Arrests made in CRCT cheating. Are more to come?
The former principal at Atherton Elementary and the assistant principal have been arrested for their involvement in the CRCT cheating scandal.
The arrests come about a week after a state audit showed answers had been changed on last summer’s fifth-grade CRCT retests at four elementary schools.
Atherton Elementary in DeKalb County was one of the schools cited in the audit. The other schools were: Atlanta’s Deerwood Academy, Parklane Elementary in Fulton County and Burroughs-Molette Elementary in Glynn County.
James Berry, the former Atherton principal, resigned after the audit was released. The assistant principal, Doretha Alexander, was reassigned.
The DeKalb District Attorney’s Office looked into allegations of cheating saying state law makes it a felony to tamper with state documents.
Will more arrests follow in DeKalb and other communities? Will the arrests do anything to curb cheating?
NOTE: Search district-by-district 2009 CRCT results here.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Guides
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
124 comments Add your comment
jim d
June 19th, 2009
11:48 am
now let the the whinning begin!!
David S
June 19th, 2009
12:21 pm
Just don’t expect any arrests of those REALLY reponsible. And certainly don’t expect any arrests of the people in both Washington and in our own state who continue to perpetuate the FRAUD that government run education is actually providing a good education to anyone.
Whatever
June 19th, 2009
12:28 pm
Arrested!? That’s a little much – take away their licensure, fire them, put the school on the Needs Improvement List… then move on. I think Crawford was reaching with this move and wanted to make an example out of them. They deserve punishment… but being arrested for cheating on a 5th graders test?! Give me a break. If that’s the case, Dekalb County juvenile detention should be close to bursting at the seems with cheaters.
Classroom Teacher
June 19th, 2009
12:29 pm
Wow! I didn’t really think nothing much would happen. Obviously since they were arrested it should show, as jim d stated before, that we don’t need new laws passed to get rid of these clowns.
shaggy
June 19th, 2009
12:30 pm
Arrest them all, make the kids take the test all over again.
Whatever
June 19th, 2009
12:30 pm
Of course I meant “seams” not “seems”… fingers are moving a little to swiftly due to the cappacino I had earlier! Caffeine ROCKS!
Whatever
June 19th, 2009
12:33 pm
@Shaggy – the kids have already passed on through the 6th grade. They didn’t do this… those clowns did. Hopefully they received the help they needed in whatever middle school they landed in. They shouldn’t have to take it again.
GaNative
June 19th, 2009
12:37 pm
Crawford had nothing to do with the arrests. It’s out of his hands. They were arrested for falsefying federal documents. The feds got em.
Whatever
June 19th, 2009
12:42 pm
GANative – wrong. Those tests are NOT property of the federal government… CRCT is a STATE test.
Whatever
June 19th, 2009
12:43 pm
Why are my comments not showing up?
Whatever
June 19th, 2009
12:44 pm
Wrong GaNative – those tests are STATE mandated… not federal.
Whatever
June 19th, 2009
12:46 pm
Wrong GaNative – those tests are STATE mandated… they are not federal documents!
GaNative
June 19th, 2009
12:49 pm
Ok, but the reason behind the cheating is to manipulate funds from the federal government. That’s where the money comes from.
GaNative
June 19th, 2009
12:50 pm
From ajc: The arrests follow an audit last week that found a high number of eraser marks on tests from four Georgia schools, including Atherton. State officials have said the higher scores helped the schools meet federal standards.
R U Sure
June 19th, 2009
12:54 pm
The reason behind cheating is not necessarily to manipulate funds. He wanted to make AYP, the funds recieved if any are a result. You only recieve funds for significant gains, not sure that is what he was going after, think he just wanted to meet goals
R U Sure
June 19th, 2009
12:55 pm
Federal standards just means he met goals established by NCLB, but Whatever is correct, it is a state mandated test.
R U Sure
June 19th, 2009
12:59 pm
You receive federal funds based on number of free and reduced lunch numbers (economically disadvantaged subgroup) which is title 1 money. AYP scores don’t affect this money, unless you fail to spend it correctly. If you do make significant gains, you do get award money (I have seen amounts from $1000 and much higher awarded to schools depending on the type of gain made), and they can give it as monetary awards to staff or spend on school, their choice). Schools do want to keep their title 1 distinguised school title also. That is an honor.
GaNative
June 19th, 2009
12:59 pm
It’s all a big mess. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Which is better, let them all fail and have the whole school system lose accrediation like Clayton did and not go to jail, or to use the eraser and go to jail?
R U Sure
June 19th, 2009
1:00 pm
What do you guys think the article means by “more arrests to come??”
Whatever
June 19th, 2009
1:01 pm
I refuse to believe that Crawford Lewis wasn’t the driving force behind the arrests. Granted he can’t MAKE the DA file charges, but he can darn sure recommend it – he’s their boss! He doesn’t like for anyone to make a fool out of him… other than what he does himself.
Knowing this principal, he wanted to make AYP. He didn’t want anyone to hold Atherton up and say they couldn’t cut it. He went about it totally the wrong way (obviously) and he deserved to be FIRED and his license revoked. He (and the AP) shouldn’t be able to get another job in a school system. Let ‘em fry burgers. Cheaters never prosper, but they don’t deserve jail.
Logical consequences
June 19th, 2009
1:04 pm
Maybe if DeKalb had dealt with problems like bullying and other behavior problems, if they followed state law when it came to teacher grievances, discipline wouldn’t be out of control, students would know they would be held accountable, and they might have actually learned something, and then no one would have been desperate enough to cheat.
If this DA wants to really make a difference instead of just making a publicity stunt, he’ll offer a deal and let these two low level administrators testify to just how widespread it is, and how high up it is condoned.
R U Sure
June 19th, 2009
1:04 pm
If they fail, they fail and there are processes for that, such as state taking over the school if it happens several years in a row, and all new administrators, teachers, etc. brought in, etc or really working to make sure the best teachers and administrators are in place, but definitely firing and taking certification away from those who cheat. DCSS hasn’t made AYP as a system in years, what are the consequences for that? What is the state doing about it? Same leaders are in place.
R U Sure
June 19th, 2009
1:08 pm
Logical, you make a lot of sense. Grievances are a big issue, they are refusing to hear them. On the website, it says hearings are held within 10 days, if pursued. “IF PURSUED”, that means they can choose to sweep it under the rug. I think AYP should also be based on the gains individual students make. For example, if a student moves from 780 to 790 (passing is 800), then it should count. It is very hard to move them when they are very low, but a kid and a teacher who work hard improvements for them should count.
R U Sure
June 19th, 2009
1:13 pm
Thank you Whatever. You are right, Dr. Lewis wants to save his own neck. I am sure he hopes the state (our state superintendent) sees that how he responded to this matter and how other school systems did not.
Also, did you know that they can go to another state and teach. I have seen other DCSS administrators do that very same thing.
GaNative
June 19th, 2009
1:13 pm
To me, “more arrests to come” means they are going after those responsible at the other schools that were found guilty of the same process.
R U Sure
June 19th, 2009
1:19 pm
Shaggy, the students should not have to take it again. They took it once and failed (that is frustrating), then they went to summer school and had to take it again. They were all 6th graders this year and probably did not get help they needed, because they did not have a score that reflected they needed help, and were cheated again. They each need to be tracked to see if they passed this year as 6th graders, I bet they probably did not, but I can’t assume anything, because we have to believe boys and girls can turn things around with good teachers. Not sure what schools they went to. If they failed again, we have to give them lots of support until they graduate. We owe it to them.
Interesting
June 19th, 2009
1:29 pm
How about doing an audit on all of the schools in Georgia? I would not be surprise if more cheating is found. Thanks to the pressure regarding the bias high-stake testing, this sounds like some moves of desperation. How about doing audits on all of the schools in Georgia on how a lot of them are “wasting” state and federal dollars on “foolishness” that has nothing to do with educating students. What is the hold up on the other districts that are involved such as APS? Are they working on
their “cover-ups”?
Rhonda
June 19th, 2009
1:47 pm
This has been going on for decades, ever since the schools started using high stakes testing. But it erupted with No Child Left Behind, the AIDS of Education. In the 1990s a poor achieiving elementary on the far southwest side cheated its way out of its Title 1 grant! The scores were suddenly too high for it to qualify as a Title 1 school. I know this happened because I edited the grant! The next year they sent monitors and the scores went back down. A middle school principal near Grant Park would suspend her low achieving students right before test day. Then when they took the make-up, the principal knew what the questions were. One year the security became compromised and some tests disappeared. She blamed the counselor. He was not even at the school at the time it happened. But she was a stupid,incompetent, racist and the counselor had a Ph.D—way more education than she did. (She had used her connections to get her job.) She did not like him because he spoke his mind and was brighter than she was. Other schools like to blame Special Education and say that they cheat. But they don’t. Special ed. just knows how to give the kids the 504 accommodations they need and how to teach.
THE PROBLEM IS THE TESTS AND THE REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS WHO GAVE US NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND. REMEMBER THIS IN THE NEXT ELECTION. PUT SOME GOOD MODERATE/LIBERAL DEMOCRATS IN THE MANSION AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY SO THE SCHOOLS CAN GO BACK TO TEACHING. GEORGIA IS THE MOST ADVANCED STATE IN THE SOUTH. IT DESERVES A QUALITY GOVERNMENT THAT SERVES THE PEOPLE AND GOOD SCHOOLS.
Seen it all
June 19th, 2009
2:08 pm
I know that the arrests are silly in a sense and are simply an attempt to make an example out of someone. But in a way, I AM GLAD SOMEBODY WENT TO JAIL. I am tired of seeing administrators, teachers, and other staff members do what they want in our schools and get away with it. In my career, I have seen students verbally and emotionally abused by teachers and staff members, physically assaulted by teachers and staff members, administrators and staff members falsify documents and reports, teachers actually break the rules of standardized test administration,etc. I have know of administrators and staff members who spent school and county funds at will, with no real instructional benefit to the students or school. This is just the tip of the iceberg. And nothing happened to these outrageous offenders. Most are still in education, working somewhere for big bucks, while REAL teachers and instructional leaders can’t find work.
Look at that PSC santion database on the AJC. Sickening. Listen people- to be sanctioned by the PSC, you have to be committing OUTRAGEOUS acts of depravity. You know things like committing criminal acts on your students, caught on camera. But heck in some places, even that is excused away and covered up.
We need to start holding our schools accountable. It is the actions of these gross offenders which explain why our children perform so poorly in school. Instead of trying to teach the children, our school personnel would rather cheat on a test and erase the students answers.
I said it before- If you lie, you will cheat. If you cheat, you will steal. If you steal, you will kill. They are already lying, cheating, and stealing. Now they are killing our children intellectually and spiritually. I have seen so many young people whose spirit and desire to learn was crushed by horrid teachers and administrators.
Our children and communities deserve better.
Susan
June 19th, 2009
2:11 pm
Did student teaching @ Atherton as UGA intern Spring 1975. Dekalb was great system…then of course, as usual, minorities demanding “rights” take over & destroy schools, neighborhoods. This is end result when inferior race takes over.
ScienceTeacher671
June 19th, 2009
2:18 pm
Susan, “inferior race”?? I hope you aren’t working in public education now, but maybe the “segregation academies” are more your speed anyway?
Reality2
June 19th, 2009
2:23 pm
Student teaching in ‘75… So, Susan should be just about out of classrooms by now – IF she stayed in education. Thank goodness.
Surprised!
June 19th, 2009
2:32 pm
Wow, Susan! I can not believe your racist comment. I am glad you are not working at Atherton or I hope any other school teaching minority children. I would hate to have you educate my child or any other students. I would rather have a cheating principal than a racist like you in the field of education. You are truly more harmful.
Educator
June 19th, 2009
2:41 pm
SUSAN, What an ignorant comment to make! I am a much more recent graduate of the University of Georgia. I am certain that they would be embarrassed to know that they actually awarded someone so very ignorant – any kind of degree.
THANK GOD YOU ARE WAY TOO OLD TO STILL BE IN THE CLASSROOM!!!
Educated Black Child
June 19th, 2009
2:42 pm
That comment was very RACIST. I am a product of Dekalb County and I grew up on the South Side of town, But one thing I do know is I got an education, It may not have been a good as the North Side, But I took matters in my own hands, and for the record not one time during my school career did we destroy schools and take over. I can’t help that Teacher don’t want to teach students on the south side of town they rather go up north, but by doing this they have passed over the opportunity of helping out these students.
Students can’t help the hand that they are delt,and that was this situation, there are not enough teachers out here who care about educating a child. All they want to do is go work and go home, Not knowing that there is more to educating a child. So Susan Dekalb County is still a great county, if you took your head out your ASS you could see that most counties go through these changes and if people like you would contribute time and eduaction to these students maybe they would pass.
Surprised!
June 19th, 2009
2:42 pm
As an educator, I am sorry that these administrators at all four schools felt the need to falsify documents. However, I am glad because the time has long passed for us to discuss the undue pressure placed on educators. It is not only a matter of teaching the standards, but a host of factors that contribute to students meeting standards. Every parent of a child that fails is equally as responsible. When are parents going to accept responsibility for their child’s education. Teachers can only do so much…especially when kids are significantly below grade level.
high school teacher
June 19th, 2009
2:44 pm
I think it’s a sad state of affairs when administrators cheat on the CRCT. The multiple problems that this highlights…
WOW !!!!!
June 19th, 2009
2:45 pm
Susan’s comment is a perfect example of ignorance at it’s best. Most of us were taught that if you do not have something intelligent to say – keep your mouth shut so no one know that you are ignorant.
I am not at all convinced that the principals were the only ones who knew about this cheating. I also believe that it is probably a lot more wide-spread than we would like to admit.
Peppermint Candy
June 19th, 2009
2:50 pm
I am a teacher. Mr. Barry did no more than teachers a pressured to do by principals. We are often forced to change grades because parents threaten to call Crawford Lewis. Principal do not want to look bad, they are very weak, and will not stand up to Crawford Lewis. As sad as it may sound and look, Mr. Berry did what he had to do to keep his job. His friend Mr. Lewis did not support him. What Mr. Barry fail to thing about was, the student were going to pass anyway. All parents were going to request that their children be passed on to the next grade if they failed. Can’t you see that former President George W. Bush made education a joke. The CRCT is also a joke. It is not recognized outside the state of GA. Let me not mention, principals and their staff have been know to make threatening statements to teachers about the schools not making AYP.
dlove
June 19th, 2009
3:11 pm
MACE was right about the cheating on tests. MACE had it right from the start.
Where were GAE and PAGE?
June 19th, 2009
3:16 pm
MACE has always had it right from the get go when it came to cheating on these tests. What’s more, they were publicly willing to say so. Where have GAE and PAGE been, and have they been willing to take the same public stand that MACE did?
Turd Ferguson
June 19th, 2009
3:23 pm
Arrest them all and toss their butts in jail, where they BELONG!!
Turd Ferguson
June 19th, 2009
3:38 pm
Susan 2:11 Pm comment…Precisely!!
Sing or Sing Sing?
June 19th, 2009
3:38 pm
Is the DA making a splash, or does he really want to know? Is the DA willing to cut a deal for the greater good to find out how high does this go up and if this is isolated or systemic?
Are the administrators going to be given a chance to sing, or just sent to Sing Sing as scapegoats?
Just Observing
June 19th, 2009
3:46 pm
Perhaps “Dr” Berry was just trying to be “Premier”!
You people who blame the test – that’s absurd. That’s like blaming the insurance company when someone kills someone for the money. Is no one culpable for their own actions anymore?
Get the idiot out of the system – an NO – Dr. Lewis had nothing to do with getting him arrested – Dr. Lewis defended him and insinuated that anyone who questioned the “miracle” scores was racist… Dr. Lewis should go too…
Haley
June 19th, 2009
3:46 pm
One word: OVERKILL.
Whatever
June 19th, 2009
3:47 pm
@ Turd: for what crime?? IMO, this is not a crime! It’s a damn shame, morally wrong, and just plain stupid… but not a crime. They cheated on a 5th grade test! Being arrested for this is just covering a field of manure with garbage… they both stink! I don’t want my tax dollars to be spent arresting a principal & his flunky for using an eraser.
Whatever
June 19th, 2009
3:48 pm
@ Turd: never mind. Your second post confirmed what I already thought!
Dr. John Trotter
June 19th, 2009
4:34 pm
I have found that DeKalb County (and it is not the only system, but perhaps the worst) will go to great ends to cover up wrong doing. In late April, they went to the end of trying to try “ban” me from being on any property in the DeKalb County Schools — as if they can arbitrarily do this with egregious trumped-up lies because they do not like my message to them: They are engaging in corruptiom. They seem to have the philosophy of killing the messenger if they disagree with the message. They even had their joke of a legal counsel, Josey Alexander, to threaten me with arrest for “ïllegal pickets.” For real! Lol. Of course, MACE kept picketing and drawing attention to “systematic cheating” in DeKalb. Channel 11 (Keith Whitney) even covered one of the many pickets which we staged AFTER Josey Alexander’s preposterous threat about “ïllegal pickets.” (Has she ever heard of Category One Free Speech Forums? What about Content Regulations which, by the way, are patently illegal? What about Ronald Ramsey? Where did these lawyers go to law school? Were they asleep in the classes when Constitutional Law was taught?) Yes, Ronald Ramsey summarily and illegally shut down a grievance hearing when a Clarkston High School teacher was about to testify, along with other teacher-witnesses, that there is systematic cheating taking place in the area of grading at DeKalb’s Clarkston High School. Why don’t the State’s investigators start at Clarkston High School if they REALLY want to uncover what is apparently taking place in a widespread manner thoughout the State of Georgia — and especially in the more urban areas? Where is that joke of an educator Mark Elgart? No standards have been violated, Mark Elgart? Or, Little Markie, were you only interested in Clayton County because your little friend Ericka Davis called upon you for help? I challenge Mark Elgart to a public debate about the hypocrisy of how SACS’s so-called “standards” are applied. It is hit or miss. They are applied in the most capricious and arbitrary ways. What about a debate, Mark? Are you still afraid? Still want people to treat you like you are a demi-god? In my book, you and Crawford Lewis and Beverly Hall are three of the biggest educational hypocrites in Georgia. Hey, Mark Elgart, I am calling you out. Are you afraid? My name is John Trotter. You know how to contact me.
Frank Lucas
June 19th, 2009
4:36 pm
Hopefully Joanne Williams-West of Cedar Grove High School will be arrested and charged with tampering with state documents (annual evaluations). Stay tuned.
anna
June 19th, 2009
4:59 pm
Does anyone know if the 2 administrators were members of ODE or PAGE? That may be why we haven’t heard from these 2 organizations. It is ridiculous the conflict of interest that exists. GO MACE!
anna
June 19th, 2009
5:00 pm
Were the 2 administrators members of ODE or PAGE? I bet that may be why we haven’t heard from these 2 organizations. What a conflict of interest. You can’t represent teachers and administrators. GO MACE!
anna
June 19th, 2009
5:07 pm
I feel bad for schools like Atherton. At these schools, the staff knows that the only way to get parents out is to feed them or have their kids perform. They do not want to actually learn how to work with their kids. Then sadly, they still do not show up. I have heard of schools were teachers eat great for a week or so after these failed attempts to get parents into the school. We need to legislate parenting. Schools try to make it mandatory that parents volunteer so many hours, but parents had a big fit over it. We had parents who refused to join PTA because they thought we might ask them to volunteer, but they love to drop their kids off when we have a carnival and then don’t pick them up until was passed the pick up time. It is sad what the administrators did, but the pressure to keep a good name in this community is high and keep the few remaining parents who do volunteer happy is what passing the CRCT will do. Parents call in August and that is their first question-did you make AYP, if the answer is no, then they are calling Dr. Lewis asking for a special transfer somewhere else and then principals get blamed and you are under pressure to “sell your school” and keep your kids in your community. This pressure comes from board members too.
jim d
June 19th, 2009
5:15 pm
Dr. John,
Please add Alvin to your assemblage of P Poor school admin.
anna
June 19th, 2009
5:16 pm
Susan, I am appalled at your post. Children do not choose their parents or their school. To be beat up again by you is low!! I am sure that some of the members of your race are teaching in these schools and not doing any better of a job than other teachers in the building. I am so glad you are not teaching. Please go and redeem yourself. Bad karma..
anna
June 19th, 2009
5:18 pm
Dr. John
How does someone make the list? Is it just complaints from teachers? Do you substantiate them first? I have seen principals try to bring about positive change in their first year and get lots of pushback from teachers but things begin to turn around and you increase CRCT scores the right way, not cheating.
Just Curious
June 19th, 2009
5:19 pm
Why are DeKalb County schools always in the news? I am sure other big systems have same problems. What is it? Just curious
Anne
June 19th, 2009
5:24 pm
Pressures to “make the grade” impact students, teachers, and administrators. The sanctions imposed and loss of confidence in a school when it reaches the “needs improvement” status (often times for one subgroup), can cause even the most upright individual to think about “helping” students and schools by making a change here or there. Thankfully, most teachers and administrators resist the urge.
The arrest and prosecution of these administrators will additionally burden the judicial system and bring added costs to the county. If the charges are proven, they will lose their teaching licenses and their jobs. Double punishment is ridiculous.
A EDUCATED TEACHER
June 19th, 2009
5:26 pm
THIS IS SAD STORY, BUT WHAT IS EVEN SADDER IS THAT ALL OF THIS HAPPEN BECAUSE OF THE NCLB ACT THE PRESIDENT BUSH SIGN OFF ON. I have a teacher for over 5 years in two states. The mandated state test are all basis and vague. HERE A TEACHER QUOTE:
A EDUCATED TEACHER
June 19th, 2009
5:33 pm
THIS IS SAD STORY, BUT WHAT IS EVEN SADDER IS THAT ALL OF THIS HAPPEN BECAUSE OF THE NCLB ACT THE PRESIDENT BUSH SIGN OFF ON. I have a teacher for over 5 years in two states. The mandated state test are all basis and vague. HERE A TEACHER QUOTE: NO TWO FLOWERS BLOOM AT THE SAME RATE. The students would have passed anyway! because the one test can not fail a child if they passed all the classes. The title 1 money would have come anyway. and to the parents that move their kids from one school to another based on AYP stupid! because they scores are often manipulate anyway (safe habors and perfect attendance) I am sorry that he got arrested that was not necessary! There are horrible principals out there who do things to purposely damage a teacher and have certification denied. If we band together as students, teachers, and parents and overturn the NCLB you will see a better education system. Mandating on test does not justify improvement. I have seen a child go from making a 765 one year to a 798 the next year. Guess what the student still had to attend summer school and did worst and was still passed. So many things goes on you have no idea! I feel so sorry for the principal, students, teacher, and community because NCLB is not helping our future it is destroying our students.. and now as we see our adults.
Frank Lucas
June 19th, 2009
6:03 pm
Dr. Trotter,
Please add Area Assistant Superintendent Ralph Simpson to your list of worthless administrators.
Cobb Teacher
June 19th, 2009
6:27 pm
To Peppermint Candy, I agree with you. As a Cobb teacher, I have been forced to change grades of students. The principal would call me (and others separately) in to a meeting and discuss the “impact on the child”. Whatever! I have a handwritten note that was placed in my mailbox to change a grade. I did, and the student’s record reflects it. Case closed.
Administrators are afraid of parents. If the parent goes to the superintendent (the Principal’s boss) then we all get in trouble. The principal does not want her boss on her a** so she pressures the teachers. Also, more often than not, the parents are either PTA, very active in the school or “know someone”.
In regard to CRCT scores, it does not matter. In most cases, parents want their child passed on to the next grade. Administrators side with them to keep them quiet. The following year, we teachers wonder why in the hell the child can’t read, comprehend, perform math problems on grade level. It is because he was not ready but the parent thought he was. The administrator agreed. The teacher (who taught him all year) does not matter.
Give Me A Break
June 19th, 2009
6:28 pm
Thank you “GANative,” “Whatever,” “RUSure,” “Logical Consequences and “Interesting” for your informative comments. As for Susan, there is nothng that I can say to help you. I learned a long time ago that when you encounter a racist, don’t try to change them through logic because their hatred is not based in logic, rather in fear and ignorance. In addition to racists like Susan the other culprits that should be arrested for this inevitable situation include Governor Sonny Perdue, the members of the Ga. State Legislature and the State Department of Education which continue to use our State Lottery funds for everything that is not associated with education. Let’s also include former President George W. Bush and his cronies who stuck us with NO Child Left Behind. Face it people, NCLB has left more kids behind than we can count.
As for the DeKalb County Prinicpal and Assistant Principal who were arrested, if they are guilty, I belive they were under unimaginanle pressure and they obvioulsly made a terrible mistake. However, when did cheating become a crime? Yes, its unethical, its bad judgement but its NOT a crime!
Come on, the educators who ignored pleas for help from children who were constantly being bullied certainly need to be arrested. Yet, we think its justifiable to arrest misguided but well intentioned educators for cheating. Don’t get me wrong, if guilty, they should be punished but not arrested.
One other thing to consider; suppose they are innocent? Most of us were taught that our justice system presumes you to be innocent until proven guilty. Let’s stop this rush to judgement and start holding the real culprits accountable. Think about it.
What!
June 19th, 2009
6:29 pm
Turd (3:38), do you agree with Susan?? Don’t be a turd! Race has nothing to do with this. There are PLENTY
Concerned
June 19th, 2009
6:52 pm
SUSAN’s intentions were to get attention. Please ignore ignorance.
I’m wondering will there be additional arrest there other principals in the schools mentioned have not commented.
OutragedTeacher
June 19th, 2009
7:25 pm
Placing blame is not going to accomplish anything. Yes, people committing fraud regardless if it is at the state or the federal level should be punished. Think about what message this sends to the students. As a teacher myself, we expect that our students will not cheat in the classroom and we punish them if they do. Adults who cheat should get the consequences they deserve. It is utter hypocrisy. Also, if these kids were able to pass based on false pretenses, it is not fair to the students who studied hard and did it on their own. True, the kids did not cheat, but they should be retested. Promoting them into a grade level they are not ready for only makes their academic deficits worse. Odds are those kids did not do well as 6th graders. Studies show that students who get behind 3 years in a row…NEVER catch up. Get a clue everybody. The kids need to be retested and their placement needs to be reconsidered, for their own benefit. Shame on any teachers and administrators who cheated to make AYP.Your primary concern should always be the children you are responsible for. You discredited yourself, your school district, your students, and the parents who trust you to with their childs EDUCATION. I hope the parents react strongly to this incident. If I was a parent of a child whose answers were changed, I would demand my child to be retested and put in proper placement. I would even work out a deal to have them placed in a school of my choice, so they would have the best opportunity to catch up. No one benefitted from this situation.
Put up or shut up
June 19th, 2009
8:23 pm
If Dr. John Trotter is going to directly call out SACS President Mark Elgart to an open debate, after everything SACS alleged, but wouldn’t come out and say, about MACE, you would think the AJC would want a comment from Elgart.
Not the first or last time the AJC took a powder when it was presented with a challenge. If you read the AJC Conversation Starter blog, you’ll see where it was asked why the AJC, in the literally dozens of stories it did about Clayton, didn’t do the first story on how SACS conducts business. Wouldn’t that be, to anyone claiming to be an objective reporter, an important, even necessary angle to present?
Of course you can see why they called it Conversation Starter, instead of Conversation Engager, because the AJC editor cut and ran when the going got tough about their SACS coverage.
The Observer
June 19th, 2009
10:04 pm
I am not surprised that this has come to pass. I have been teaching in Georgia for the last five years and I was shocked when I found out how much cheating goes on not only in my school district (Atlanta Public Schools), but it in other school districts as well… If investigations were done intensely and teachers were severely punished for their actions… we will definitely have more of a teacher shortage than we have now! And we wonder why students get promoted to the next grade without the basic skills needed to be successful! I just hope that these events have given the teachers who have involved themselves in this illegal act enough of a scare to stop what they are doing.. for the sake of the students and their livelihood!!
Please tell me more
June 19th, 2009
10:20 pm
Mr. Lucas, Please share more, why should Ralph Simpson be added to the list?
R U Sure
June 19th, 2009
10:27 pm
I don’t think there should have been arrests, but to answer your last point, they did admit to changing scores. The assistant principal did it b/c she felt she had to at the direction of her principal. Should they get the same punishment? Would she have been in less trouble had she turned him in sooner? We may never know. What do you think?
Dr. John Trotter
June 19th, 2009
10:44 pm
NCLB, QBE, APEG, GTOI, GTEP, et al. All of it “ain’t” worth S-H-_T. None of the acronyms address D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E. The responsibility for leanrning should rest squarely on the shoulders of the students and their parents. Give the teachers the authority to run his or her classes with the full backing of the administration. This is how it worked in the old days, and it did indeed work! Bring back the paddle. Yes, the good ole “board of education.” Most people over forty (even educators) grew up in schools where paddling was readity available and used. It was used on my friends, colleagues, and me, and the paddle did not emotionally scar us one bit. In fact, we laugh about our experiences with the paddle in the schools that we attended. I was an administrator in Georgia in the 1980s and used the paddle in two school systems. The discipline was in check, I must say, and the students respected me for the good discipline. Now, however, the discipline is out of control. In fact, a phrase like “DeKalb Discipline” is an oxymoron. It doesn’t matter what program/reform or how much money is thrown at public schooling in Georgia, until the teacher’s classroom authority is restored and teachers are treated with respect (meaning defiant students are swiftly removed from the rregular classroom environments), then the educrats are just spitting into against a Category Five hurricane. Nothing is going to change. In fact, with people like Crawford Lewis and Alvin Wilbanks in charge of our schools, then things will only get worse. (c) MACE, 2009.
Suggestion
June 19th, 2009
10:46 pm
Teachers, I know that these are things near and dear to you and you make these posts in animated haste, but please allow me to suggest that you proofread your message before posting. Some of the posts here will make one wonder how some of you ever became teachers. Just a suggestion.
Suggestion
June 19th, 2009
11:03 pm
Susan, I’m shaking my head. You made the sickest post for someone who claims to have been a teacher. May I suggest that you pray to whatever god/God you serve and beg for forgiveness that you even chose teaching as a profession. You must have been an inferior teacher that couldn’t make the cut in the white neighborhood schools, so they sent you to a minority district where you failed our children. I wonder how many other “racists” our children suffered the wrath of. You took a job as a teacher because to say that you are a member of such a noble profession is disdainful. Who possibly could have hired you to teach? You are a disgrace to the profession. Your place was in a coal mine or another similar occupation. It’s amazing how you finally got a chance to vent about how you feel in a forum where you wouldn’t be revealed. Coward, racist disgrace to humankind.
GA Education
June 19th, 2009
11:38 pm
NCLB and DISCIPLINE are two of the biggest threats to a quality education in Georgia. NCLB: The pressure to measure up and exceed is so tremendous that it’s a wonder anything gets done in schools. Be ever so aware of the EXTREME pressures brought on administrators by the central offices to make their schools perform to the unrealistic and misguided standards of NCLB. Principals/administrators then exact EXTREME pressure on their teachers, and teachers “try” to get students to meet the standards. It’s a no win proposition for all concerned. There is no such thing as one size fits all students because of the variables on individuality. It’s like forcing a size 10 foot into a size 8 shoe in a society where shoes only come in sizes 10 and 8. IT CAN’T BE DONE!!! This is what education has become and the bottom line is it’s not education at all. Discipline: It’s off the chain. That’s all I will say on that.
It is appalling that any group of legislators could sit high and come up with something as outlandish as NCLB. Those who legislated this had no training and definitely not a clue what they were doing. The sad thing is that in this supposedly highly intelligent country that we live in that something as ignorant and unworkable as NCLB hasn’t caused an Iran-scale uprising because this affects all our children.
Northern Visitor
June 20th, 2009
7:32 am
Whats going on in Georgia? Can you people do anything right?
Suggestion: Good advice for your slack-jawed yokel Georgians. Here, this might help some people out:
http://www.iespell.com/
One last bit of advice; the paragraph is your friend.
Dr. John Trotter
June 20th, 2009
8:14 am
The Georgia schools are going the way of the Chicago, Detroit, New Jersey, and New York City schools. Enough said? Our educrats will no longer dare permit padding but gang-banding is just accepted and swept under the rung. In their minds, paddling in brutal and barbaric, but these same dimwit educrats benignly overlook the abject bullying which somoetimes even leads to tragic deaths. I heard Newt Gingrich once remark at a forum about school discipline: “Yes, we no longer allow paddling but we allow drive-by shootings.” For years, the “board of education” was part and parcel with public education. It was understood. It worked. Then came along the Dr. Spock mentality of raising children. By the way, I am now reading James McBride’s The Color of Water. It was on the NY Times’s Best Seller List for two years. Read it and see how this mother of 12 children raised her children in NY City. Extremely strong discipline. All today are very successful and contributing well to society. Several of these “childfen” are now living in the Atlanta area. Without discipline, all of the attempts to “educate” our children will fail — whether in the home or the public school setting. The private schools clearly understand this, and this is why these schools are flourishing. Enough said. Today, I will enjoy uma Praia de Ipanema com minha esposa e minha filha. Tchau. (c) MACE, 2009.
Dr. John Trotter
June 20th, 2009
8:31 am
Let me clarify a few things before we head down for breakfast…You never allow the the teachers to do the paddling because this could become problematic when there are not adult witnesses and the teacher may be very emotional at this point. The administrator can administer the paddling dispassionately and without the danger of getting carried away, so to speak. Always have an adult witness. Only swat the student two or three times. This makes the point that there are no free trips to the office; there are always consequences for misconduct. If a parent refuses to give their “blessings” to corporal punishment (by law, it is not needed), then simply write this on the student’s disciplinary card (I doubt that today’s administrators even understand this concept) and call the student’s parents to come get him when he or she disrupts the class. This will get very old for the parents. Before you know it, this student begins to behave in school. I have seen this happen so often. But, the administrators have to be consistent in their support for the classroom educators. Corporal punishment is no panacea, but simply another tool in the school’s disciplinary “arsenal.” (c) MACE, 2009/
InAtlanta
June 20th, 2009
9:15 am
Forget paddling, at ajacent schools white teachers are suspended for touching students when taking their hats off. They are transferred to other schools. Weapons (serrated edges, with a hole for the thumb) are taken away from second graders who only receive 1/2 day suspensions. White teachers are told not to say “this is one of worse behaved classes she/he knows of”, its bad for the schools image. DOn’t forget the racist Vernon Jones is still around. Someone should ask this principal if he has ever been threatened by a parent. I am tired of seeing low tests scores = low property values, there is way too much violence and racism in the African American community.
Peppermint Candy
June 20th, 2009
9:37 am
Thank you Cobb Teacher for your supporting comments. That is one thing that we as educators do not do enough of, support each other.
It appears to me that a “can of worms have been opened”. Since the Atlanta Journal Constitution has open this up, I would hopt that they follow through with it. Cheating has become the norm, even with our students. Dekalb County has policies and rules in place with students,and staff. However, what we do not have are standards, pride and school support to enforce rules that address these issues. When students are caught cheating, they are given “silent lunch” for 30 minutes, when administrators are caught,they are given promotions.
I am so dissappointed in Dekalb. When you have no standards or pride, you will do anything, and I mean anything.
Dekalb County Board has not standards, if they did they would not have hired a leader, Dr. Crawford Lewis has poor public speaking abilities. Listen to him. I am sure that he did not pass Public Speaking 101 in college. Remember, those who follow you are only as good as your leader. Ask yourself DEKALB COUNTY PARENTS, what has Dr. Crawford brought to the table to offer your child? Can your child compete with other child from around they world? Look at your school board, what do they have to offer. You have a new school board who offered a new three year contract to Crawford Lewis. Why? I think that Dr. Lewis is out of his league. I can understand why parent do not demand more for leaders who hold your child future in the palm of there hands. Wakeup, wakeup parents and take a cook.
GA Education
June 20th, 2009
9:49 am
I guess my two posts from last night got lost in the AJC cyber chest. I have learned that sometimes posts appear to be lost, and out of the blue, it’s posted. I thought that by this morning they’d be posted.
What we know
June 20th, 2009
11:14 am
Why do we just know that if it had been teachers who had done this, Maureen “blame teachers first” Downey would have already wrote a column on it? Now that there have been arrests, Downey may have to address it, but the cat is out of the bag, as Downey has shown herself to be nothing more than an administrative apologist.
Downey whined in her last column that she gets accused of teacher bashing, but notice the following.
Even though the AJC has written multiple stories of teachers being assaulted, where lack of administrative support was indicated, Downey chose not to address the issue. Maybe in Downey’s “blame teachers first” mind, only bad teachers get assaulted.
Even though multiple stories have been written about administrators cheating, Downey chose not to address it, or the legitimate concerns that have been raised by teachers on the subject.
Even if she chooses to finally address it now that arrests have been made, she has still shown her true colors. And an unwillingness to defend those words, as when she was asked by a professional association to engage in a debate, she refused to respond.
I’m sure Downey has her sycophants who congratulate her on her “brave” stands. Maybe they will even one day embolden her to engage in a public debate on those stands.
You're not the only one
June 20th, 2009
12:04 pm
How many posts have to be lost before the AJC admits, “Houston, we have a problem.”?
catlady
June 20th, 2009
2:18 pm
Dr. Trotter, I agree with many of your points, but a woman with 12 kids cannot really speak about “discipline,” can she?
Keep trying to bring to light the educationally-disfunctional nonsense that occurs here in Georgia.
catlady
June 20th, 2009
2:20 pm
Re the AJC blog problems: I think this new “system” is a way to save money and perhaps allow less actual supervision of the blog.
The irrelevant AJC
June 20th, 2009
3:09 pm
Once again the editorial board, this time represented by Andre Jackson, pretends you can address education in Georgia without addressing discipline with a bunch of empty words on how to allegedly improve education.
The same Andre Jackson who, when asked tough questions about the AJC’s coverage on education issues begged off, saying he had to go to feed some kids.
I guess they’ll have to change the saying to, “If you can’t stand the heat, go to the kitchen.”
The irrelevant AJC
June 20th, 2009
3:26 pm
I would encourage anyone who reads this blog to also check out the AJC Conversation Starter blog. Since the editors on that blog claim to want to respond to the readers, I’d encourage the readers to ask the editors the hard, tough questions that need to be asked about the editors’ education coverage.
Either they’ll answer tough questions with direct answers, or they’ll give a series of evasive answers and show the world why they are losing relevance by the day.
They claim they want to hear from the readers. Hopefully the readers of this particular blog will challenge them.
Dr. John Trotter
June 20th, 2009
3:50 pm
Catlady: Mr. James McBride did admit that his house seemed like organized chaos when he was growing up, but he also talked about how his “white mama” (Jewish too) “beat” them whenever she perceived that they got out of line — like when Richie (I think) got stage fright and forgot the Bible story he was suppose to recite in front of the whole church. I thought that this was a bit much! But, you can’t argue with how all 12 of the children turned out! Occasionally getting it wrong as far as being too strict in the discipline is better than pandering and coddling miscreant children simply because you don’t have the intestinal fortitude to discipline them. This is what is happening in our schools today. The thugs are running the show and ruining our schools. The “äverage” students who have not been sequestered into the “gifted” classes have to “survive” in the classes with the thugs, as you, Catlady, have so ably pointed out in posts of the past. It is the “average” students who are suffering so much. The administrators, as I have said in the past, ought to be metaphorically strung up and horse-whipped because of their lack of guts. Mama Ruth in The Color of Water may have screwed up many times in dealing with her children, but she did not let them run the show. She ran the show — to the best of her ability — and her 12 children and many grandchildren honor her to this day for her dogged determination that they were going to make something out of their lives.
Had a great time in Rio today with my Lady and daughter. The beauty and friendliness of this place is breath-taking. But, nothing has been as awesome as the visit up, up, and up Corcovado to see Cristo Redentor, one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
The world sends its best and brightest to our shores to study in our colleges, universities, graduate schools, and medical schools, but they would cringe at the thougth of sending their children to attend one of our urban schools. The urban schools in American are completely in shambles, and as soon as we first admit this, then perhaps can we address the matter. Burying our collective heads in the sand and acting as if thugs are not running the schools will only exasperate the problems and ensure that these schools will continue to be war zones. Heck, even SACS’s Mark Elgart is AFRAID to venture into one of these war zones. Hey Markie boy, I am still waiting for your response to debate me concerning the application of SACS’s almighty “standards.” Are you too afraid of John Trotter, the big, bad wolf? (c) MACE, 2009.
APTEACHER
June 20th, 2009
6:00 pm
Democrat Sen. Edward Kennedy co-sponsored the No Child Left Behind legislation, which passed in January 2002. I think that Democrats are just as much to blame as Republicans.
Release the data
June 20th, 2009
9:45 pm
The AJC’s analysis found 30 schools with gains two standard deviations or above. Haladyna said even improvements more than one standard deviation deserve a second look. Changing fewer answers strategically can be done easily, he said, without triggering gains that send up a clear red flag.
Why not release the names of the schools, AJC?
Simply put
June 20th, 2009
10:34 pm
Simply put, jail was a bit too much. Take away their certificates and ability to work in education, but jail is too much. Our society is flawed with hypocrites who portray themselves as innocent little angels. “He who has not sinned cast the first stone”.
Teacher
June 20th, 2009
11:41 pm
It is very sad that any of this has happened. If you have not taught in the school system in the last five years, in the north, south, east, west, black, white, rich, poor, urban, suburban or otherwise, just shut-up. You do not what your are talking about. The state of America’s education is suffering everywhere, but it starts before the teachers, administrators or schools get involved, period. No blaming involved, but education starts at home. WE are tired of being blamed for the woes of society and the people that bring the children into the world are rarely held accountable. Let’s see about having more parents held accountable and responsible instead of listening to their complaining and whining because they are “too tired” or “have to work, and don’t have the time”.
Dr. Craig Spinks /Evans
June 21st, 2009
3:07 am
As one of my cousins so aptly put it, “A little indictment will go a long way.”
Vince
June 21st, 2009
10:25 am
Some observations…
If Peppermint Candy and “a educated teacher” really are teachers then God help their students. Can you imagine either proofreading a paper?
MACE is a joke. In my humble opinion it is the organization for teachers who can’t teach. (And why do they have to use curse words on their picket signs when they are picketing where children can see? Yes, it is free speech, but couldn’t an educated person find better vocabulary to use?)
There are many great schools in urban areas….Dekalb included…where there are no discipline problems and student achievement is way above the national norm.
Ask teachers and administrators what the problems are regarding NCLB and the CRCT. They won’t tell you it is student discipline. It is the mythical belief that students with an IQ in the 50 – 70 range can perform at grade level and the incomprehensible notion that students who cannot read or write English can score at grade level.
Someone stated that putting a Democrat in the Governor’s Mansion would fix this. This person obviously forgot that it was Roy Barnes’ (Democrat) A+ Reform Act that started all of this and that NCLB was written by both parties. They also forget that NCLB is a federal mandate..not a state one.
GA Education
June 21st, 2009
10:38 am
I totally agree with “Teacher.” There are too many people giving input on how to educate effectively who sit high and look low but haven’t a clue about how education works. Everyone setting the rules should be REQUIRED to spend at least a semester IN AN ACTUAL SCHOOL AS A TEACHER at least every five years so they can stay in touch with the reality of the job of educating children, and this includes central office people and superintendents and egislators, including governors, and anyone else who is able to influence the processes used in educating. Board members should be required to have physically observed the inner workings of a school for a specified period of time before being able to run and be elected to serve on governing bodies for any school district.
A plumber cannot set the rules for an electrician and all these outside “voices” who don’t know an ant from a flea about how to educate and have had no formal training (as teachers have) to qualify as teachers should SHUT UP!!! The fact that we don’t make a thunderous noise about NCLB is SINFUL. We all know how detrimental that program is and how it has crippled education nationwide, but we merely gripe and take no initiative to have that monster revisited.
If education is ever to do its job, someone is going to have to make some serious efforts to get it done right. OUR CHILDREN ARE VICTIMS OF IGNORANT, INEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP and that’s a shame. As it is now, it’s just a farce with everyone blaming someone else for its failure.
This is not just a Georgia problem, it’s a problem in public educaton nationwide.
From the show me state
June 21st, 2009
11:01 am
Vince, I think we all know by urban, we are referring to schools with low socioeconomic status. Finding an affluent school with high test scores that happens to be located in an urban area doesn’t refute that there are major discipline problems in urban schools. Don’t get me wrong, many, many, individual students from at risk backgrounds come to school behave well, and indeed perform well.
But when you look at things systemically, instead of individually environment does matter. Your argument sounds too much like one administrations use to scapegoat teachers by pretending that, when we look at things as a whole, environment doesn’t matter.
If it doesn’t matter Vince, can you show us even one school in DeKalb, where the free/reduced lunch rate is say 75% and above, that consistently does better than a school where the free/reduced lunch rate is 25% or below? Not an individual, because I’m sure you could find many, but an entire school? Environment does matter, and to pretend teachers can somehow create a magic bubble where, when the students walk in the door, the environmental dysfunctions and disadvantages they brings to class can be completely wiped out by the teacher is fundamentally dishonest, and a disservice to teachers and students.
Please don’t use Atherton as an example LOL.
You're kidding, right?
June 21st, 2009
11:27 am
A EDUCATED TEACHER – that post was a joke, right? Please tell me that you are not really a teacher.
Also, is everyone here trying to say that before NCLB our schools were exemplary? And now, since NCLB it’s all gone to h*ll in a handbasket? No, our problems are much deeper. We have undisciplined students whose parents refuse to parent. We have a profession called teaching which has become babysitting and has lost any sense of respect it ever had. The profession of teaching has become less and less desirable as a career choice and therefore, despite pockets of great teaching staffs, the overall quality of teachers has plummeted (witness the postings from several illiterate teachers on this very blog.) But even worse, the administrative leadership today is absolutely rudderless and pitiful. What is Dr. Lewis’ PhD in anyway? Does anyone know?
From the show me state
June 21st, 2009
12:00 pm
Not to make a mountain out of a molehill, but of course that last sentence should have referred to the disadvantages they bring to class, not the disadvantages they brings to class.
Better to catch it yourself, before the grammar police do LOL
Resolve
June 21st, 2009
12:42 pm
Dr. Trotter,
Is your argument to physically discpline children in the schools for real? Many states ( more than a majority)have outlawed corporal punishment. Georgia is not one of them but leaves the decision to local boards of education. Many boards of education prohibits physically touching someone else’s child. There are many federal laws in place that were not in place when you were student. These laws will allow educators to be prosecuted federally for violating kids rights.
Your argument is the reason people around this nation stereotypically view southerners as dumb! Come on… your only answer to improving education is to beat the children!!!
You spew your D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E mantra in majority B-L-A-C-K school districts. I will interpret your call to beat children as the same call that went out to keep slaves in line by beating them. I will interpret your call to beat children as the same call that went out to southern municipalities to keep black citizens in line by lynching and beating them.
Regarding your nostalgic view of your childhood, which is probably a glorification of a past that never was, let me offer this formula I read somewhere:
A x O = NQ
A represents a person’s age and O is the number of years he or she has been out of school or the school environment. Anyone with an NQ over 2000 will likely be beyond rational thought on the topic.
tired of liberal b.s.
June 21st, 2009
12:56 pm
Resolve…your interpretations are crazy. The bottom line is the MAJORITY of poor performing schools in GA are predominately black and low income. I guess thats whiteys fault huh?
Resolve
June 21st, 2009
12:59 pm
My answer is not to beat the children!