.
5
I always saw this cheating scandal as evidence of frustration from the teachers. "Fine, we're being judged on the test scores of kids who are from broken, unstable homes, are absent 30% of the time, and haven't had enough to eat the morning of the test? And if they do badly, then the kids are made to feel that they're stupid and we're bad teachers?"
It was a bad decision, but it was hardly an example of cruelty toward students. It was created by a "test the teachers" mentality that hasn't been proven to work anywhere.
It was a bad decision, but it was hardly an example of cruelty toward students. It was created by a "test the teachers" mentality that hasn't been proven to work anywhere.
10
When you consider that some violent offenders do not get sentences this long the sentences for these educators seem very harsh. However the defendants refusal to admit guilt and take responsibility for their actions likely played a role in the harsh sentences. The bottom line is if you have done something wrong and you are now convicted. Admit your guilt take a plea and you are more likely to be shown mercy by the court.
4
35 educators conspiring to change test answers. Perverse. You do your best and let things fall where they may. When those who are stewards of the public trust misbehave badly, it is no small thing. They all need to see the inside of a prison and the ringleaders deserve more than that. These folks are no danger to the community. But if you slap the wrists of those who engage in flagrant public fraud, there's no reason for anyone up to the same antics to fear being caught.
6
why did they do this. It wasn't for any monetary or other gain on their parts. The system that only looks at raw number scores when determining success at school is at fault. Change the system. Help the children, teachers, schools, parents do a better job. The USA is all about punishment - not trying to work out the best way to help these children succeed in their own right.
It seems that in America today non threatening offenses merit prison time, or execution....period
5
If only these poor folks had chosen hedge fund careers or management of NYC pension funds, they would have walked no matter what the charge. But in the USA we send educators to prison and crooked financiers and bankers to the French alps to ski.....my, my, my. I mean what is wrong here?
9
This was an orchestrated fraud, perpetrated over numerous years, and participated in enthusiastically by a large number of people who should have known better. These defendants arrogantly refused reasonable plea deals.
Under these circumstances, serious sentences are correct. Do you recall the perpetrator of another years long fraud--the guy now serving 150 years? Stop laying everything off on racism.
Under these circumstances, serious sentences are correct. Do you recall the perpetrator of another years long fraud--the guy now serving 150 years? Stop laying everything off on racism.
5
This crime was well organized and widespread. The leaders were caught and sentenced within guidelines. That's all we need to know because we citizens don't come up with sentencing guidelines. These children will not receive a good education with such lazy cheating school staffers acting this way.
4
Why did the teachers do this? What did they hope to gain from it?
They got bonuses and raises based on increasing test scores; and many were afraid of former superintendent Beverly Hall, who was charged with the same crimes. She didn't go to trial with them because she was terminally ill. She died last month. She alone got a salary and bonuses based on test scores that added up to millions of dollars over the years.
1
And then there was George Bush's Scooter Libby....ah, all he had to do was pay up his quarter million and then on his merry way, no more thirty months locked up. Funny how the justice system works.
4
Wow so the state of Georgia is happy to spend $30,00 a year to imprison teachers for testing fraud but won't expand Medicaid. Citizens of Georgia you have my sincerest sympathies.
6
That 30000 a year go into helping teachers and parents teach the students instead of into the pockets of the private prison owners.
How is it our judicial system can dole out seven year sentences for this but those who crashed our entire financial system (and ruined millions of lives) are still sitting on Wall Street, continuing to profit? It seems to me that is the biggest message we are sending our children.
3
10% penalty-for-your-crime 90% penalty for not-taking-the-deal.
3
Let the punishment fit the crime. What about long periods of time tutoring kids that may have been affected. Some crazy multimillionaire kills and butchers his neighbor- no jail time. Teachers get 20 years?
What they did is wrong. They should receive a reasonable punishment. High stakes testing gets us this kind of behavior. Teachers and administrators in upscale neighborhoods have done the same thing. When home prices depend on scores, a school scoring 88% cheated. They amazingly needed 98% to please the realtors, so that's what they got. They were caught by the publishers of the test. NO ONE WENT TO JAIL. Apparently justice is different for black teachers in a majority black district.
In Connecticut the punishment was different.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/cheating-teachers-in-conn_n_100...
What they did is wrong. They should receive a reasonable punishment. High stakes testing gets us this kind of behavior. Teachers and administrators in upscale neighborhoods have done the same thing. When home prices depend on scores, a school scoring 88% cheated. They amazingly needed 98% to please the realtors, so that's what they got. They were caught by the publishers of the test. NO ONE WENT TO JAIL. Apparently justice is different for black teachers in a majority black district.
In Connecticut the punishment was different.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/cheating-teachers-in-conn_n_100...
5
No one goes to jail over the mortgage fraud of 2008 and people go to jail for this? Give me a break.
5
All it takes is one bad teacher to ruin the lives of many children. The importance of teachers is paramount to creating a viable society. Teachers are really more important than most other professions. The problem is that teachers are underpaid, and impossible to fire, if incompetent.
Children must matter more than teachers. This should be a wakeup call for all. Teachers matter.
The sentencing seems "just." There must be a heavy price to pay for cheating the children.
Children must matter more than teachers. This should be a wakeup call for all. Teachers matter.
The sentencing seems "just." There must be a heavy price to pay for cheating the children.
3
Teachers are fired all the time. Don't believe the myths.
The intent was noble, but the sentences were uncalled for. Considering the law-breaking crimes occurring all around us, every day, the sentences are not warranted. Shame on the judge for his perspective. Shame on us for accepting this action. They should all be pardoned by the Governor after, say, 60 days..............
1
They got off pretty easy. With this first offender status, their records will be wiped clean after their sentences are served. Compare that to the lives of the children in their classes. Think of the child who repeated seventh grade. And I'm sick of the race card being played because the defendants were black; so I'm sure were most of their students.
5
No one should come to a conclusion about this case without reading the New Yorker article:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/21/wrong-answer
It is revelatory. I don't mean it's exculpatory; it's a better article than that.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/21/wrong-answer
It is revelatory. I don't mean it's exculpatory; it's a better article than that.
4
I finished reading the article. It was fascinating to see that, to paraphraSE when in the middle of a winning fight it's hard to see "you’re in the fight, and you’re swinging, you want to win so badly that you don’t recognize where your blows land.”"
I learn two poinyts from this article.
1) Parks school should have gone down
2) The Common Core curriculum was doing what it was to do.
In the first point most of the kids had no father and many mothers were addicts. The kids were hungry, badly clothed, unwashed and urinated in the hallways. These kids were hurting to much to be educated. They were too hungry to think of anything but find ing food never mind be expected to sit in a classroom and learn how to read. Hungry kids won't be taught
in the second point Common Core would have failed the school and shut it down and place the students in other schools. That was the right thing to do.
The terrible conditions of that school gave bad odds for the teachers from the start, regardless of their expertise and determination to succeed. But some teachers were to proud to accept defeat. That is where it all started to go wrong.
I learn two poinyts from this article.
1) Parks school should have gone down
2) The Common Core curriculum was doing what it was to do.
In the first point most of the kids had no father and many mothers were addicts. The kids were hungry, badly clothed, unwashed and urinated in the hallways. These kids were hurting to much to be educated. They were too hungry to think of anything but find ing food never mind be expected to sit in a classroom and learn how to read. Hungry kids won't be taught
in the second point Common Core would have failed the school and shut it down and place the students in other schools. That was the right thing to do.
The terrible conditions of that school gave bad odds for the teachers from the start, regardless of their expertise and determination to succeed. But some teachers were to proud to accept defeat. That is where it all started to go wrong.
Certainly the cheating that occurred here was a bad thing that deserved some sort of punishment. But it is beyond absurd that the Judge in the case called this “the sickest thing that’s ever happened in this town.” Remember, this is Atlanta, a city that had slavery until the Civil War and 13th Amendment finally ended it, and legally sanctioned segregation until the 1960s. Those were far sicker things, as are the approximately 80 murders that occur in Atlanta every year.
As for the punishment, it is interesting that these public school teachers were punished, but Michelle Rhee and her charter school and voucher cronies weren't punished when cheating happened in their school systems.
https://www.facebook.com/WinningProgressive
As for the punishment, it is interesting that these public school teachers were punished, but Michelle Rhee and her charter school and voucher cronies weren't punished when cheating happened in their school systems.
https://www.facebook.com/WinningProgressive
59
What are you on about? I agree with the judge, wholeheartedly.
The teachers were CHEATING and STEALING from the lives of CHILDREN, never mind the fact they were also stealing from the federal and state governments, as well as taxpayers.
And what is your problem with Michelle Rhee - Federal investigations found what amounted to NOTHING with regards to school vouchers or cheating.
Your name is Winning Progressive... maybe you should think about changing it to Failing Logic.
The teachers were CHEATING and STEALING from the lives of CHILDREN, never mind the fact they were also stealing from the federal and state governments, as well as taxpayers.
And what is your problem with Michelle Rhee - Federal investigations found what amounted to NOTHING with regards to school vouchers or cheating.
Your name is Winning Progressive... maybe you should think about changing it to Failing Logic.
Agreed, in more recent times than the Civil War era, Atlanta had to endure the horror of the Atlanta Child Murders, and a bombing during the Olympics. No one died because test scores were changed. Judges who play to the cameras and reporters in the courtroom are repugnant.
1
While these educators are not innocent of any wrongdoing, the premise that these educators should have accepted plea deals ignores the prosecutor's over reach in charging them with racketeering. Why should anyone admit guilt for something they did not do? Perhaps the eighth amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" applies here when we consider that the premise students were cheated is based on our misguided reliance on testing to evaluate teacher and student performance.
16
The only problem with that is that they did do it. The charges could be proved by the prosecutors, and they were in fact proven. They altered the tests and accepted the bonus money, as was shown by the evidence.
10
@Jonathan: Altering tests and accepting bonus money is not racketeering. Racketeering is extortion with threats. You must know that, or you should read some crime novels.
4
Do you know what racketeering is? This was planned and they changed answers in groups...even had answer changing covered dish dinners. That is organized crime or racketeering. I have more respect for one of their illiterate former students committing armed robbery. Having these convicted felons cool their heels in prison for a few years is not 'cruel and unusual' it is warranted.
4
At every step of the way, they brought this on themselves. They chose to alter test scores to make themselves and the system look better. They were offered a plea deal before trial. They refused. They were found guilty by a jury and offered another chance for a deal. All but two refused. They do not believe they did anything wrong. The jury and the judge believes they did. I agree with the jury and the judge and would have preferred that more of them owned up to their misdeeds and accepted the consequences. It does not seem they ever will.
14
They were charged under the RICO laws. Yes they changed test scores but why not blame Congress for setting a system that allowed their schools to fail.
Did they cheat? Yes Were they racketeers? NO Should they have been fired? yes
Look at the scores in DC under Michelle Rhee and look at the scores now. The only difference with what happened in other places of the country is that some new how to profit from it.
Did they cheat? Yes Were they racketeers? NO Should they have been fired? yes
Look at the scores in DC under Michelle Rhee and look at the scores now. The only difference with what happened in other places of the country is that some new how to profit from it.
1
They should go to just just for the believing that they had not done anything wrong.
1
Your defense is unconvincing. Criminal activity is not suddenly acceptable if its done to keep your job. How about Jeffrey Skilling? He embezzled millions to keep his job.
While the writer comes off as very sympathetic to the educators, this article fails to point out that Ms. Hall earned 500,000$ in performance bonuses from the "improved" test scores. The other educators also got bonuses and promotions as a direct result their fraud and so the racketeering charges and sentences make perfect sense. Quote: The educators had been convicted of racketeering, a charge more typically associated with traditional organized crime rings.
15
In addition, few of the people involved made much money. Ms. Hall did, but she was the top boss, she specifically declined to hear anything about cheating, and she deserved to go to jail.
2
The children who were not educated and can not not function have suffered damage for the rest of their lives. I would imagine some are probably in prison now because of their inability to read or write and gain employment. Anyone who thinks that there are not victims in this serious crime are very wrong. What these educators did to these children is truely a hideous criminal act. They all had a chance to plea guilty and accept a much lesseer punishment.
10
The children were being educated better than before but the administrators, following the Bush-Obama guidelines and worse, had raised the goalposts faster than the school could reasonably keep up with them. The children were hurt by the administrators' arbitrary (and in fact unjustified) demands for higher and higher test scores every year. See the New Yorker article:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/21/wrong-answer
Really, everyone should read this article before getting all hot and holy.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/21/wrong-answer
Really, everyone should read this article before getting all hot and holy.
2
You're being a little dramatic here. Public schools are rife with disregard for their students. In New York, there are "rubber rooms" full of teachers so bad they can't be allowed in the classroom but on full pay. The money could otherwise be spent on good teachers or better facilities. The students with the fixed scores were still getting instruction and probably at the appropriate level. A teacher doesn't need standardized tests to guide instruction. When a kid can't read, write or do his times tables, it's totally obvious in about 2 minutes. Test fixing is a problem but not the main problem.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. Nobody is ever at fault for the crimes they commit, eh?
The article asks the question "How much mercy should be due to an all-black roster of educators with otherwise spotless records?" I would respond with a few more questions: Since when do we or should we base our sentencing decisions on the race of those convicted? What if the roster of convicted educators had been made up of some white, some black, and some hispanic educators with otherwise spotless records? Should each be given a different sentence dependent on race or ethnicity? That is crazy.
10
If you look at the statistics and studies, across a variety of criminal offenses, you'll likely find that it is commonplace for sentences to vary with race: the blacker the defendant, the more severe the sentence, even for the same crime.
Stole millions? The money went into the school system, one way or another. "No child left behind." George W. Bush belongs in jail. You want to talk about stealing. If they'd have been white they'd be walking around free, like the bankers. I can't believe it. I can't believe they prosecuted this case.
15
I think it is ridiculous to impose prison sentences at all for this. Home detention, community service, so forth would suffice. But then again the prison system is a major employer and isn't it about half of the US population in prison and the other half guarding them...?
13
This seems highly excessive. These people clearly failed in their jobs and should be fired, but 7 years in prison? There are far worse criminals on any given day on Wall Street, though they have much better lawyers.
20
I agree! It's time to round up the "wall street" thugs and distribute their wealth to the more deserving in our society.
They could have simply stood in front of the judge and apologized. Those who did received essentially probation. The ones who were sent to prison were sent because they were completely remorseless and uninterested in accepting their responsibility. They deserve every minute of the 7 years.
I am surprised by many of the comments in their views that the sentences are onerous; most of the time was probation. The ones that orchestrated the corruption by intimidation seem quite sleazy, and if we are going to incarcerate drug addicts, these questionably harmless academics should be in front. The lack of contrition is interesting, and deserves some investigation. The issues of the Banksters, however important are entirely separate.
8
The judge sent a strong (necessary) message.
12
Hundred of millions of Americans were harmed by Wall Street excess, yet the rich with their lawyers and white skin walked away. Yet here we have a judge yelling at black women who served in inner city schools for low pay and sending them to jail. It was a test. And this, despite my strong conservative beliefs, is racism in action. White teachers in an affluent community would never be sent to jail, much less for 7 years. The average sentence for murder is 2 years. Bank robbers get 2 years, but maybe 5 extra for a Federal gun charge. But 11 sent to jail over a test? This is why the country is up in arms. There is no justice. RICO is excess, and these sentences compound the injustice.
22
Oh come on. These teachers weren't sent to prison because they're black. It was because they refused to apologize or take responsibility for their crimes. By giving them an excuse, you're feeding their belief that the rules don't apply to them.
As for the people on Wall Street you're so angry with, maybe you could share with us what crimes you think they committed.
As for the people on Wall Street you're so angry with, maybe you could share with us what crimes you think they committed.
Years of this - not just one test. And financial reward for deception. Ever hear of public trust? Well, it was broken. There must be a serious penalty.
The United States sends more people to prison for more crimes and for longer periods of time than any other developed, and some not so developed, countries, and this case is but another example of it. While some prison time seems appropriate in this case, the use of the racketeering act resulted in the defendants being overcharged and receiving concomitantly lengthy/excessive sentences. While their misdeeds may have fallen within the scope of the racketeering act, the act was not written with these people in mind. Some prosecutorial and judicial discretion would have been in order.
11
As an educator I am shocked at the sympathy for these teachers and administrators who went beyond the rampant grade inflation to actually changing test answers. This is not just malpractice; it is criminal. And why did they do it ? It was not just for praises , it was for raises. They made money out of cheating while increasing their value for promotions and getting hired at better schools. That bankers are not being tried and sent to prison is irrelevant.
16
So Wall Street bankers who bilked the nation get away scot-free while educators get 20 years? This makes me ashamed to be American.
23
Maybe because the teachers committed crimes? Or is your argument that you should be able to commit crimes with impunity if other people do things you disapprove of?
Wow. Sending people to jail for this seems very inappropriate.
10
They passed children that couldn't read or write and were compensated for this with bonus $.
Not only do they deserve jail but they should never be allowed to teach again.
Where is your pity for the children they failed?
Not only do they deserve jail but they should never be allowed to teach again.
Where is your pity for the children they failed?
And how about the obsessive state and federal administrators that establish a system so beset with test score paranoia that people are driven to cheat?
12
I hate to sound like a broken record, but where are the prosecutions of the people on Wall Street and in the banking industry who literally stole hundreds of billions of dollars and crashed our economy? It seems that only the brown people are prosecuted by a white judge. I'd also like to know the race of the prosecutors. And what about higher-ups in the Atlanta school system? Where are their prosecutions?
I also find it interesting that some of the other commenters have pointed out that educational testing is a multi-billion dollar industry. Could it be that the individuals and companies who are profiting from our focus on testing don't really want all of us to figure out it's a scam and instead want to redirect our focus to these evil teachers who should be put away forever?
Some other commenters might say I don't think they should any punishment at all. But a minimum of seven years in jail? Really? I think there are murderers who serve less time. But again, it's a multi-billion dollar industry that might be threatened by the truth.
I also find it interesting that some of the other commenters have pointed out that educational testing is a multi-billion dollar industry. Could it be that the individuals and companies who are profiting from our focus on testing don't really want all of us to figure out it's a scam and instead want to redirect our focus to these evil teachers who should be put away forever?
Some other commenters might say I don't think they should any punishment at all. But a minimum of seven years in jail? Really? I think there are murderers who serve less time. But again, it's a multi-billion dollar industry that might be threatened by the truth.
16
Shame they're going to jail?!
These people made what I understand was over $120,000 a year (In Atlanta, not NY) on average for positions that had more time off than any traditional job I can think of.
On top of that, rather than work harder and earn more income on a generous incentive plan, they stole tax dollars, dis-served their students and willingly accepted national accolades for falsified data. This was not an "oops" mistake, but rather a carefully executed scam, over a long period of time. They damaged the lives of thousands of students, both those they taught and others, coming out of a suspect school system.
God bless teachers, but the good ones don't need overprotective rules, shielding their results from review & audit.
These people made what I understand was over $120,000 a year (In Atlanta, not NY) on average for positions that had more time off than any traditional job I can think of.
On top of that, rather than work harder and earn more income on a generous incentive plan, they stole tax dollars, dis-served their students and willingly accepted national accolades for falsified data. This was not an "oops" mistake, but rather a carefully executed scam, over a long period of time. They damaged the lives of thousands of students, both those they taught and others, coming out of a suspect school system.
God bless teachers, but the good ones don't need overprotective rules, shielding their results from review & audit.
5
This punishment is completely out of line. No harm was done to anyone really. The test(s) are ridiculous and do not in any way measure learning or advancement given current state of the learner. Education is a complex phenomena...it is not linear. Students are not products, they learn on their own time and in their own way, on a scale that is relevant to them. National testing is an abomination, and to tie funding to test outcomes is OUTRAGEOUS. I can fully understand why these individuals did what they did. Revelation should have resulted in significant discussions and consultations and changes in policy. Jail time is completely inappropriate. These people were saving their schools at the time when the wrong message and the wrong policies were being shoved down their throats. I wish government would stay our of education....period
11
"No harm was done to anyone really."
You mean the students were not harmed? Is that a joke?
You mean the students were not harmed? Is that a joke?
This case and its draconian outcome obfuscates the disaster which is the standards movement. Common Core's consortia, Smarter Balanced and Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, have been awarded together $346 million in grants by the Fed to develop and implement their national testing platforms, both of which are essentially online. Wake up people, somebody is making big money off your children, and it's not those unethical scapegoats in Atlanta. I'm a K-12 educator in Detroit, MI.
13
Too bad for them they don't work for Wall Street ... they'd be getting a bonus for their actions, if they did.
14
They DID get bonuses and raises for the inflated test scores.
1
The high-stakes testing system is a much larger fraud than that committed by the Atlanta teachers and school administrators. The high-stakes tests do not measure educational progress by children, and do not measure whether a school is good or not.
12
They should just sentence them to one year of Republican Presidential debates.
Oh, WAIT a second... that's US !! ~:O
Oh, WAIT a second... that's US !! ~:O
7
The sentencing does not fit the crime. I honestly believe that if the teachers were white, they would have received a mere slap on the wrist.
11
This is a ridiculous sentence. Rapists get less time. And no, these educators are not worse than rapist. Since the tests are abolutely meaningless and the stakes way too high for the badly written and conceived test, the kids were not at all harmed. Yes they should be fined and not allowed to be part of the educational system, but that is it.
14
We don't know any of these Atlanta "educators" personally. However, we know many in DeKalb County (GA) Schools who have the same unflinchingly arrogant attitude as Sharon Davis-Williams, Michael Pitts and Tamara Cottman. Add Kathy Augustine to that list. We would add Beverly Hall but our parents and grandparents always said to not speak ill of the dead.
Frankly, we think prison is too good for any of these people and NONE should have been able to plead out of well-deserved punishment or take a deal. Here's the punishment we would suggest: (1) Permanent loss of their teaching certificate in Georgia and elsewhere in the U.S. and the world; (2) Ten to twenty years of restricted-to-house incarceration (using an ankle bracelet) with no access to television, telephones, computers or the Internet; (3) allowed to leave the house between 9 AM and 4 PM only for medical or dental appointments or unpaid community service; (4) any and all monies earned, including retirement pensions and inheritances, must be put into a fund to provide tutoring and educational assistance to the students they cheated out of an education and a decent life.
We think this kind of punishment will act as a deterrent to these kind of people who live on others bowing down to them and on bullying and making life miserable for those people as well. Let these people live segregated from polite society and consigned to the kind of poverty they consigned their students to.
Frankly, we think prison is too good for any of these people and NONE should have been able to plead out of well-deserved punishment or take a deal. Here's the punishment we would suggest: (1) Permanent loss of their teaching certificate in Georgia and elsewhere in the U.S. and the world; (2) Ten to twenty years of restricted-to-house incarceration (using an ankle bracelet) with no access to television, telephones, computers or the Internet; (3) allowed to leave the house between 9 AM and 4 PM only for medical or dental appointments or unpaid community service; (4) any and all monies earned, including retirement pensions and inheritances, must be put into a fund to provide tutoring and educational assistance to the students they cheated out of an education and a decent life.
We think this kind of punishment will act as a deterrent to these kind of people who live on others bowing down to them and on bullying and making life miserable for those people as well. Let these people live segregated from polite society and consigned to the kind of poverty they consigned their students to.
1
Misplaced sympathy for these gangsters astounds me. I respect the defense attorneys but I simply do not understand the aversion of the offenders to own their crimes. The offenders merely have to accept responsibility for what they conspired to do and then did.
Our dominate model for public education with mindless misapplication of mass testing frames this awful event. But cheating is beyond the pale.
Our dominate model for public education with mindless misapplication of mass testing frames this awful event. But cheating is beyond the pale.
2
There is a sick, pervasive attitude among Judges that if you make them actually have to do the job that they get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for, they will make your life a living hell because they have the power to do it. Whatever happened to justice? It is reasonable not to want to take a plea if the only one offered requires you to give up your right to appeal. What about offering a decent plea? What about the prosecutor and staff not ganging up on these defendants to coerce them to give up valuable rights? Who is the true racketeer in this scenario since we are now throwing that term around to include educators caught between a rock and a hard place? I thought the Constitution guaranteed us certain inalienable rights? Or is that changing too. Is there an unwritten exception for prosecutors and a judge looking to force a conviction and boost their careers by any means? There is still no justice in this case. There are just multiple tragedies.
6
"How much mercy should be due to an all-black roster of educators with otherwise spotless records?"
What an odd question. What does their race have to do with it? In fact, why is race mentioned so frequently in this article?
What an odd question. What does their race have to do with it? In fact, why is race mentioned so frequently in this article?
11
Race in mentioned because as we are seeing on a daily basis, black people get a different form of justice than white people in the USA. I guess when kids start using their phones to record their teachers cheating, then we will know that this doesn't just happen in Atlanta. Michele Rhea comes to mind, again!
Will we now see the lowering of test scores across the nation as scared teachers and administrators stop their cheating?
6
The hubris in thinking they could get away with cheating on such as massive scale, then the hubris in refusing to admit guilt, is mind boggling.
11
They appear to deserve their penalty. However, Wall Street bankers should have received life in prison for their crimes if we fairly measure comparative harm. No media coverage of Paulson's endorsement today of Jeb Bush. Remember W. Bush's treasury Secretary Paulson? He forced the bailout of all of his banker friends who made billions from the the phoney mortgage scams. Paulson made hundreds of millions with Goldman Sachs (Sacks) during the scam era. Now he want to put another Bush in office with the same economic trickle down insanity.
23
Agree; tho argument might have been better if completed after the second sentence....
Seven yrs for this 'crime' is silly.
What Wall Street criminals got away with was/ is obscene.
Seven yrs for this 'crime' is silly.
What Wall Street criminals got away with was/ is obscene.
Yes, it was a terrible thing for educators, who should be setting good examples, to be cheating, but racketeering is a charge usually applied to gangsters, and if there is collusion and racketeering anywhere, I would say there is a lot more on Wall St. than in the classrooms of Atlanta. No one has been charged with any criminal offenses for destroying the lives of millions of families not only in America, but across the globe. And yet Judge Baxter, believes the case before him to be so immeasurably heinous.
If the is one thing we expect of the law, it is fairness. Judge Baxter was not fair.
If the is one thing we expect of the law, it is fairness. Judge Baxter was not fair.
I taught in the Atlanta Public Schools in 1970-1971. When I was required to monitor testing, the kids thought nothing of asking for the answer to a question they didn't understand. Being young and inexperienced, I questioned giving them the answers ( and didn't) but was told that was the way things were done there. So in the following years, nothing much changed except it became more widespread and institutionalized.
These people deserve their sentences and had a chance to avoid them by admitting they did the crime! Their lawyers think they will get an acquittal on appeal. Maybe the lawyers should go to jail, too.
These people deserve their sentences and had a chance to avoid them by admitting they did the crime! Their lawyers think they will get an acquittal on appeal. Maybe the lawyers should go to jail, too.
7
What a ridiculous sentence. You can only look at the judge to see that he could only see the color of their skin. If these educators had been white they would have be reprimanded and turned loose. Just another few blacks to keep those for profit prisons filled.
Meanwhile the bankers and crooks in the financial sector go on their merry way while stealing millions, but they are white so no harm done. right?
Meanwhile the bankers and crooks in the financial sector go on their merry way while stealing millions, but they are white so no harm done. right?
16
You nailed it!
1
In the 2008 bank-driven financial crisis, where banks and other financial services companies played fast and loose with billions, no banker went to jail. And now we're putting teachers in jail for years for a crime that killed no one, put no one out of work, resulted in no one losing their house, undermined no major economy? Methinks our priorities are a bit mis-ordered....
19
Notably, the sentencing arrangements would have forced the educators to acknowledge their guilt.
In the two Americas the banksters get to refuse to admit guilt and go about their lives paying off the government with other people's money.
In my America you admit guilt and go to jail anyway, only for a shorter time, thank you very much.
We ARE a third world country.
In the two Americas the banksters get to refuse to admit guilt and go about their lives paying off the government with other people's money.
In my America you admit guilt and go to jail anyway, only for a shorter time, thank you very much.
We ARE a third world country.
20
Why would anyone admit guilt if not accused by a prosecutor? Do you blame financial crooks for not demanding to be prosecuted?
The failure to prosecute lies with the government.
The failure to prosecute lies with the government.
The defendants receiving the most time negatively impacted the careers of educators who would not participate in the cheating scheme. I wish I knew more about those who would not go along with the plan.
6
I read early on that teachers who had low practice scores were humiliated by having to crawl on the floor in the faculty room. I worked for a similar bully who retaliated again anyone and everyone who spoke up. You can't expect everyone to have the strength to fight such bullying. It often gets you nowhere. Look where Snowden had to go.
I am sorry but this was planned pre- meditated fraud. And I speak as a progressive. They need to go to jail for a long time.
7
Bingo !
That's just silly. Nothing they did justifies jail time.
Its deplorable that we have such a low type of people now "educating" our children. No wonder so many parents are taking their kids out of the public school system.
7
It is outrageous they are being jailed. This would never happen in a white rich school district. This smacks of racism.
11
White rich folks would take the deal !!
Don't you watch the news ?!?!
Don't you watch the news ?!?!
Tell that to the black DA who brought the charges.
I'm a teacher and I'm scared. It's scary to when the world is vilifying your profession, when administrators will attack if you do anything to affect their schools reputation. When your school can close down if too many students don't pass classes.
I'm scared that students who are looking forward to college have no idea how hard it is if you can only read and write at a 4th grade level. And they will graduate because we are too scared to fail many of them.
I have seen students with IEPs (special ed students) given tests in separate rooms where there aides or paraprofessionals give much more help than is allowed in answering questions on the exams. I have seen students as seniors in high school given IEP's so they can graduate with a lower score on the state tests. I have seen cheating in all sorts of ways, but I'm too scared to act on it.
Change is going to happen when we can double down on the neediest kids in the systems and help them graduate high school with a degree that states they can read, write and do math at a level commensurate with their age. It may happen when school budgets are untethered from election cycles and politicians are not looking for a 2 or 4 year program that will make them look good. I don't know if we can solve this issue, but I'm still waking up every day hoping my students will step away from their crowded housing projects on a path to success.
I'm scared that students who are looking forward to college have no idea how hard it is if you can only read and write at a 4th grade level. And they will graduate because we are too scared to fail many of them.
I have seen students with IEPs (special ed students) given tests in separate rooms where there aides or paraprofessionals give much more help than is allowed in answering questions on the exams. I have seen students as seniors in high school given IEP's so they can graduate with a lower score on the state tests. I have seen cheating in all sorts of ways, but I'm too scared to act on it.
Change is going to happen when we can double down on the neediest kids in the systems and help them graduate high school with a degree that states they can read, write and do math at a level commensurate with their age. It may happen when school budgets are untethered from election cycles and politicians are not looking for a 2 or 4 year program that will make them look good. I don't know if we can solve this issue, but I'm still waking up every day hoping my students will step away from their crowded housing projects on a path to success.
12
Whatever you do, don't engage in "racketeering".
1
Be scared, I would be. With everyday we will expect more for our children and none of what we read here.
2 wrongs don't make a right. This sentence does not fit the crime. We have some hard systemic issues in this country that we refuse to address head on. 1 is covert racism. 2 white female teachers were convicted of sex with kids: no jail time. 9 black teachers face a white judge and he becomes an emotional wreck & throws the book at them! People with power often don't realize where all their negative emotion is coming from. This never happened when you had white defendants from Wall Street guilty of far worse. It doesn't happen because the white defendants remind the white judge of their friends & they think, I can't possibly throw the book at good ole' Tommy. Or when a white police shoots a black boy in the back for playing with a toy gun in a park. But see how this Judge literally "went off" on these black defendants? Insidious racial bias in this country. Judges should have to work in race neutral panels for sentencing. Violent criminals don't get this treatment; why should educators? And to think of how hard educators work for little pay, how they spend their own money to buy teaching props for kids and how they face losing their jobs for reasons outside of their control: kids who were not prepared to learn. The other systemic problem is that some poor people are not in a position to study. They are not developing the skills in daycare to even sit still in school & learn to read. At home, they can't concentrate or delay gratification. How does this fix that?
12
One of the biggest reasons the judge 'went off on them' was their refusal of a very reasonable plea deal offered by the prosecution. All they had to do was admit their guilt, already established by their convictions, and they would have been spending weekends in jail at most. They were looking to be martyrs, and they got what they wanted.
This is nonsense. The true "crime" is closing failing schools without truly addressing why the schools are failing in the first place. First we had social promotion. Now we have educators changing test answers so they can keep their jobs and their schools open. The real culprit is underfunding by the government and the lack of a solution as to how to teach children who live in poverty, broken homes, violent neighborhoods and much more. I live in a wealthy community where the public schools are excellent. We have a very active PTSA and an Education Foundation. My taxes go up every year but the investment in my children is worth it. How can poor communities compete with the amount of support in my town. They can't. I grew up in Yonkers, NY where the state school aid formula has traditionally underfunded the school district. It is still happening today. I have seen first hand the differences and while throwing money at a school district won't fix the problem, a reasonable plan must be devised and implemented to help underachieving schools. The threat of closure is not an incentive. You can see what it has brought in this case in Atlanta. And Common Core is not the answer either. We need to dedicate money and fresh thinking towards troubled schools. Maybe it's time educators and parents help drive the change instead of politics (No Child Left Behind and Common Core). Just a suggestion, there must be a better way to fix this situation.
15
The fundamental problem with this whole situation is that the students were always going to be victims of an inadequate education system regardless of this whole testing scheme. They were, and still are not, going to get the help they need even if the test results would have given an accurate picture of their educational shortcomings. This is because the effect, if not the design of the standardized testing program is to find fault in the teachers and not where it truly lies, in the lack of adequate funding for education.
25
It's a shame that these people are going to jail, but they knowingly did wrong, and perpetuated a crime that went on for years, so punishment is in order. The judge bent over backwards to get them to take a deal where they would accept culpability for their actions, and they decided to roll the dice. They should have read the tea leaves and taken the deal.
8
They stole several millons from the education budget with their scam. Off to jail they go. Good Riddence.
9
Give 'em six months... they'll be flippin' and floppin' like a fish out of water !!
There are people who were in charge, in a position to know and direct the cheating and who, absolutely inexplicably, have escaped charges.
Aside from the late Beverly Hall, who got the pity card due to her breast cancer, her right hand and closest henchman, Kathy Augustine, ruled the schools with a rod of iron. Not charged. The chair of the Atlanta Board of Education, LaChandra Butler Burks, who did everything she could to support Hall during the AJC investigation and who worked with Hall to obscure data. Not charged. Sam Williams, head of the Atlanta Metro Chamber of Commerce, who assembled a "Blue Ribbon Commission" to "investigate" the cheating allegations and who wrote an email (now public) to all its "objective" members detailing what the exculpatory findings would be. Not charged.
The convicted criminals deserve everything they got, and it still won't add up to the injury suffered by even one of the students whose futures they took away. But there are others who need to be called to account.
Aside from the late Beverly Hall, who got the pity card due to her breast cancer, her right hand and closest henchman, Kathy Augustine, ruled the schools with a rod of iron. Not charged. The chair of the Atlanta Board of Education, LaChandra Butler Burks, who did everything she could to support Hall during the AJC investigation and who worked with Hall to obscure data. Not charged. Sam Williams, head of the Atlanta Metro Chamber of Commerce, who assembled a "Blue Ribbon Commission" to "investigate" the cheating allegations and who wrote an email (now public) to all its "objective" members detailing what the exculpatory findings would be. Not charged.
The convicted criminals deserve everything they got, and it still won't add up to the injury suffered by even one of the students whose futures they took away. But there are others who need to be called to account.
8
I hope that Obama sees his way to pardoning these people on the way out the door. These sentences are cruel and inhumane, a total waste. These are not violent criminals, and the human and financial costs of these long prison terms are drastic. As one commenter said, take the cost of imprisonment and put it toward the schools. Have the convicted do their community service as tutors for students. Why is it so hard for our judges to come to a sane resolution of a problem?
24
Hey Independent...each one was offered a guarantee of no jail time, they would be given probation and the public service you suggest. The evidence was overwhelming...a jury composed of mostly minorities found them guilty. The ones headed to prison made their choice. The resolution is very sane...they told the Judge they wanted jail and he accommodated them.
5
The cruel and inhumane element in this sordid case is the cost to the students. Teachers are supposed to be ethical and an example to their students. What an example these people provided. Shame on them.
3
Josh - I've gotten that judge 'look' a few times in traffic court when you get 'the deal.'
Trust me - 99.999% of the time - TAKE THE DEAL !!!
Trust me - 99.999% of the time - TAKE THE DEAL !!!
1
It's really puzzling why commenters are so quick to judge these educators so harshly. It leads me to believe that many people have no clue what it means to actually care enough about children to work in a marginalized, underfunded school who's students and families have overwhelming challenges such as poverty. These teachers were not "slick administrators" and I'm sure their salaries would be laughable to many NYT readers. Many of them were hardworking classroom teachers who simply wanted to sustain their funding so that they could continue to try to teach these disadvantaged kids. This is what happens when the government crumbs available to keep these schools afloat are attached to unattainable objectives in underfunded and impoverished communities When are we going to care enough about children to invest in a better public educational system. Those who are so quick to determine that teachers deserve these harsh jail sentences should try filling their shoes for even 3 days and then ask themselves if they would be tempted to break the rules to serve these kids and keep their jobs. It's quite convenient to make villains out of the people trying to survive on behalf of the kids. Racketeering ? Show me the money.
36
I have a lot of trouble with this line of the article. "How much mercy should be due to an all-black roster of educators with otherwise spotless records?" First issue, what does the race of these people have to do with anything? Secondly otherwise spotless records? These are very serious offenses with real victims so the fact they may have never committed any other crimes seems no more relevant than other first time offenders pleading for mercy.
8
The kids are black; if you don't understand the relevance, no amount of explaining will help you. First time offenders deserve mercy. The real conspirators are the members of the relatively new 'education-industrial complex' and the elected officials who purchase their expensive tests and test prep materials. . The 'ed. reformers' get rich, making a fortune on the backs of the poorest of children and underpaid, overworked teachers who fight the good fight every day. The electeds and their appointees can pretend that they are somehow improving education and nothing changes but the weather.
Sumenyc, yes the kids aka the victims of these crimes are black. So it was in fact black on black crime. Hopefully the harsh sentences will have some deterrent value the next time someone thinks changing grades to improve test scores is a good idea. Where you see a education industrial complex I see people who realize that giving more money to failing schools and the status quo supported by the teachers unions while demanding no changes is a road to nowhere.
1
It's frustrating to see comments weakly excusing this wrongdoing. Tough standards don't make decent people break the law, but apparently they do make weak-willed or criminal individuals do so.
5
It would be a lot easier for me to be okay with jailing our teachers for cheating if we did the same with our bankers. Money rules.
13
Thank you, jpeterlinder.
I second that opinion wholeheartedly.
I second that opinion wholeheartedly.
1
You have President Obama and Eric Holder to thank for the lack of Wall Street prosecutions. Holder said that some banks were "too big to prosecute." Too much risk to the economy.
Maybe those rotten bankers went to a grade school that let them cheat. Maybe they learned their cheating ways from cheating teachers. Maybe we've got to pay teachers well, train them well and treat them like professionals. Maybe we've got to treat teachers like professionals and weed out the bad, cheating teachers.
I am puzzled by the judge's focus that they confess and accept a plea for reduce sentences. They were convicted of committing a crime, and should be punished for that. Isn't the 'convicted of committing the crime' the key part of sentencing, considering the damage caused, etc.? Why should their attitude after the fact be a dominant factor in their punishment?
5
These arrogant, smug criminal stole the futures of the most vulnerable children in their care.
We taxpayers of Atlanta pay the highest property taxes in the state in large part to deliver additional services to unprepared, underserved children in the city for whom education is the only way out, their only chance at a financially stable, contributing life.
These people stole that from these children for their own professional and financial gain.
We jail people who knock over gas stations for $50. These criminals spent years conspiring to steal lives. Their refusal to admit to their crimes cost Atlanta millions and millions in investigative and legal costs - money that could have been used for late remediation for some of the children they betrayed. Even after their entirely warranted convictions, they refuse to admit that any wrongs were done, and blame racism for their predicaments.
The judge should have sentenced them to the harshest penalties that RICO allows and made every one of them spend every last day behind bars.
They should all get the maximum sentence and spend every single day of it in ja
We taxpayers of Atlanta pay the highest property taxes in the state in large part to deliver additional services to unprepared, underserved children in the city for whom education is the only way out, their only chance at a financially stable, contributing life.
These people stole that from these children for their own professional and financial gain.
We jail people who knock over gas stations for $50. These criminals spent years conspiring to steal lives. Their refusal to admit to their crimes cost Atlanta millions and millions in investigative and legal costs - money that could have been used for late remediation for some of the children they betrayed. Even after their entirely warranted convictions, they refuse to admit that any wrongs were done, and blame racism for their predicaments.
The judge should have sentenced them to the harshest penalties that RICO allows and made every one of them spend every last day behind bars.
They should all get the maximum sentence and spend every single day of it in ja
8
This was discovered in 2011 and 8 people were just convicted of crime, with sentencing up to 7 years in prison.
The financial meltdown occurred in 2008 and no one is going to jail.
I guess the latter is not as serious nor affect as many people as the former.
The financial meltdown occurred in 2008 and no one is going to jail.
I guess the latter is not as serious nor affect as many people as the former.
10
Sentences are very harsh for the original crimes. Without prison, their professional lives were ruined already. How do these lengthy prison sentences advance society?
5
Is it not commanded that anyone who dareth to violate The Gospel or The Ten Commandments or the Sacred Multiple Choice Standardized Test, given unto us by the Testing Industry, shall be punished by incarceration or forced to wander in the desert for no less than the Biblical term of Seven Years?
Punishment? Yes. Seven years for these crummy pseudo-scientific tests that desecrate education in the name data-driven assessment? Nope. Sorry. I think we need to put some policy makers in jail. They love to force this mode of education on other people's kids, but couldn't care less about the fundamental inequalities that stack the deck against poor children in our country.
Punishment? Yes. Seven years for these crummy pseudo-scientific tests that desecrate education in the name data-driven assessment? Nope. Sorry. I think we need to put some policy makers in jail. They love to force this mode of education on other people's kids, but couldn't care less about the fundamental inequalities that stack the deck against poor children in our country.
6
Yes, I agree that its a scandalous disgrace to look at these sentences in comparison with what Wall Street and the big banks have been sentenced to, i.e. nothing.
But Id also say that what these black educators--and I use that word with quote marks around it--did to these children was as bad as perpetuating enslavement on them. Children who do not realize how badly they are actually failing, until they graduate from these schools with no usable skills, who perhaps get into college and flunk out shortly thereafter or struggle desperately to hang on, or who try to enter a job market that has no place for them. Every one of those children has had a life destroyed by these people.
For a number of years in NY I worked in a setting where I saw daily, on a seasonal basis, upwards of 4,000 mostly public school, mostly minority children. Those kids were mostly delightful, enthusiastic and eager to learn--even children coming from severely disadvantaged neighborhoods. I saw how they were often treated by often black teachers, and how those children lost all enthusiasm for school or respect for authority by third grade. To do that to any child--as I will assume also happened regularly in Atlanta--does in fact deserve the harshest penalty available, regardless of how many other criminals manage to wriggle away unscathed.
But Id also say that what these black educators--and I use that word with quote marks around it--did to these children was as bad as perpetuating enslavement on them. Children who do not realize how badly they are actually failing, until they graduate from these schools with no usable skills, who perhaps get into college and flunk out shortly thereafter or struggle desperately to hang on, or who try to enter a job market that has no place for them. Every one of those children has had a life destroyed by these people.
For a number of years in NY I worked in a setting where I saw daily, on a seasonal basis, upwards of 4,000 mostly public school, mostly minority children. Those kids were mostly delightful, enthusiastic and eager to learn--even children coming from severely disadvantaged neighborhoods. I saw how they were often treated by often black teachers, and how those children lost all enthusiasm for school or respect for authority by third grade. To do that to any child--as I will assume also happened regularly in Atlanta--does in fact deserve the harshest penalty available, regardless of how many other criminals manage to wriggle away unscathed.
3
This is such a travesty. Educators, bullied, with their jobs on the line. My heart goes out to all of them, and their families.
9
My heart goes out to the children - the victims.
1
Hey Nora...why did not one of the dozens charge in this scandal ever blow the whistle? Sounds like an elementary school excuse...'the other kids were doing it'. No one was 'bullied'...they were rewarded due to bogus higher scores. My heart goes out the hundreds of children they cheated, not these so called 'educators' or their families.
The politicians create an educational miasma that has infuriated both families and teachers by imposing impossible standards on both students and teachers. The quick political fix imposed by clueless politicians regards all testees as equal and holds their teachers responsible for the scores achieved by students of widely disparate abilities scattered throughout all walks of life , the gamut of financial wherewithal , and school districts that differ widely according to community.
In New York State, the teacher's unions are encouraging families to boycott the proposed testing along with many sister states that have chosen to resist a system that caters specifically to those well off school districts whose taxes support state of the art educational opportunities to largely Caucasian students from stable home environments.
As a result, in cities like New York, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta , all of Texas, and others, test results have been manipulated to keep up with the Joneses'. Teachers are undoubtedly intimidated by threatened loss of employment as well as loss of state and federal funds. Accordingly, professional ethics are breached by those communities which cannot compete financially.
Only in Atlanta, a hotbed of neo-conservative voters and overt racism , has a group of Black administrators and teachers been prosecuted by the RICO statutes, heretofore reserved for perpetrators of organized of organized crime. Weekends in jail for a coerced plea. 7 years for noncompliance
In New York State, the teacher's unions are encouraging families to boycott the proposed testing along with many sister states that have chosen to resist a system that caters specifically to those well off school districts whose taxes support state of the art educational opportunities to largely Caucasian students from stable home environments.
As a result, in cities like New York, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta , all of Texas, and others, test results have been manipulated to keep up with the Joneses'. Teachers are undoubtedly intimidated by threatened loss of employment as well as loss of state and federal funds. Accordingly, professional ethics are breached by those communities which cannot compete financially.
Only in Atlanta, a hotbed of neo-conservative voters and overt racism , has a group of Black administrators and teachers been prosecuted by the RICO statutes, heretofore reserved for perpetrators of organized of organized crime. Weekends in jail for a coerced plea. 7 years for noncompliance
7
Ridiculously long sentences for changing grades. The United States throws too many people into jail at a high cost for tax payers. The argument that children were irreparably damaged for life is over the top.
9
Society cannot send imprison people for this; revoking teaching licenses, compelling bonus/salary paybacks, sentencing community service, and shame are appropriate. We jail people when we are either mad at them, or scared of them. These people may be pompous, and distasteful. However, when did those traits become a crime?
5
They deserve the jail time. Public school educational system is failing. Public school teachers and teacher unions are becoming pest to USA. They are weakening this country by failing their duty in educating our children.
2
These people were quite prepared to accept the accolades and financial rewards of their own racketeering. Even so, they were offered quite lenient deals but almost all chose to stay defiant and reject them. By all means, let them go to prison.
5
I think that the people who participated in the test score scam should be fired, fined, forced to do community service. But they don't belong in jail. Neither do hundreds of thousands of others whose crimes were non-violent. The only people who should be behind bars (in some cases, permanently) are people who have taken lives or caused irreparable disability.
12
The powers that be would rather test and punish than enable and support these well meaning educators and their students. Shame on the judge, prosecutors and the despicable system.
7
Well meaning educators Indeed. They did all this to line their pockets.
6
Line their pockets with what? Cookie crumbs?
1
For those who are bemoaning the potential harm to students, as an educator I can assure you that parents get the most accurate and timely information from report cards and teacher feedback. Standardized test are one of many tools used to identify students who are struggling, but most often local assessments are the most reliable. These kids were robbed of very little/nothing. There are not hordes of kids left behind because these educators cheated. Given what I know, I doubt a single child fell through the cracks.
In truth, test scores are for school accountability, not instruction. In Cali, the schools receive the test results in the summer. By that time, the kid is no longer enrolled in your class and it’s a moot point. I am not excusing the actions of these educators; there is no excuse for cheating. But prison time is ridiculous! Fire them, revoke their credential, and then call it a day! The punishment does not fit the crime.
In truth, test scores are for school accountability, not instruction. In Cali, the schools receive the test results in the summer. By that time, the kid is no longer enrolled in your class and it’s a moot point. I am not excusing the actions of these educators; there is no excuse for cheating. But prison time is ridiculous! Fire them, revoke their credential, and then call it a day! The punishment does not fit the crime.
15
Failing the tests, as they would have w/o the interference of the teachers, would have made these children eligible for additional academic supports. Since these students, through the machinations of the scoundrels in the APS, were classified as "success" stories, any chance of remediation was lost.
The DA says he never wanted the teachers to go to prison. The judge gave some of them seven years. What we have here is a failure to communicate.
5
What we have here are teachers who failed to admit their wrongdoing and paid a price for it.
Atlanta, really, you have put the wrong people in prison! The fact that politically swayed school jurisdiions are forced to administer severely flawed testing instruments which have suspect reliability and low validity is the disgrace of education in America, today. Testing should only be used in a formative manner to determine that which is required to enhance the individual learning experience not used to judge or punish. When is this country ever going to learn that the test pubishshers have "No Clothes"?
2
Will the teachers and principals with low scores that were fired or otherwise penalized in Atlanta during this period get their jobs back? Get their bonuses?
This is the very tip of the iceberg. High stakes testing is just an excuse for politicians who don't want to make the investment to actually improve student learning.
This is the very tip of the iceberg. High stakes testing is just an excuse for politicians who don't want to make the investment to actually improve student learning.
1
RICO for educators. Bonuses for bankersters. Yep, sounds like the "exceptional" America I live in today.
5
This is a reminder of the bizarre nature of our deal-making injustice system. Relatively light treatment for those that play the deal game, but severe punishments if they don't. For the exact same charge!
In such a system the worst possible case is an innocent person who is charged and convicted and then hammered on for the rest of their incarceration because they won't pretend to be contrite for something they did not do.
In such a system the worst possible case is an innocent person who is charged and convicted and then hammered on for the rest of their incarceration because they won't pretend to be contrite for something they did not do.
4
While this may not have been a victimless crime, it certainly was not a violent one, and these people are not a danger to society in any way. There is absolutely no constructive purpose to putting any of them in prison. Probation and community service would more than suffice, considering they have lost their livelihoods and been permanently shamed. Is it really necessary to spend tax dollars locking them up? Additionally, the judge's behavior in the courtroom was abominable and inappropriate for a jurist. Not to mention using RICO--really? I can't believe white defendants would have been dealt with the same way. Just look at the bankers, for a start, all still rich and happy.
7
It seems the worst crime that these folks committed was to attack our nation's convenient fiction that centralized testing will somehow miraculously fix our underfunded education system. At the end of the day, all they really did was to monkey with a government metric.
To say the children were defrauded is just silly. As far as I can tell all these kids received exactly the same education through the year as they would have whether or not their tests had been manipulated. It just happened that the education they received was not adequate to satisfy the requirements of the test. The true scandal is the education they received, not the educators' attempt to cover it up.
To say the children were defrauded is just silly. As far as I can tell all these kids received exactly the same education through the year as they would have whether or not their tests had been manipulated. It just happened that the education they received was not adequate to satisfy the requirements of the test. The true scandal is the education they received, not the educators' attempt to cover it up.
6
So 8 educators are convicted of cheating on a useless test... Remind me again how many wallstreeters went to jail after ruining millions of lives and nearly taking down the country?
10
Damned if they do, damned if they don't. And if you think this is going on only in Atlanta you're crazy.
OK. There are good teachers and bad teachers. But there seems to be one thing we can all agree with. If the kids don't learn it's the teachers fault. Period. Not the family. Not society.
So what was the teachers incentive for having their students achieve higher test scores? Monetary compensation? Advanced career opportunities? And lower test scores? Financial penalties. Career destruction? Why do we think teachers will be more productive than they already are by applying financial carrot and stick measures. They're not salesmen. Assuming that teachers need greed as an incentive to teach is capitalism run amuck. With predictable results. What group of business men came up with that plan? The same ones who presided over the 2008 financial collapse? The same ones who cooked their own books? And got off scot free?
OK. There are good teachers and bad teachers. But there seems to be one thing we can all agree with. If the kids don't learn it's the teachers fault. Period. Not the family. Not society.
So what was the teachers incentive for having their students achieve higher test scores? Monetary compensation? Advanced career opportunities? And lower test scores? Financial penalties. Career destruction? Why do we think teachers will be more productive than they already are by applying financial carrot and stick measures. They're not salesmen. Assuming that teachers need greed as an incentive to teach is capitalism run amuck. With predictable results. What group of business men came up with that plan? The same ones who presided over the 2008 financial collapse? The same ones who cooked their own books? And got off scot free?
5
We are ready to excuse the rich white guy in Tulsa who shot the black man by mistake. He pulled his gun instead of his Taser. He was sorry and he is charged with a crime for which the max is four years. Now we are sending teachers to jail for twenty years for changing grades on a test. The fact that they were convicted destroyed their careers. Cheating is terrible sure but killing is too. If compassion can be shown to the killer why can't we shoe some to the educators? Really would this judge have sent a white Ms. Brooks to prison?
8
Help me to understand: If Atlanta’s teachers and administrators can be convicted of ‘racketeering’ as well as lesser crimes connected to a ‘conspiracy’ to artificially inflate test scores exposing them to time in prison: How much prison time should individuals from Wall Street, i.e., security, investment and insurance industry, inter alias, receive for precipitating a global economic and financial system meltdown? Has any ‘human individual’ pleaded guilty or been found guilty of a crime or wrongdoing? The concept of “Too Big to Jail: How Prosecutors Compromise With Corporations” according to data assembled by Brandon L. Garrett does not bode well the belief that capitalism is a machine that cures itself. I’m open to your thoughts.
9
Does anyone see that because this was so widespread, that maybe there is a problem with how our education system has worked since the implementation of No Child Left Behind? For years, educators have been under extreme pressure to ensure their test averages for standardized testing do not decrease from year to year. (Funding for school districts could suffer, as a result.) MANY have spoken of the strain over the years. Yet, all the while, education funding at the hands of republicans has been slashed drastically over EVERY budget cycle. Put more responsibly on teachers to increase student test scores (while absolving students - and their parents! - of any responsibility). Then give them ever-dwindling resources over time to meet that goal. Certainly, more leniency should have been given, and the exasperation of the judge only reinforces that view for me. This was a travesty. If we expect teachers to educate our children, then we need to pony up the resources to make that happen. And parents need to be more involved in their kids' education and lives. For some reason, though, too many parents believe that the success of their kid at school has nothing to do with their personal lives outside of school.
58
Well, our local district is in the top ten, per pupil, of expenditures in the state and ranks in the lowest categories of quality, measured, of course, by testing; Meanwhile, little rural districts, scraping by, outperform urban districts on many measures, hardly proof that money is the key problem. Other things are at work here; obviously. The story, of course, is more complex with our schools having to deal with societal problems rural districts do not, but it can't be shown that simply throwing more money at troubled schools is a solution. The root of the problem is in the homes, and in the families, before the child sets foot in the school for the first day of Kindergarten. How many times have we sat as the only parents who showed up for conference in one of our child's classes? Many, many.
This is horrific. Yes, they cheated, but there was no other way to survive. The academic struggles of the poor and marginalized cannot be remedied by good teaching alone. Those kids face overwhelming obstacles to success including poverty, racism and endangerment. Obstacles that have nothing to do with what teachers do in the classroom but impact their grades and scores nonetheless. So, perhaps, these educators should have shifted their focus to more privileged children or changed careers altogether instead of staying and surviving by the only means possible. Yes, children were being cheated, but not just by these educators. We, as a country are cheating our citizens and our children. We never address the real problems. It is easier to blame those on the front lines. I, for one, have no confidence that those kids would have gotten the help they needed if their failing grades were allowed to stand. Help, not in the form of good teachers, which I believe many of them already have, but in repairing the broken fabric of their, and our,world. Of course, posh private schools are moving away from tests and grades altogether....
7
Why is the race of the defendants relevant? This article suggests that it is, but does not explain why or how. I would like to know more about harm to the victims. I cannot evaluate whether these prison sentences were appropriate without knowing how the students were harmed. I need more information, but my gut reaction is to support these sentences. As politicians and corporations force standardized testing deeper into public education, at the very least we need the school system to stand up to and root out corruption in the administration of these tests. Public education has been crippled enough already. These cases send a strong message that there are actual victims (children!) to these crimes.
3
Andrew Young had it right. We convict teachers and educators who cheat on tests for "racketeering." But the bankers on Wall Street who robo-sign fraudulent mortgage documents and trade synthetic derivatives are free to destroy our entire economic system.
18
Testing companies are big business. So these cheaters enabled the corporate whores who rake in the money at our expense. The cheaters got in bed with big business when they cheated and too bad they were too stupid to realize that of course they, and never big business would take the fall.
What these teachers and admins did was clearly illegal, but also expected given the high stakes put on the test results along with perhaps bonuses awarded to better results. Deming and others pointed out decades ago that if you hold individuals to arbitrary metrics rather than taking a systems-level approach to improvement, people will do one or two things: either fudge the data or game the system. So the real crime here is with our politicians who have adopted high stakes tests that fly in the face of everything we have learned about quality improvement and learning over the past 8 or so decades. The evidence shows that competency-based mastery learning and frequent low stakes tests are the way to go. If a student or a school is lagging, they need more help, not punishment.
9
Expected? When we start expecting people to commit crimes, and that's okay, we are done.
All the defendants had a way out and few chose. Admit your mistake, take the deal, get on with your life. It was pretty clear what was going to happen if that wasn't done -- and no surprise -- it happened. While the punishment was harsh, denying guilt, hoping to win on appeal, and ultimately not being accountable -- that's the real crime here.
2
None of them would have spent even a day in jail had they been white. But we 'throw the book' at people of color. And also, those private jail companies need them to bolster the bottom line. This is a travesty of justice.
5
They had the opportunity to reduce their sentences by admitting guilt.
And if you're going to play the race card, how well would it go over if a bunch of white administrators in a majority-black school system were caught inflating test scores to get bonuses while kids progressed through the system without learning anything?
And if you're going to play the race card, how well would it go over if a bunch of white administrators in a majority-black school system were caught inflating test scores to get bonuses while kids progressed through the system without learning anything?
3
It's so sad you use a race card on this topic. These were educatators that chose to make decisions based not on race but a moral compass. They cheated children black, white, or other for there own personal gain. I don't feel race told them to cheat or lie. They whatever race made that decision. They chose their own path. Race wasn't a factor. Right or wrong they made that choice. They did the educators have a choice to do right? Right?
These "educators" broke the law, for personal gain. They were convicted of these crimes. They had the chance to opt for plea deals, to get minimum sentences. Most refused. They got what they deserved.
6
General David Petraus shares with his mistress a binder filled with top-secret information, cops a plea and gets no jail time. Educators change test scores to make their schools look better and get up to seven years in prison. Something is wrong with this picture.
28
They changed test scores for cash bonuses!
Petreus copped the plea. These fools did not.
Yes, what's wrong with this picture is that the teachers didn't "cop the plea"--because they would have had to have acknowledged guilt.
General Petraeus admitted his guilt and accepted his punishment.
These folks thought they were above the law.
That's what's wrong with this picture.
General Petraeus admitted his guilt and accepted his punishment.
These folks thought they were above the law.
That's what's wrong with this picture.
1
Cheating parties? Makes you wonder who was worrying about the students rather than their own careers. How cynical can a school system get?
5
What about the people who put the crazy penalties in No Child Left Befind, forcing teachers into an untenable position? As usual, the big wheels get away scot free (although they are getting sensible enough to amend the law...)
4
I am a teacher. I agree with you regarding NCLB. But these people chose to cheat and make the rest of us look bad instead of fighting the "big wheels" and their unreasonable policies. I have no sympathy for them.
It wasn't untenable...just uncomfortable. Some "educators"!
The convicted should stop being referred to as "educators." They gave up the right to that title with the first test they altered. It makes one wonder what else might have been "altered" for them to progress in their careers as far as they did.
8
These "educators" were offered deals that would have significantly reduced their senetences and even kept them out of prison altogether. Their mendactiy put them in the position they were in to begin with and now their refusal to admit guilt and express remorse has landed them in jail. Neither the judge nor the DA, (who is black like the defendants so racism cannot be cited as a factor) wanted this outcome. The judge is right, this was not a victimless crime. The children who were cheated out of getting the education they deserve are the real victims and I hope they get the help they need.
3
These "teachers" damaged the lives of so many students---and then exhibited little remorse, even to the point of refusing to plead guilty and accept any pleas deals. So why is there all this concern about their punishment? They obviously care little for their students.
There is some mis-placed racial pride at work here. Many citizens are so proud of the educated black teachers, and what they accomplished in life, that they are overklooking what they have done to the lives of black children. It is time for many to stop and think of what they are protesting, and what they are unintentionally condoning.
There is some mis-placed racial pride at work here. Many citizens are so proud of the educated black teachers, and what they accomplished in life, that they are overklooking what they have done to the lives of black children. It is time for many to stop and think of what they are protesting, and what they are unintentionally condoning.
4
I hit submit too fast on my first comment. The last sentence in the first paragraph should read: I do feel bad that good people ( and acording to some things written in the papers down here, good teachers as well) are going to jail.
The great mystery here is why the defendants did not listen to the judge and take a plea deal. They were warned by the judge repeatedly that he would sentence them harshly. They were un-ambiguously guilty. Their rejection of the judges offer screams arrogance. They deserve the result for their stupidity.
62
I only explanations are that they really think they might come out OK on appeal or are so convinced that they did nothing really wrong that they are willing to gamble. If the former is their thinking, we'll see. If the latter, they deserve the punishment they got.
1
They did not take the plea deal because they are not racketeers. They are not members of the mafia. They are not international drug traffickers. They had to give up their right to appeal one jury deciding they are on a par with the mafia. If someone convicted you of being a member of the mafia or on a par with international drug traffickers because you cheated on a test, would you give up your right to appeal?
2
Something tells me this group of defendants doesn't think they need to follow the rules. Not with cheating, not with following the judge's guidance.
2
"The judge grimaced and bellowed throughout the proceedings, apparently piqued that some of the defendants had declined to take deals."
We have the highest incarceration rate of any economically developed nation, and we are so profoundly in love with the idea of incarceration, even for non-violent offenders, that we are willing to have our tax dollars support a massive prison-industrial complex, and even have popular late-night TV shows celebrating imprisonment. These defendants have already lost their careers, their abilities can be harnessed to serve the public through community service and other non-incarceration alternatives, and they pose no threat to the public. It's time for our country to end its addiction to pointless incarceration.
We have the highest incarceration rate of any economically developed nation, and we are so profoundly in love with the idea of incarceration, even for non-violent offenders, that we are willing to have our tax dollars support a massive prison-industrial complex, and even have popular late-night TV shows celebrating imprisonment. These defendants have already lost their careers, their abilities can be harnessed to serve the public through community service and other non-incarceration alternatives, and they pose no threat to the public. It's time for our country to end its addiction to pointless incarceration.
93
You know, I share your sentiment. But I also taught in a couple of (NYC) schools run by slick administrators whose tactics might have been the template for these Atlanta creeps. This was in the 1990s. The harm done to students, honest teachers, and the public by this sort of duplicity is incalculable. Giving any of them a chance to serve any community again would be dangerous and naïve. Prison? Probably not. But keep them away from the vulnerable, the innocent, and the easily led, because these people are without conscience and won't change just because they got caught.
3
The point of incarceration in this case is as a deterrent, as in "Dang, in Georgia, they put your butt in prison for altering your student's test grades."
They were given the option, actually encouraged, to take the plea. They refused. You cannot fix stupid.
1
Having benefited from great teachers, I have no sympathy for these educators. "...in some cases gathering at cheating parties to erase incorrect test answers and fill in the correct ones" -- Shame.
16
“How much mercy should be due to an all -black roster of educators with otherwise spotless records”?
The same degree of mercy should be shown to an all-black roster of educators with otherwise spotlight records, as would be to a non-black roster of educators with otherwise spotlight records.
Any decision which takes race into account is,in itself, racist.
The same degree of mercy should be shown to an all-black roster of educators with otherwise spotlight records, as would be to a non-black roster of educators with otherwise spotlight records.
Any decision which takes race into account is,in itself, racist.
34
Woodbridge, New Jersey educators suspended by State for cheating. http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2012/08/5_woodbridge_educators_sus... . There have been numerous other incidents of cheating by educators on standards test. Naturally none of their punishments have been as severe as several years in prison. The decision of whether something is racist is when others non Blacks who commit the same crimes are punished less severe than Blacks. I think in this case, the charge of racism is appropriate. Of course, there are others who feel that there isn't any racisms in this country even as numerous unarmed Black men are killed by Police Officers or want to be police officers on a weekly basis.
1
Agreed that race should never figure in to the judge's decision. It doesn't appear, though, that it did - it was just a question by the author of the article. But I think if you look at the data, these stresses are encountered mostly in underfunded school districts - which are in poor neighborhoods inhabited predominately by minorities. The judge should have considered other extenuating factors when sentencing, but he didn't. It appears he really threw the book at them simply because they didn't take plea deals. His annoyance speaks volumes as to how unjust this situation really is.
2
For future readers of DJS's comment, the "all-black" descriptor has been removed from that line in the current article. I did find a cached version of the story online where it was present.
A number of commenters are showing sympathy and pity for the teachers and admins caught up in this. I do feel bad that basically good people ( and according to some things written here in our Atlanta papers, good teachers as well).
However, you must remember that this cheating took place in some of the worst schools in the city. These kids have only one way out of poverty - and that's a good education.
I read of one parent who c ride that her daughter couldn't read, and couldn't get remedial help from the schools ( these folks can't afford private tutors) because her daughter's test scores were too high.
Where is this kid's justice?
However, you must remember that this cheating took place in some of the worst schools in the city. These kids have only one way out of poverty - and that's a good education.
I read of one parent who c ride that her daughter couldn't read, and couldn't get remedial help from the schools ( these folks can't afford private tutors) because her daughter's test scores were too high.
Where is this kid's justice?
127
No one disputes the fact that the teachers' behavior was objectionable and should not be tolerated. Many, however, wonder if justice was served or scarce resources well spent by punishing teachers who conspired to cheat on tests as if they were members of the Mafia because of a single judge's personal outrage.
Matthew, Atlanta school taxes did not pay for the trial.
Listening to the judge and prosecutors, it's almost as if they themselves believe that this is a travesty. Begging the defendants to take plea deals? I've never heard of such behavior. I hope this trial haunts the prosecutors and judge for the rest of their days. Charging educators the same as Mafioso. Disgusting!
14
Please stop referring to these cheaters and deceivers as "educators." That's like saying Mafioso are "businessmen."
It really sounds like the judge lost his composure. And went way overboard on the sentences.
29
If we really were concerned about the children, we would stop the priviatization of education and turning it into a profit center?
38
No, if we cared about the kids, we would give the parents vouchers so they could choose the best school, regardless of whether the teachers' unions liked it.
As a retired, white educator, I think these sentences are way, way too harsh. What about all those bankers who cheated people out of millions of dollars, caused folks to lose homes and go bankrupt? They had big bucks and white skin and got away with so much. What a travesty of justice.
248
The injustice here concerns the bankers, not the corrupt educators who got what they a) deserved and b) brought upon themselves.
Why do teachers so consistently fail to admit to even the slightest weaknesses among themselves and their colleagues? Why are so many people in this comment list making excuses for this scandal?
Why do teachers so consistently fail to admit to even the slightest weaknesses among themselves and their colleagues? Why are so many people in this comment list making excuses for this scandal?
It is the Racketeering charges that were most offensive. They forced other teachers to go along with the scheme to protect their phony baloney jobs. They are, unfortunately, a warning symbol to others would take this path! Idiots. No one forced people to take loans they knew they couldn't afford.
2
They probably are too harsh. But what these educators were engaged in was most definitely a highly organized conspiracy. I doubt that they will prevail on appeal. They should have taken the deals offered. That's why the judge was so fired up. He was incredulous.
1
I am saddened and sickened that we have become then kind of place that sends first offender non violent people accused of crime to state prison. all sense of proportion and common sense have gone out the window. The Justice system is broken.
45
7 years for cheating on exams? Taxpayers have to take care of these teachers and administrators for that long. I am surprised. I wonder what other crimes that would get 7 years in Georgia.
25
Racketeering? This is the similar to going after a fly with a sledge hammer.
Furthermore, Paul Howard is the same DA who dug in his heels rather than seek the truth after it came out that one of his prosecutors, tv personality Nancy Grace, engaged in misconduct regarding the Wayne Carr murder trail.
Then there is the judge who held the proverbial gun against the defendants' head, exercise your constitutional right to a jury trial, I'm going to hammer you if you're found guilty.
Also how can you try 12 individuals together if you can't prove they held meetings as a group and plotted strategy?
Furthermore, Paul Howard is the same DA who dug in his heels rather than seek the truth after it came out that one of his prosecutors, tv personality Nancy Grace, engaged in misconduct regarding the Wayne Carr murder trail.
Then there is the judge who held the proverbial gun against the defendants' head, exercise your constitutional right to a jury trial, I'm going to hammer you if you're found guilty.
Also how can you try 12 individuals together if you can't prove they held meetings as a group and plotted strategy?
6
They proved it! Racketeering is serious. They forced teachers out of the profession because they wouldn't go along with their scheme.
They damaged if not ruined the lives and futures of many, many children in exchange for money. This is not a joke, it is about our children and is the most sacred responsibility. And they still won't take responsibility. They were offered an opportunity to take a plea agreement in exchange for an admission of guilt. They turned down the offer. Sorry folks, I would toss them all in jail and throw away the key.
16
Money for whom? None of the people involved would have profited from this. They did this so that the state would not withhold funds from a struggling district. Ironically, the students who need intervention are denied help from this process. Punitive measures via lower test scores only hurts the lower socio-economic population. Maybe we need to rethink this idiotic process of pitting districts against each other and calling it democratic. It's not: it is polarizing and elitist.
This is what happens when you have politicians and so-called educators running the schools. The former want the cheapest possible means of satisfying the state laws and the latter are telling the teachers what and how to teach. School administrators should be experienced teachers. Closing most of the schools of education would improve the quality of education. It is a variation of the old saw about who can do what. In this case,those who can't teach tell others how to do it.
I have 40 years of experience to back me up.
I have 40 years of experience to back me up.
9
Atlanta and the great state of Georgia deserve our hearty congratulations for getting these dangerous criminals off the street. The children will certainly be better off; the judge was justly indignant when he raged about the immeasurable and incapacitating harm they suffered at the hands of these vicious answer changers. Removing these vile individuals from society will surely make up for the inadequate funding, crowded classrooms, and impoverished test-prep curriculum that the children are forced to endure.
And many of the commenters here are to be admired for their moral perfection. Doubtless they all would rather go to the unemployment office than commit fraud on a test of questionable validity and value. I, too, can look down on the defendants in righteous disdain. Having taught at a struggling urban school, I and my colleagues probably could have figured out a way to fraudulently inflate our test scores, but we stuck fast to the path of honor. We taught and tutored, studied best practices, most of us putting in many hours beyond our contractual time, and we did this for several years, but our meager gains were in vain. The district showed its appreciation for our toil and dedication by designating our school a "turn around" school; three-quarters of the staff were transferred out, most of us to other schools where we were reminded often that we stank of failure and that our competence as educators was questionable. But at least we did the right thing.
And many of the commenters here are to be admired for their moral perfection. Doubtless they all would rather go to the unemployment office than commit fraud on a test of questionable validity and value. I, too, can look down on the defendants in righteous disdain. Having taught at a struggling urban school, I and my colleagues probably could have figured out a way to fraudulently inflate our test scores, but we stuck fast to the path of honor. We taught and tutored, studied best practices, most of us putting in many hours beyond our contractual time, and we did this for several years, but our meager gains were in vain. The district showed its appreciation for our toil and dedication by designating our school a "turn around" school; three-quarters of the staff were transferred out, most of us to other schools where we were reminded often that we stank of failure and that our competence as educators was questionable. But at least we did the right thing.
17
The real "crime" is forcing students to take so many high-stakes multiple choice tests and pretending the scores indicate real learning has taken place. If you can "cheat" on the test, then it's not much of a test.
This is an abomination. The idea of using laws designed for mobsters for teachers who lie about test scores. The government has no business pushing tests the way they do and it has had a profound negative effect on children's learning. This country has a vicious delight in incarcerating people and I just can't believe that if they had been white it would have happened.
15
The let them rot in jail crowd don't appear to really know what is going on in education or anything about the people involved in this case. A commenter posted this link http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/21/wrong-answer which rounds out the story pretty well. Reading the New Yorker article it is impossible to accept the notion that the penalty fit the crime. It is also difficult to determine what irreparable harm was done to the children, as has been stated in many comments. False hope? Most assessment test are NOT used to determine if a student should be promoted, so changing the test scores probably had no effect on promotion. I don't get the sense the faculty were not trying to do their best, but, were concerned that despite their efforts the school would still be forcibly closed.
One of the incentives in the high stakes test is to avoid working in schools/districts where the children have difficulty meeting the standards cause the if you can't overcome the underlying conditions you can lose your job when your school is closed down. (Even if you are an exemplary teacher in a failing school you can still lose your job because everyone in the school from the janitor to the principal can get fired.) Note, a teacher moving from an under performing school is considered a loser but as soon as they move to an over performing school they are back in the good graces. No one is saying what they did wasn't wrong, but, mitigating circumstances should be considered.
One of the incentives in the high stakes test is to avoid working in schools/districts where the children have difficulty meeting the standards cause the if you can't overcome the underlying conditions you can lose your job when your school is closed down. (Even if you are an exemplary teacher in a failing school you can still lose your job because everyone in the school from the janitor to the principal can get fired.) Note, a teacher moving from an under performing school is considered a loser but as soon as they move to an over performing school they are back in the good graces. No one is saying what they did wasn't wrong, but, mitigating circumstances should be considered.
8
"Stiff" is exactly what they deserved. I'm glad those decisions were not changed, in the end. Now, let's start meting out equally fair decisions about the behavior of other lawless civil servants.
10
I guess if you can't do the time, don't do the crime! Its not like they didn't know what they were doing is wrong. It does seem like an extreme punishment but they will probably get out early
7
Say what you will about the poor "educators" and harsh sentences. But these are people who wontonly disregarded children's welfare for their own gain and don't understand the gravity of it. And blaming the standardized test for their crime is an utter non sequitor. I'm with the judge on this one.
59
Look, don't throw the black thing in here with this situation. These teachers did wrong. They decided the kids in their charge were not worth teaching so they, and probably their union bosses, decided to take the easy route and cheat instead of to teach. Then, the judge after reasonably offering them the chance to admit guilt and to see virtually no prison time, they refused the judge's offer and instead chose jail. I have no sympathy for people who cheat/abuse/or in anyway harm children.
8
Wasn't there a similar scandal during Michelle Rhee's sojourn in DC? Did anybody go to jail for that? Maybe they should have? Here's the thing about race. The low-performance urban schools are universally nonwhite-majority enrollment, and a lot of the people (of all ethnicities) who teach/administer are more committed to their own advancement than that of their students. Some even see that as a "realistic" attitude; after all, the kids come from poor, often highly-stressed situations, whereas they, themselves, are "achievers" with degrees, who see a few years in bad schools as a nice data point for their resumes, not a calling. Those who get stuck there may resent that, and take out their frustration on the kids. Or they might just punch in, tune out, and count down to retirement. Kiting grades and test scores is nothing compared to the quotidian contempt such "educators" lavish on vulnerable kids.
19
Remind me again how many banksters who helped crash our economy in 2008, shrinking our total wealth by at least 1/4, have been sentenced to jail terms to date. Remind me again how many HSBC bankers who laundered drug cartel and terrorist money have done the "perp walk" and are now enjoying prison life. Crickets?
6
Actually, it was Barney Frank and Fannie Mae that crashed the economy.
#1. if kids can't read it is because of the home life. This can only be fixed if we stop paying women/girls to have babies. They get everything free: phone, cable tv, food, diapers, taxi vouchers, a roof over their heads.
#2. School's only have the child for 27% of the school day and 11% of a year. The other 73 to 89% they should be being cared for....and they're not.
#3. What these educators did was wrong.
#4. Pulling the race card? Black teachers hurting black kids? Give me a break
#2. School's only have the child for 27% of the school day and 11% of a year. The other 73 to 89% they should be being cared for....and they're not.
#3. What these educators did was wrong.
#4. Pulling the race card? Black teachers hurting black kids? Give me a break
7
I fail to understand why educated, intelligent people cannot admit to behavior
they knew was wrong despite the circumstances under which it was demanded of them. Their ultimate loss is far greater than position, salary or job.
they knew was wrong despite the circumstances under which it was demanded of them. Their ultimate loss is far greater than position, salary or job.
6
There are lots of comments about these people being punished too harshly compared to corrupt bankers and murderers.
Just because bankers and murderers need to be punished doesn't mean that corrupt educators don't. Their actions damaged hundreds or even thousands of children whose fake test scores made it harder for them to get the remedial help they needed.
But as is so often the case in situations like this one, the needs of the children are low on the priority list.
Just because bankers and murderers need to be punished doesn't mean that corrupt educators don't. Their actions damaged hundreds or even thousands of children whose fake test scores made it harder for them to get the remedial help they needed.
But as is so often the case in situations like this one, the needs of the children are low on the priority list.
16
I worked as a public school educator for my entire career. Of course, I don't excuse cheaters, but I do blame the fallacious testing programs that reward schools monetarily for better scores, over which they have no legitimate control. Transient school populations, unequal school systems, inequities in opportunity, and lack of control over testing procedures make comparisons and "reward" promotions irrelevant and unfair.
I blame these educators for trying to beat the system less than I do the individuals and groups that made testing competitive and punitive.
Now that Martha Stewart and a band of teachers have all been "taught their lesson", let's do the same for the Wall Street cheats who stole our security and hopes for a brighter future for young families caught in the mortgage fiasco. Oh, and don't forget the liars who led us into a war falsely. They should be next to learn their lesson.
I blame these educators for trying to beat the system less than I do the individuals and groups that made testing competitive and punitive.
Now that Martha Stewart and a band of teachers have all been "taught their lesson", let's do the same for the Wall Street cheats who stole our security and hopes for a brighter future for young families caught in the mortgage fiasco. Oh, and don't forget the liars who led us into a war falsely. They should be next to learn their lesson.
9
This is absurd. It ought to be mentioned that the courts, the criminal justice system, has inherent conflict of interest.
Police, prosecutors and judges are financial invented to get arrests, convictions, prison terms.
The prison industrial complex is a growth industry, especially in the south.
And, meting out appropriate punishment is never the object.
the system is corrupt, venal and not justice.
Police, prosecutors and judges are financial invented to get arrests, convictions, prison terms.
The prison industrial complex is a growth industry, especially in the south.
And, meting out appropriate punishment is never the object.
the system is corrupt, venal and not justice.
Mayor Kasim Reed spoke of the closing of “one of the darkest periods in the life of our city...”
In Atlanta? Wasn't there this little thing called slavery in Atlanta with its attending mental, physical and sexual abuse (and murder)? Weren't there 450 documented Georgia lynching cases, countless undocumented cases, (1882-1930) second only to Mississippi?
What about the ten Atlanta police officers who were charged in 2013 for taking payouts from drug dealers? Wasn't former Mayor McDonnell recently indicted for accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans? In 2004, wasn't Mayor Campbell indicted for racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and in 2006 also convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to 30 months in prison?
Wern't a number of public officials recently convicted including a county commissioner who swapped her vote for $30,000 in gambling chips, a public works supervisor who demanded $18,000 from a city contractor, and a detention officer who pocketed $26,000 to help distribute drugs in jail?
Didn't Georgia (with Atlanta in particular) rank dead last when it comes to tough ethics laws and preventing political corruption? Hasn't Georgia been (officially) named the most corrupt state in the union? http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/01/22/the-most-corru...
Yet the governor, judge, and many commenters here would have us believe these teachers robbed Atlanta of its virginity.
Some nerve.
In Atlanta? Wasn't there this little thing called slavery in Atlanta with its attending mental, physical and sexual abuse (and murder)? Weren't there 450 documented Georgia lynching cases, countless undocumented cases, (1882-1930) second only to Mississippi?
What about the ten Atlanta police officers who were charged in 2013 for taking payouts from drug dealers? Wasn't former Mayor McDonnell recently indicted for accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans? In 2004, wasn't Mayor Campbell indicted for racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and in 2006 also convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to 30 months in prison?
Wern't a number of public officials recently convicted including a county commissioner who swapped her vote for $30,000 in gambling chips, a public works supervisor who demanded $18,000 from a city contractor, and a detention officer who pocketed $26,000 to help distribute drugs in jail?
Didn't Georgia (with Atlanta in particular) rank dead last when it comes to tough ethics laws and preventing political corruption? Hasn't Georgia been (officially) named the most corrupt state in the union? http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/01/22/the-most-corru...
Yet the governor, judge, and many commenters here would have us believe these teachers robbed Atlanta of its virginity.
Some nerve.
31
So what's your point -- that they get off because others before them did terrible things, too? And don't appreciate the virginity comment; it's inherently sexist.
1
The point: This is hardly "one of Atlanta's darkest chapters." NCLB set an impossible mandate, 100% reading and math proficiency (including the severely disabled) by 2014 --a standard never reached in the history of humanity (a standard that will never be reached), and further mandated teachers would lose their jobs if they failed to achieve the impossible. A corrupt Atlanta superintendent and countless administrators created an atmosphere of fear, intimidation, bribery and corruption. Some teachers caved under the immense fear and pressure in which they were surrounded. Any "dark chapters" had very little to do with the teachers who were (and are) victimized as much as the students by this test-taking/impossible-goal-mandating obsession.
Virginity applies equally to men and women as does losing or taking it. Are you insinuating only men take virginity from women? Wouldn't such an insinuation be sexist? To characterize "robbing" someone or something of it's/their virginity as "sexist" is inherently sexist. Virginity (having, losing, or "robbing") cuts both ways.
Virginity applies equally to men and women as does losing or taking it. Are you insinuating only men take virginity from women? Wouldn't such an insinuation be sexist? To characterize "robbing" someone or something of it's/their virginity as "sexist" is inherently sexist. Virginity (having, losing, or "robbing") cuts both ways.
"A principal, Dana Evans, who also declined a deal, received a five-year sentence — a year in prison and four years of probation — and was ordered to do 1,000 hours of community service."
_______________
Some of these sentences are on par for what you get for manslaughter, what cops get charged with if they get charged for killing a black person, but rarely are they charged.
This looks like more of the same racism and dysfunction in our justice system.
All the defendants were black.
The white kids at Stanford that recently got busted for using their iPhones and other electronic devices to cheat, got no where near this type of punishment.
I know life is not fair, but this doesn't look right.
_______________
Some of these sentences are on par for what you get for manslaughter, what cops get charged with if they get charged for killing a black person, but rarely are they charged.
This looks like more of the same racism and dysfunction in our justice system.
All the defendants were black.
The white kids at Stanford that recently got busted for using their iPhones and other electronic devices to cheat, got no where near this type of punishment.
I know life is not fair, but this doesn't look right.
14
Stanford is not a public institution.
@jan: "The white kids at Stanford ..."
Those "white kids" were students, not teachers and administrators. And why do you suppose they were white?
Those "white kids" were students, not teachers and administrators. And why do you suppose they were white?
Hey Jan...put away the race card. The jury that convicted them was mostly minority, as a matter of fact it is minorities that were the most incensed by these crime. Talk about Black on Black crime...every one that went to jail was Black and the most of the children they cheater were too.
1
We solve nothing by sending these people to jail. The principles behind restorative justice should be employed.
However, they should not be able to teach or hold licenses in any state. They owe the kids they defrauded tutoring to re-mediate the injustice done to them until these kids graduate high school. And whatever they took in bonuses they should pay back with interest.
Let's stop sending non-violent offenders to jail. It accomplishes nothing. It will not help the kids who were defrauded nor will it save tax payer money. In lieu of jail, require community service to those kids who were involved. Those are the victims who are owed remedial educational plans.
In non-violent/non-loss of life cases where the victims can be compensated by actions, we should use that instead of jail.
But the heavy handed sentences for these little people versus what the criminals of Wall Street got is a point well-taken. But that's another case, another question.
However, they should not be able to teach or hold licenses in any state. They owe the kids they defrauded tutoring to re-mediate the injustice done to them until these kids graduate high school. And whatever they took in bonuses they should pay back with interest.
Let's stop sending non-violent offenders to jail. It accomplishes nothing. It will not help the kids who were defrauded nor will it save tax payer money. In lieu of jail, require community service to those kids who were involved. Those are the victims who are owed remedial educational plans.
In non-violent/non-loss of life cases where the victims can be compensated by actions, we should use that instead of jail.
But the heavy handed sentences for these little people versus what the criminals of Wall Street got is a point well-taken. But that's another case, another question.
96
It is the Racketeering charges that were most offensive. They forced other teachers to go along with the scheme to protect their phony baloney jobs. They are, unfortunately, a warning symbol to others would take this path! Idiots.
They forced innocent teachers out of the profession because they wouldn't play along.
They forced innocent teachers out of the profession because they wouldn't play along.
1
If we would only go after the banks as thoroughly as we do the educators...
That said, they aren't educators if they cheat. No one who believes in education, who works with it as a way of life, would ever look at cheating as a means to an end. Cheating -- especially when done by the adults (huh?) - brings no intellectual gains; no new questions, ideas, knowledge, or ambitions are woven into the young mind. There might be a rather far-out argument that one could teach a student how to cheat, which would be a skill of a kind, theoretically speaking, but these adults didn't even attempt that low road. So, these people weren't educators; they had jobs in the field, but who knows how or why.
The judge kept bringing up the harm to kids, but was there any data on that? Or is intent enough? I like his message that integrity still matters in education (actually, I like it a lot). But not sure how I feel about 20 years; it's a still sentence. Still -- teachers and administrators taking home tests to erase answers? What an ugly image.
That said, they aren't educators if they cheat. No one who believes in education, who works with it as a way of life, would ever look at cheating as a means to an end. Cheating -- especially when done by the adults (huh?) - brings no intellectual gains; no new questions, ideas, knowledge, or ambitions are woven into the young mind. There might be a rather far-out argument that one could teach a student how to cheat, which would be a skill of a kind, theoretically speaking, but these adults didn't even attempt that low road. So, these people weren't educators; they had jobs in the field, but who knows how or why.
The judge kept bringing up the harm to kids, but was there any data on that? Or is intent enough? I like his message that integrity still matters in education (actually, I like it a lot). But not sure how I feel about 20 years; it's a still sentence. Still -- teachers and administrators taking home tests to erase answers? What an ugly image.
2
ANYbody who breaks the law should get the prescribed punishment.
2
No one seems to mention the politicians responsible for insisting on these now discredited tests that have led to cheating all across America. Whenever you threaten draconian penalties for not meeting some threshold, rest assured, humans will cheat.
10
The school kids in Atlanta are certainly being well served by our Justice system, now that their teachers are safely locked up behind bars for daring to defy the sanctity of the standardized test.
Whether the kids learn anything is irrelevant in all of this, rather only if statistically what time they spend in school has been properly quantified so as those politicians who heaped on these edicts can boast to the world that they've made a difference where there has been none.
The fact is, if they really wanted to do anything that helped, they'd try and teach kids in the real world rather than pretending from some cushy office as far away from real children as they can possibly get.
The only wrongs these convicted teachers committed was acting from their hearts rather than heeding laws that were not designed to serve kids, rather only politicians. So naturally they've been found guilty, but not for what the charges say they did. That blame should be placed and executed on whom it rightfully belongs in Washington instead.
Whether the kids learn anything is irrelevant in all of this, rather only if statistically what time they spend in school has been properly quantified so as those politicians who heaped on these edicts can boast to the world that they've made a difference where there has been none.
The fact is, if they really wanted to do anything that helped, they'd try and teach kids in the real world rather than pretending from some cushy office as far away from real children as they can possibly get.
The only wrongs these convicted teachers committed was acting from their hearts rather than heeding laws that were not designed to serve kids, rather only politicians. So naturally they've been found guilty, but not for what the charges say they did. That blame should be placed and executed on whom it rightfully belongs in Washington instead.
9
20 years? How long did any banker serve for precipitating the recent financial crisis? How many bankers were actually indicted? Zero and zero. So the next time somebody rails about why so few college students choose teaching as a career and why so many crowd into MBA programs, tell them the obvious truth. Banking lets you get away with anything and everything.
13
So ... fudging numbers on a test gets you 7 years of hard time and 20 overall. But fudging numbers on Wall Street gets you absolutely nothing but bailouts and more money???
Not saying what they did was right, but the sentence here is absurd. Wall Street nearly takes down the American economic system with fixed books and gets off scott free while changing standardized test scores merits getting the book thrown at you by a cranky judge?
Not saying what they did was right, but the sentence here is absurd. Wall Street nearly takes down the American economic system with fixed books and gets off scott free while changing standardized test scores merits getting the book thrown at you by a cranky judge?
28
This is a serious punishment for a serious crime. Of course other offenders such as bankers deserve punishment as do many other offenders, use this as an example of what can and should happen to white collar criminals.The whole testing process may be off base, but that is no reason to excuse organized cheating. The Judge seems to care about the children involved, as he and the US public should. I'll bet many educational administrators will tread much more carefully in many areas not involving testing after this.
6
Too harsh. Way, way too harsh.
33
As to those who say these are the same terms that murderers and child molesters get, I have no idea what state you live in. Where I am, in both state and federal court, those who molest children and commit murder get decades, and not fractions thereof.High sentences are what we do in America, like it or not, of better or worse. For those who say that these people were victims of a testing regime gone awry, they had a choice— get another job. If they did that they would not be the first to pick principle over paycheck. If I had a child in the ninth grade whom I discovered read and did math at a third grade level (and no knock on them, but many parents due to their own educational deficiencies might not know the difference) I would feel like six years had been stolen from my child. Multiply that by hundreds, if not thousands of children, and see how you feel.
21
And your assumption is that this deficiency was caused by a gaming a poorly designed and pointless test?
This is absurd. The deficiency is caused by over crowded classrooms, insufficient funding, lack of parental involvement and a society too busy immersed in their cell phones.
I have taught at a private school for 20 years. Our outcomes tend to be better because we have small classes, involved families and no requirement to teach to any high stakes testing.
Given the actual resources potentially available for public education, it should be far better resourced than a private one. The only reason it is not is that we have become a greedy and self-involved society with no sense of shared commitment or responsibility.
I hate to break to folks but, if you want to fix public education in this country then, yes, throw money at it. A great deal more money.
These sentences are an absolute travesty of justice. Answer me this: what resources would be available if we took the money currently spent on testing and this ridiculous 'racketeering' trial, and spent it directly in the classroom. Not on administrators but actually in the classroom?
Multiply that across the country and see how you feel.
This is absurd. The deficiency is caused by over crowded classrooms, insufficient funding, lack of parental involvement and a society too busy immersed in their cell phones.
I have taught at a private school for 20 years. Our outcomes tend to be better because we have small classes, involved families and no requirement to teach to any high stakes testing.
Given the actual resources potentially available for public education, it should be far better resourced than a private one. The only reason it is not is that we have become a greedy and self-involved society with no sense of shared commitment or responsibility.
I hate to break to folks but, if you want to fix public education in this country then, yes, throw money at it. A great deal more money.
These sentences are an absolute travesty of justice. Answer me this: what resources would be available if we took the money currently spent on testing and this ridiculous 'racketeering' trial, and spent it directly in the classroom. Not on administrators but actually in the classroom?
Multiply that across the country and see how you feel.
15
Alan Eslinger, convicted of possessing thousand of images/videos of child porn (as young as 6 months old) served ONE year in prison. Was living with a woman and her 4 children when he got out. He was just busted again for the same thing. ONE YEAR.
3
So these people get years in jail for an offense that did not directly injure anyone, but two former egg industry executives were sentenced to three months in jail for their roles in a 2010 salmonella outbreak that sickened thousands. (Austin "Jack" DeCoster and his son, Peter DeCoster, faced up to a year in jail on charges of shipping adulterated food.) They remain free while appealing their three-month sentence. Equal justice under the law? No, depends on who you are and how much money you have.
66
"Not directly hurt anyone"???
They stole the futures of thousands of children for personal gain.
They are worse than child molesters. They pimped the kids for money.
They stole the futures of thousands of children for personal gain.
They are worse than child molesters. They pimped the kids for money.
4
Not too many years ago I represented a Service Station that was being sued because the attendant had been run over and KILLED by a drugged up driver who had just come there from robbing a convenience store. The driver, who was a first time offender, was sentenced to less than three years and was out of jail in a little over a year. The attendant was permanently dead. If such sentences are given for vehicular homicide, how dare these teachers and administrators be given such long sentences. Do they really need that much time for punishment or is it for rehabilitation? What it is is the STINKING southern ethic of severe punishments for any crime. Since these people's lives and careers are now ruined, these sentences are Cruel and Unusual punishment. I only hope they are reversed on appeal.
102
The punishment does not fit the crime. These educators should lose their jobs, licenses, and perform community service. The real scandal is that our children are being robbed of a well-rounded education, where critical thinking is valued.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s children have attended the University of Chicago School, one of the City’s most elite prep schools. It’s director, David Magill, wrote in 2009, “Physical education, world languages, libraries, and the arts are not frills. They are an essential piece of a well-rounded education.”
Magill on standardized testing: “Measuring outcomes through standardized testing and referring to those results as the evidence of learning and the bottom line is, in my opinion, misguided and, unfortunately, continues to be advocated under a new name and supported by the [Obama] administration.”
Diane Ravitch: Do Politicians Know Anything At All About Schools And Education? Anything? http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view&ask...
“Are you aware that there is a large body of research by testing experts warning that it is wrong to judge teacher quality by student test scores? Are you aware that these measures may be strongly influenced by the composition of a teacher’s classroom, over which she or he has no control?
“Do you know of any high-performing nation in the world that got that way by privatizing public schools, closing those with low test scores, and firing teachers? The answer: NONE.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s children have attended the University of Chicago School, one of the City’s most elite prep schools. It’s director, David Magill, wrote in 2009, “Physical education, world languages, libraries, and the arts are not frills. They are an essential piece of a well-rounded education.”
Magill on standardized testing: “Measuring outcomes through standardized testing and referring to those results as the evidence of learning and the bottom line is, in my opinion, misguided and, unfortunately, continues to be advocated under a new name and supported by the [Obama] administration.”
Diane Ravitch: Do Politicians Know Anything At All About Schools And Education? Anything? http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view&ask...
“Are you aware that there is a large body of research by testing experts warning that it is wrong to judge teacher quality by student test scores? Are you aware that these measures may be strongly influenced by the composition of a teacher’s classroom, over which she or he has no control?
“Do you know of any high-performing nation in the world that got that way by privatizing public schools, closing those with low test scores, and firing teachers? The answer: NONE.”
93
They were guilty, they should have taken the plea deal. That's what happens when you don't admit to your crime and you try and spin your way out--you go to jail for much longer. That's why the plea deal is so often used effectively to get people to admit guilt. The legal system loses it's leverage, lawyers lose their leverage, courts get clogged, when suspects don't get the book thrown at them when they refuse the deal. So, this judge throws the book at them, sends a clear message--take the deal, don't waist my time. The trouble comes when innocent people get the message and start taking the deal.
8
To put these prison terms into perspective, a second-degree murder charge in the state of Georgia carries a ten-year mandatory prison sentence. Yes, some of these educators got harsher prison sentences than a murderer.
107
So if the defendants take the deal and admit they did something illegal (which they did), they get a more lenient sentence. If they don't admit guilt and leave it up to the judge, they get a harsher sentence.
What part of this multiple choice question do these folks not understand?
What part of this multiple choice question do these folks not understand?
9
Giving up their appeal rights, which are part of their due process rights.
8
What about the rights of the kids?
Suspend their sentences. Take the cost of these jail sentences, add it to the education budget.
54
7 years in prison for a non-violent crime is ridiculous. This is an incredibly stupid country, and the people here get dumber every year. (And no, standardized tests aren't going to fix that).
160
“I think there were hundreds, thousands of children who were harmed in this city,” the judge said. “That’s what gets lost. Everybody starts crying about these educators. There were thousands of students who were harmed by this thing. This was not a victimless crime in this city.”
These are my sentiments exactly.
This WAS no victimless crime. What about the kids? What about the failure on the part of the "educators" to provide them with the extra help that may have required? This was criminal. Period.
These are my sentiments exactly.
This WAS no victimless crime. What about the kids? What about the failure on the part of the "educators" to provide them with the extra help that may have required? This was criminal. Period.
24
How about the financial crisis. A victimless crime? The perpetrators were never even charged.
6
It's disgusting and shady.
Seven years in the slammer for changing test scores. Child molesters get seven years. Armed robbers get seven years.
These harsh sentences must be politically based. The City of Atlanta has been severely embarrassed. The City is using this case as an example of what happens to you if change test scores. Lock em up and throw away the key. Don't mess with our kids!
OK, fine. Use this case to set an example. But what about the children? How many officials are going to be sent to jail for providing such a horrible education that caused the bad test scores in the first place? Once that jail door slams shut, what are they going to do for the kids to correct the real problem?
These harsh sentences must be politically based. The City of Atlanta has been severely embarrassed. The City is using this case as an example of what happens to you if change test scores. Lock em up and throw away the key. Don't mess with our kids!
OK, fine. Use this case to set an example. But what about the children? How many officials are going to be sent to jail for providing such a horrible education that caused the bad test scores in the first place? Once that jail door slams shut, what are they going to do for the kids to correct the real problem?
29
They robbed children from needed instruction to enrch themselves! Higher test scores meant cash bonuses! Passing kids who couldn't read is a crime!
8
This case is an example of something far more rotten-- abuse of the plea bargaining system, which essentially allows prosecutors to criminalize the right of defendants to plead not guilty.
109
Plea Bargaining c o mes before a trial. They pled Not Guilty. They were found Guilty. They had an opportunity for lesser sentencing by working out a deal for a lesser sentence, in light of having been found guilty. They rejected that so as to keep their right to appeal.
The judge was being more than fair in giving them another chance at a reduced sentence. I hope the appeal process bankrupts each one of them.
The judge was being more than fair in giving them another chance at a reduced sentence. I hope the appeal process bankrupts each one of them.
8
If the defendants accepted guilt and were contrite, I would be in favor of a light jail sentence with some probation / community service so everyone can move on. I think that's what the judge was hoping defendants would agree to in the plea deals. But for whatever reason -- maybe the defendants truly believe they did nothing wrong, which is just ridiculous -- defendants didn't take the deals. Given the circumstances, I think the harsher jail times are entirely appropriate. These folks did real harm to thousands of kids. That can't just be papered over.
19
I sure that what they were thinking was that they would be able to appeal, and that their chances were better for getting off completely.
1
Already the expected harsh comments. Look, it's appalling, but there is more complexity here than we armchair critics are acknowledging. See the in-depth portrait in the New Yorker, "Wrong Answer" that explores the scandal and the good work being done and being protected. See http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/21/wrong-answer
The tough sentences imposed by the petulant judge *because* these defendants woukdn't confess is a travesty, too.
Plus, get real. Anyone who knows or has read anything about what is passing for education these days (i.e., read Ravitch's Death and Life of the Great American School System and Kozol's Shame of the Nation) will realize that there is another, more fundamental type of cheating going on. The test-driven, narrow, corporate-imposed reforms are *cheating* kids of a real education. That's the true scandal.
The tough sentences imposed by the petulant judge *because* these defendants woukdn't confess is a travesty, too.
Plus, get real. Anyone who knows or has read anything about what is passing for education these days (i.e., read Ravitch's Death and Life of the Great American School System and Kozol's Shame of the Nation) will realize that there is another, more fundamental type of cheating going on. The test-driven, narrow, corporate-imposed reforms are *cheating* kids of a real education. That's the true scandal.
177
"The test-driven, narrow, corporate-imposed reforms are *cheating* kids of a real education. That's the true scandal."
As long as we the people let this go on then we the people are to blame. Hence the saying, "You deserve what you're willing to put up with."
As long as we the people let this go on then we the people are to blame. Hence the saying, "You deserve what you're willing to put up with."
2
You're right that high-stakes high-profit multiple choice tests are a disaster for education in this country, but they're not the only problem. For example, corrupt and self-interested educators are also a problem.
Look, if these people had actually been interested in educating Atlanta's children, they would have found a way to work in the interest of the kids. That they did the opposite speaks volumes about where their interests lay.
Look, if these people had actually been interested in educating Atlanta's children, they would have found a way to work in the interest of the kids. That they did the opposite speaks volumes about where their interests lay.
3
The true scandal is no parents for these kids.
2
These so-called "Educators" needed to learn something, and I hope that with years in prison they will learn how they have harmed not only the children in their care, but also their family, their friends and the reputation of their chosen profession.
Bullock's sentence of weekend confinement is laughable. Why, exactly, can't he serve his sentence with continuous days? That point is left out of the article. Bullock and everyone who hears of this sentence learns that it's possible to evade real justice.
These folks who have impacted their students' learning by NOT ACTUALLY TEACHING THEM TO PASS THE TEST (or at least do their best) should have to pay reparations to the children. An amount of money put into a trust for them to use when they grow up to age 21 or 25.
These misguided "educators" should also pay for all the children they didn't teach...to receive one-on-one tutoring through the summer and the next school year until they are all caught up with their school grade. I'm sure they have plenty of extra money...since the state will be paying their living expenses for the next 20 years! Sell their house, sell their belongings and get that tutoring and trust fund set up asap. Oh...your family still lives in the house? Well, I hope they have good jobs so they can pay to help the children. Otherwise, they'll be looking at rental apartments after the house closes escrow to some new owners.
Bullock's sentence of weekend confinement is laughable. Why, exactly, can't he serve his sentence with continuous days? That point is left out of the article. Bullock and everyone who hears of this sentence learns that it's possible to evade real justice.
These folks who have impacted their students' learning by NOT ACTUALLY TEACHING THEM TO PASS THE TEST (or at least do their best) should have to pay reparations to the children. An amount of money put into a trust for them to use when they grow up to age 21 or 25.
These misguided "educators" should also pay for all the children they didn't teach...to receive one-on-one tutoring through the summer and the next school year until they are all caught up with their school grade. I'm sure they have plenty of extra money...since the state will be paying their living expenses for the next 20 years! Sell their house, sell their belongings and get that tutoring and trust fund set up asap. Oh...your family still lives in the house? Well, I hope they have good jobs so they can pay to help the children. Otherwise, they'll be looking at rental apartments after the house closes escrow to some new owners.
1
And not one banker goes to jail for all the pain and all the loss of the past decade. These were easy targets for angry people.
234
Hear, hear.
13
NAME the banker who falsified the borrower's income to obtain an illegal mortgage and we will all cheer his jailing, along with the liar who took the funds. BUT don't excuse this real crime with some stories without any facts to support them.
4
sad, you haven't been reading the Times. There have been many articles discussing the dishonest methods some mortgagers engaged in to falsify applications, including writing in fantasy income figures. When you have a poorly educated client or one who has limited English, it's easy -- and it has been documented many times. If you want the name of an individual perpetrator, you can go to the back files and probably find a handful out of the many guilty mortgage preparers.
1
By all means punish the educators, perhaps even a bit more harshly after they were unwilling to work with prosecutors on deals, but spending tax dollars and limited prison space on perhaps the least-dangerous individuals one could imagine (rouge educators) seems a monumental waste of resources and a bit of political pandering.
Have them pay a big fine, lose their teaching licenses, whatever, but saying this draconian of a punishment will deter future abuses more effectively than other punishments is grabbing a hammer and looking slightly-ajar nails. But people have done far more serious offenses and received lesser sentences, and the chances of recidivism by these individuals seems virtually impossible.
Have them pay a big fine, lose their teaching licenses, whatever, but saying this draconian of a punishment will deter future abuses more effectively than other punishments is grabbing a hammer and looking slightly-ajar nails. But people have done far more serious offenses and received lesser sentences, and the chances of recidivism by these individuals seems virtually impossible.
163
What about the teachers who wouldn't cheat who were forced out or fired? They couldn't get another teaching job because of the black mark on their records. Do you think that is all these thieves should get?
Sorry, but the perps need to do the time.
Sorry, but the perps need to do the time.
3
Ive served on two juries with one defendant each. In my opinion it is not feasible or fair to try a DOZEN defendants together. A jury cannot possibly judge each and every one of them, which is their RIGHT, as individuals. How can someone, much less 12 jury members, honestly parse so much information and apply it to a dozen unique individuals with unique circumstances. By not taking a plea deal, these folks will get judged as individuals rather than the convenience to the court of mass judgement. I trust juries, but I do not trust the judicial system when it is coercive as it was in this case.
27
They are all guilty -- that's the essence of the racketeering indictment. They got what they deserve. I look forward to the day that the eyes of justice look at the NY Dept of (Dr)education.
4
Banker: Churn out billions of dollars of bad mortgages with fraudulent credit ratings, the result is a financial settlement that's tax-deductible accompanied by a statement "we believe we did not do anything wrong but are making the payment to put the matter behind us..."
Teacher: Falsify school test scores, 15 years in prison.
Teacher: Falsify school test scores, 15 years in prison.
286
Yes, the bank industry and the mortgage fiasco
was abhorrent in their actions that left people bankrupt. However, I don't believe this in any way excuses the actions of these educators.
Maybe if they admitted their errors and asked for leniency, their sentences could be reduced. (But they should never regain their teaching certificates!) My perspective is that I was a teacher, recently retired. I understand the pressure they felt to show improved test scores for their schools and their District. I and my colleagues experienced the same pressure! The standardized tests invaded our classrooms, our lesson plans, our evaluations, etc.! The stress was palpable! Yet I and my colleagues and thousands upon thousands of other educators never sacrificed our ethics to
circumvent the testing consequences. Unbelievable that these teachers did, and they deserve punishment. Double-shame in them for not even admitting their guilt!
was abhorrent in their actions that left people bankrupt. However, I don't believe this in any way excuses the actions of these educators.
Maybe if they admitted their errors and asked for leniency, their sentences could be reduced. (But they should never regain their teaching certificates!) My perspective is that I was a teacher, recently retired. I understand the pressure they felt to show improved test scores for their schools and their District. I and my colleagues experienced the same pressure! The standardized tests invaded our classrooms, our lesson plans, our evaluations, etc.! The stress was palpable! Yet I and my colleagues and thousands upon thousands of other educators never sacrificed our ethics to
circumvent the testing consequences. Unbelievable that these teachers did, and they deserve punishment. Double-shame in them for not even admitting their guilt!
6
Read again. 7 years in prison and the remainder on probation. Considering the number of children deliberately and permanently damaged by these people, 7 years is about right.
6
You nailed it, Don. It's basically the same thing -- under pressure from a performance-pay salary structure, these people cut corners and cooked the books. No one is saying it's right and no one is saying it's a victimless crime.
But there's a HUGE difference between cheating on standardized test scores and cheating on Wall Street and the American economy and there was a HUGE difference in the amount of people affected and the severity of effects. If the educators get 7 years in jail, then a lot of those folks on Wall Street should be spending life in prison now. But they're rich, I guess.
But there's a HUGE difference between cheating on standardized test scores and cheating on Wall Street and the American economy and there was a HUGE difference in the amount of people affected and the severity of effects. If the educators get 7 years in jail, then a lot of those folks on Wall Street should be spending life in prison now. But they're rich, I guess.
4
I am glad these former educators have to serve time for their very criminal act. What their victims lost is not quantifiable and will forever impact their sense of having even had a decent or fair education.
The entire purpose of assessments - to see what students are and aren't able to do - was corrupted for these kids. Their educators failed them systematically, knowingly, and without a hint of recompense to the children. They fought and fought, and utterly failed their students, their parents, and their schools.
The entire purpose of assessments - to see what students are and aren't able to do - was corrupted for these kids. Their educators failed them systematically, knowingly, and without a hint of recompense to the children. They fought and fought, and utterly failed their students, their parents, and their schools.
40
An article in the New Yorker actually made me feel a bit sympathetic toward some of the defendants. The national testing regime strikes me as similar to "Three Strikes"/"Mandatory-minimum"-type criminal legislation: an over-reaction to legitimate issues, with troubling unintended consequences.
55
Same prison term as some murderers... weren't we talking about reducing prison populations just yesterday?
191
I have no sympathy for any of these defendants, and I'm dismayed at the attempts to paint them as victims in any way. These people all knew what they were doing, and were more than eager to accept the accolades that came with what everyone thought was stellar work. But the fact is they cheated those children of their education, thinking only of personal gain and themselves.
To suggest that the sentences they received were harsh is laughable. Let this serve as a cautionary tale for other educators who are apt to play russian roulette with other peoples' children's educations (and by extension, their lives).
And the REAL tragedy at the end of all this is that NONE of them were even willing to concede that they had done anything wrong!
To suggest that the sentences they received were harsh is laughable. Let this serve as a cautionary tale for other educators who are apt to play russian roulette with other peoples' children's educations (and by extension, their lives).
And the REAL tragedy at the end of all this is that NONE of them were even willing to concede that they had done anything wrong!
164
No kids were cheated of education, at least because of changing test scores. At the core of the issue is that these tests have little to do with assessing each student as an individual.
58
How about the kids that were given passing grades when they really needed further help and education? Weren't they robbed of learning?
9
Noah - yes, the children WERE cheated. Remedial assistance was withheld. Laughably, some very under-performing children were offered advanced and enhanced classes instead as a result of the fraudulent test scores.
1
These people deserved to lose their jobs and their licenses, but this is cruel and unusual punishment, in no way befitting the crime. They are scapegoats for those who prefer not to look closely at all the culture of testing has wrought.
345
They committed FRAUD. We would expect that people who commit FRAUD elsewhere would get punished with jail time (social security fraud, insurance fraud, what have you). Are you suggesting that children's educations mean less than an insurance settlement or social security benefits. Sure, the culture of testing caused this, just as stagnating middle class wages caused insurance fraud. Ultimately, when teachers do this, they lessen the burden on other teachers who can now slack off and not teach kids (i.e., rob them of their futures) because they know that the test scores, the only metric by which to measures performance, are covered.
12
I live in Atlanta and after following this tragedy, not only do the defendants deserve to lose their jobs, but their arrogance befits the sentencing, they should all have jail time.
10
I might agree with D. Franks, except that the educators had months to negotiate lenient plea deals, just as many of their peers, with no jail time and reasonable probation. Even after conviction, the DA offered (and the judge signaled his willingness to accept) very reasonable terms that would have avoided prison time. These people just don't get it -- they cheated, they blatantly covered it up, and the evidence is overwhelming. All they had to do was apologize and take responsibility and they wouldn't have seen one day in jail. It was their refusal to take responsibility that put them in this jam, not any cruelty by the court.
18
What an error these people made by getting into education. Had they chosen the banking sector instead, they would have no worries about fraud...
422
Ah, the spurious, 'yeh, but what about them?' excuse for bad behavior. My young children try that argument too. As I explain to them, you are responsible for your own actions. And if there isn't somebody somewhere doing something worse, then you must be really behaving badly.
5
Joe taxpayer isn't making an excuse for bad behavior. He's pointing out unequal treatment given the level of the crime. There is a difference.
6
Joe T:
Or politics.....for that matter.
Or politics.....for that matter.