Former School Chief in Atlanta Indicted in Cheating Scandal
Source: New York Times
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"A grand jury Friday indicted Beverly L. Hall, the former superintendent powerhouse of the Atlanta School District, on racketeering and other charges, bringing a dramatic new chapter to one of the largest cheating scandals in the country."
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Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/30/us/former-school-chief-in-atlanta-indicted-in-cheating-scandal.html?emc=na&_r=0
Undoubtedly, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

alp227
(32,530 posts)Last edited Sun Mar 31, 2013, 06:34 PM - Edit history (1)
AJC story to be published in Saturday's print edition "Former APS Superintendent Beverly Hall indicted"
The AJC published an investigative report on Oct. 19, 2009 questioning the test scores. As I posted on DU at the time, a state inquiry in Feb. 2010 found evidence of falsified scores. In July 2011 (DU thread), the state confirmed that many teachers either participated in tampering with answer sheets or failed to report such actions. In a [linK:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us/08hall.html?pagewanted=all|Sept. 2011 interview with the NY Times], superintendent Hall maintained she never actively allowed any wrongdoing.
The scandal has been covered also in The Young Turks (Ana Kasparian and Michael Shure on 7/6/11; Kasparian has been an education columnist at Examiner.com and continues discussing related issues elsewhere)
PBS NewsHour (7/6/11 interview with AJC reporter Heather Vogell, transcript)
PBS NewsHour (8/8/11 original report by John Tulenko, transcript)
Iwillnevergiveup
(9,298 posts)Thanks for the extra background - as a mostly retired teacher, I appreciate your input. I can vividly recall working in a California school district where reading coaches assembled 1st and 2nd grade teachers just before the spring round of high stakes testing. We were asked to single out 3 or 4 kids from each class to "groom and polish" to raise that school's test scores. This was to be done during class time, of course, at the expense of the rest of the kids.
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)one of these Eli Broad stooges take a fall. All of them should be indicted for corruption. They are almost exclusively non-educators and fifth columnists sent to infiltrate and privatize public education for profit. Broad, the Walton and the Gates foundations don't use expressions like "venture philanthropy" and "creative destruction" when referring to their educational reform agenda for nothing.
Zax2me
(2,515 posts)Close to President Obama, praised by him - he even appointed her to an administration post.
Worked exclusively for public schools for over two decades.
She made a case for privatizing public education alright - by her career as a public educator ridden by the biggest scandal in public school history.
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)is a flunky for the corporatist takeover of public education and has been for two decades. Please don't confuse her with a legitimate educator. She's dedicated to public education like a wrecking ball is to a wall. As for her making a case for privatizing public education, she can't be accused of not trying.
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)Sounds like that's a big chunk of the iceberg

groundloop
(12,499 posts)According to a report I just saw on one of the local Atlanta stations Hall and several other top officials earned huge bonuses based on test scores.
midnight
(26,624 posts)wires, but not the bankers... My second thought was.... When our focus in education becomes all about test scores and numbers via no child left behind and race to the top... everyone shifts from learning to profit...