APS whistle blowers: Their credibility came under attack
The Sunday AJC is full of good education stories, but the one that will get people talking is an investigation into the fallout to APS teachers who report cheating on state high-stakes tests.
(If you don’t get the AJC on Sunday, this would be the day to pick up a newspaper as there is a lot to read, long story on how SACS works, a news piece on APS accreditation, an editorial on APS and two columns on education issues.)
As is often the case with whistle blowers, APS teachers told the AJC that they experienced push back and recriminations for coming forward, although many still work for the Atlanta schools.
One of the common tactics in discrediting whistle blowers is to turn the focus on them and their job performance. It’s also an effective means to intimidate other employees from ever coming forward.
Teachers in the story allege that is what happened to them in Atlanta.
According to the investigative piece by AJC reporter Alan Judd and Heather Vogell: (Please read the full piece as it is lengthy.)
The newspaper reviewed reports of the school district’s internal investigations and spoke with more than a dozen current and former Atlanta educators. The documents and the interviews describe a culture that punishes employees who report wrongdoing and rewards those who keep silent. Some whistle-blowers end up under scrutiny themselves. Others are subjected to questions about their mental health. Some lose their jobs.
The prospect of even the most subtle forms of reprisal not only discourages teachers from reporting impropriety, educators say, it makes them more susceptible to pressure to cheat on such assessments as the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.
Not one educator confessed during the school district’s initial inquiry into widespread cheating on the 2009 CRCT. Now, under threat of criminal prosecution if they lie to state agents investigating the cheating scandal, numerous Atlanta educators have acknowledged witnessing or participating in irregularities.
“It’s just this thing that everyone knows is going on but nobody says anything,” said former teacher Sidnye Fells, who alleged that administrators at Dobbs Elementary cheated. “It’s the elephant in the room. If you say anything, you lose your job.”
– From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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149 comments Add your comment
justbrowsing
January 23rd, 2011
1:08 pm
@teacher&mom- this is what Georgia needs to legislate before they attempt to legislate excellence from the state capital.
bootney farnsworth
January 23rd, 2011
1:11 pm
@ Dr. Craig,
problem is, they act is such a way that there is no direct witness
tampering. while they are fools, they’re not stupid.
the one thing folks can and should do is document, document, document.
emails are best, but also keep a diary of what was said/done, by whom, when/where, and any witnesses if possible.
bootney farnsworth
January 23rd, 2011
1:13 pm
I’ve seen many instances of people who were widely regarded as doing a good job have the evaluations plummet at the first signs or rocking the boat.
bootney farnsworth
January 23rd, 2011
1:16 pm
SACS is a joke as well.
foxes guarding the hen house.
chillywilly
January 23rd, 2011
1:17 pm
@Attorney – You hit the nail on the head. People wouldn’t understand it unless you worked here. You mentioned Millicent Few & Jeffrey Thomas, but I’d like you to take a look at Finance Division’s Chuck Burbridge & Nader Sohrab. Before it’s all said and done, I believe that some interesting things will be revealed about these two individuals.
captguitarman
January 23rd, 2011
1:25 pm
The tragedy in all of this is that school children already fighting severe disadvantages due to their home, family, and economic circumstances were (and have been for quite some time now) routinely thrown under the bus by the APS administration. Make no mistake. Jobs and high paying careers were at stake. The wagons were circled. When the issue crystalized – it’s us or the children – the choice was easy. These kids aren’t going any where any way. Why sacrifice our jobs, careers, power, position for them? The surprising thing is the complicity of the Atlanta business community, Chamber of Commerce, etc. in helping to cover up what anyone close to the situation already knew–the APS/Beverly Hall success was a PR miracle, and a complete and absolute educational failure. The books had been cooked, and everyone knew it, and boat rockers and whistle blowers acted at their own professional peril. Typically, business people almost always deal with the tough realities because “money talks, and BS walks” as the old saying goes, and in the real world, you cannot hide from results and performance as you can in the world of government bureacracy — especially one as full of favoritism, nepotism, and cronyism as the APS – and its buy in to Beverly Hall cult and the BIG LIE. Having he big lie exposed aparently was a disaster in waiting that the business community felt could be held off with their phony investigation. When will the people in these positions learn that the truth always comes out? And now this fiasco. Good for the whislte-blowers and boat rockers. You have done more for the children in the APS system than any of thousands administrators and its bloated bureaucracy, and its incompetent and self-serving surperintendent and her minions, all desperate to hold on to their ridiculously overpaid positions. In the private sector, there would be no waiting out the end of the contract, she would have been fired when all this first came out. In the end, the children will suffer. The teachers are caught in the middle. Will the career administrators be found out and punished, dismissed, etc? We’ll see. Don’t bet your ranch on it.
Teacher for now
January 23rd, 2011
1:32 pm
Teachers became the villains when NCLB was passed. That piece of legislation set out to raise standards. What it did, though, was place the blame of student deficits on the schools, who passed it on to the teachers. Students have become increasingly less involved in their own educational process because they know the school will be held accountable, not them, for their scores. Parents are no longer in the picture because they have decided the schools can do all the teaching.
So, teachers are left with the blame-their livelihoods are threatened, their love of teaching, their dedication to academics diminished.
And, as in any business, there are certain people who are untouchable. No charge can be brought against them, even if they are in the wrong. They are golden for whatever reason.
On Everything I Love
January 23rd, 2011
1:33 pm
HELP!!! I am a current APS teacher. I received a 97 on my ATEP TPEI evaluation last year. I reported financial issues to my principal in accordance with APS Board Policy and he unleashed his wrath!!! This year my evaluations have been downgraded and my teaching ability has been questioned. My promethean board was sabotaged…I was given a smaller classroom…My leadership responsibilities were stripped…and I am currently on a PDP. My union, AFT told me that I don’t have a claim. Next months AJC article will likely be about me…
APS Teacher Dismissed for Revealing Misappropriation of Title I Funds
Attorney
January 23rd, 2011
1:34 pm
Millicent Few, Executive Director of the APS Human Resources Department has a law degree and is the boss from helllll and that is why the two really professional HR managers left APS to go to Clayton County Schools. They were too professional and wanted to do the right thing as ethical employees, so they knew they needed to get out of APS as soon as they could line up another job.
The APS Human Resources Department has always had the reputation of being the worst department in the district, as the customer service was awful. The staff was known to be rude and unhelpful, the exact personality of Few, the person in charge. It is a wonder anyone works there, but the staff turnover rate is high. Again, Hall did nothing but allow this behavior to reign and the Board of Education didn’t do anything about their only employee in the district, Dr. Beverly L. Hall, Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools. The board heard the rumors on the streets of Atlanta about the chaos in APS, but chose to do nothing and let the terror reign for 10 years under this dictator. Now they are paying the price for doing nothing on their watch as elected officials by the people.
APS Teacher for now
January 23rd, 2011
1:34 pm
Pointing out wrong doing is one of the most stressful undertakings you can take. But a former student pleaded with me to do the right thing. I told him I wasn’t strong enough. The corruption was unbelievable and the tactics so cut throat. Dr. Hall’s reach was vast and Dr. Bynum was a willing disciple.
I went out on the limb and I kept the young man’s words close to my heart, “you’ve got to be our Sojourner Truth.”. I cried, I got sick; their words and actions were hurtful and mean. My family and Dr. John Trotter’s “MACE” became my support. And we prevailed. OIR in APS is a travesty. Thank God for Professional Standards. They at least try to right wrongs. Thank you Dr. Trotter. I am still fighting their retaliation since the transfer and the mean tricks they are playing now but I am no longer afraid. And, thank you AJC…
justbrowsing
January 23rd, 2011
1:35 pm
Georgia’s educational progress hinges on its ability to invite teachers into the decision making process. In these instances, it shows the economic rammifications of turning a blind eye to the issues of “lowly teachers” in Georgia’s public schools. Georgia must do more to protect its teachers. It may be a right to work state, but there are indignities that teaching professionals should just not have to tolerate. The job is stressful enough by itself. Add the shenanigans of unethical administrators and you create dysfunctional school setting for teachers- and then students.
justbrowsing
January 23rd, 2011
1:42 pm
@Maureen- anyway you all can explore the issue of Teacher Abuse/Bullying in Georgia? It has gotten wildly out of hand. You would be shocked at the abuses that occur in schools across Georgia- not just in APS.
What Goes Around Comes Around
January 23rd, 2011
1:46 pm
@SpaceyG on Twitter January 23rd, 2011 11:44 am
You say lawyer up? That has been the whole problem with APS. Teachers and others who were wrongfully fired for speaking out have lawyered up. APS will spend millions of dollars to prove they are right when they are wrong. They hire lawyers like Warren Fortson who work both sides. He works for APS and then he will work for APS employees suing APS. DOES ANYONE SEE WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE. You cannot serve two masters.
There needs to be an investigation into how much money APS has spent on lawyers against APS employees. There was a secretary who was wrongfully fired at age 65. She spent $40,000 in lawyer fees and Warren Fortson was one of her attorneys, he took her money and did not give her proper representation. He did not even show up in court but called her and said he was not coming. She was denied her pension and her unemployment.
LAWYER UP?!!!??? APS would rather spend millions than say they were wrong. THIS IS THERE CULTURE AS WELL.
blah
January 23rd, 2011
1:49 pm
It’s no wonder why APS is the highest paying district in the state.
Teacher Reader
January 23rd, 2011
1:49 pm
Anyone suspected of cheating, should be suspended without pay until it can be proven without a doubt that they are innocent. I cannot believe that the principals, assistant principals, and teachers are able to work with our children. I hold my child and those in his/her care to a very high moral standard. I would not want my child to be in any cheaters schools or classrooms.
Whistle blowers are scrutinized because the cheaters are never persecuted and if they are it’s a mire slap on the wrist. These people should never be able to be in a school or classroom working anywhere ever again.
Teacher That
January 23rd, 2011
1:50 pm
Everything I love, get the hell away from the AFT after you get you a lawyer and write the national AFT office in Washington, DC to make them pay your legal fees as a member, they will let you loose your job. Call attorney Borquaye Thomas at 404-304-7894 to help you. He is good at handling APS legally. Join MACE with Dr. Trotter after you win your case with Attorney Thomas.
APS Teacher for now
January 23rd, 2011
1:53 pm
For new whistleblowers…come at them sideways and have witnesses. Paper trails are important, you must have copies of records. I am under the gun like all of you. All of my seniority was stripped and Mr. Bynum and Dr. Hall tried to humiliate me after the incident. I have the classes from Hades and it was done on purpose, but still I rise. My job is to teach and I will fight to get a child to learn something to the bitter end. And I’m still getting rewards as a teacher. So there, Mr. Bynum.
What Goes Around Comes Around
January 23rd, 2011
1:54 pm
@bootney farnsworth January 23rd, 2011 1:06 pm
SAY IT LOUD.
“they’ll invite you to sue them. and just drag things out and bleed you dry until you can no longer sustain the legal fight.”
SAY IT LOUD!!!!!
Parent
January 23rd, 2011
2:00 pm
If you have ever rocked the boat of an organization with questionable practices, it can destroy your life. Some folks will do whatever it takes to keep what they have built around them. So-called friends will run for the hills, if they have anything to lose by backing you up. Being a whistle blower can be very difficult.
On Everything I Love
January 23rd, 2011
2:03 pm
Teacher That,
Thanks and Will Do. I cancelled with AFT the other day. I’m on it and I have documentation of misappropriation of Title I and ARRA MONEY. I
Cricket
January 23rd, 2011
2:08 pm
THANK YOU to the whistle blowers! Integrity is not often seen these days. DO what is right just because it is right! Thank YOU! * WOW finally!!!* The AJC is to be commended for putting this on the front page!!!! Please understand that this is not something that only happens in the APS. This happens everywhere!
Top School
January 23rd, 2011
2:10 pm
@ Dr. Craig Spinks…
How can you report wrongdoing to the FBI when the Professional Standards Commission protected the people reported?
Don’t you serve on the Professional Standards Commission?
Warren Fortson and John Grant seem to have this state operated regulatory system under their hand.
http://www.TopPublicSchoolCorruptionAtlanta.com
Teacher's Angel
January 23rd, 2011
2:10 pm
Warren Fortson time has past and yes he has been serving two masters and taking APS employees money. APS EMPLOYEES DO NOT USE WARREN FORTSON he has worked for Beverly Hall’s people. You need to file an official complaint with the Georgia Board for Attorney’s to have his license to practice investigated. I heard about him taking that 65 year old lady’s money and not representing her and it is hard to get a lawyer to sue another lawyer to get her money back.
What Goes Around Comes Around
January 23rd, 2011
2:14 pm
@On Everything I Love January 23rd, 2011 2:03 pm
Whew!!!! Someone finally let the cat out of the bag (Title I Funds and ARRA Money).
AJC this is your next investigation…if you have the balls to do so.
Follow the money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SpaceyG on Twitter
January 23rd, 2011
2:21 pm
Question – is the paper stuff exclusive paper stuff?
*(If you don’t get the AJC on Sunday, this would be the day to pick up a newspaper as there is a lot to read, long story on how SACS works, a news piece on APS accreditation, an editorial on APS and two columns on education issues.)*
Or is it online too? If so, where are the links to it all? Shouldn’t it be the other way around, this being 2011 and all… exclusive online and NOT to a paper version?
But I will now refrain from digi-berations…
bootney farnsworth
January 23rd, 2011
2:22 pm
@ On Everything…
sorry to say it, but you are well and truly stuck.
you do have a few options, but none are very strong.
some things to try – please note, almost all will result in
the torpedoing of your career in north Georgia. but sadly
inaction on your part probably will, too.
1) go public-VERY public. take your case to the media, anyone
who will listen. WGST recently went almost all local. Gwinnett Daily,
Rockdale Citizen, anyone. A smaller outlet is more likely to be
willing to listen than the big boys.
2) find yourself a sugar daddy. as distasteful as this may be, find
a public figure or lawyer in the Gloria Alred mode. someone who will be glad to fight this fight on principal – or for the press coverage.
3) the Ga. Bar should be able to point you toward pro bono legal services
4) if by chance you are female or a minority, consult a civil rights
attorney.
5) if you’ve got the guts for it, get down into the mud with them. if you know of any copyright or software violations in your school, report them.
6) sue them in civil court personally.
and above all, for the love of God, document everything.
I mean everything.
create a very obvious paper trail. don’t make a major show of it, but let the word slip two can play the documentation game.
best course of action here – you’re only course, really – is to work for a stalement with your reputation intact until you can get out of there.
and from this moment on, be as pure as the new snow. don’t be late, lose your temper, take too many bathroom breaks. don’t give them anything additional to use against you.
the truth is they hold all the power, and you can’t win. just lose gracefully.
bootney farnsworth
January 23rd, 2011
2:23 pm
stay as far away from Warren Fortson as possible
Maureen Downey
January 23rd, 2011
2:25 pm
@Spacey. Eventually, it all gets online. I don’t know how it is decided, but the big stories and the breaking news stuff go online fast. The SACS piece is more of a backgrounder on the organization’s history and purpose. Of all the education pieces I mentioned, only the SACS story is yet to appear online today.
Maureen
bootney farnsworth
January 23rd, 2011
2:25 pm
Eveything is the best example of why I don’t trust unions
FormerChipmunk
January 23rd, 2011
2:26 pm
I can tell you, from personal experience, that retribution and retaliation against whistleblowers is rampant in at least one other district. And it’s not limited to teachers; it’s also administrators and other support employees too. I’ve seen a number of good people forced out simply for trying to do the right thing (i.e.; be honest and stop corruption). I was very blessed to find a good job away from GA, before I was run off. The real killer in this is that it feeds all of the sentiment out there that all of us in public education are incompetent, corrupt, or worse. I know that’s not true, having had the pleasure to work with a bunch of smart, hard-working, and passionate educators over the years. But stories like this sure make it look like public education is failing. My sympathy and deep appreciation goes out to anyone who has blown the whistle and has suffered the consequences. You are my heroes!
bootney farnsworth
January 23rd, 2011
2:28 pm
the last thing on the minds of entities like APS, DCSS, BOR is the education of Georgia’s youth.
Jennifer
January 23rd, 2011
2:31 pm
I dare you to find a school district in Georgia that does not behave the same way.
Cricket
January 23rd, 2011
2:32 pm
It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit. ~Noël Coward, Blithe Spirit
@ Former Chipmunk
January 23rd, 2011
2:39 pm
Public education is failing our children. Too many children are pushed on without learning or mastering the skills taught in the grade before. They are unable to do well on the CRCT. A test, where you can get a 50% and still be said to be proficient. Imagine what would happen if the CRCT required students to earn 70% to pass?
Public education is failing our children. It’s become a money making business-for administrators, book companies, testing companies, computer companies, and the like-in some states teachers. The real winners should be the children, but time and time again, the adults running the show let them down.
Top School
January 23rd, 2011
2:45 pm
I still do not understand why this investigation centers around cheating on a standardized test.
The main issue today:
There is not a proper entity in the system to report wrongdoing on any level.
Professional Standards is as corrupt as the Atlanta Public School System.
“It’s the elephant in the room. If you say anything, you lose your job.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8K2_gA2ots
Reich fabricated Professional Development Plans in less than 6 weeks before an involuntary transfer was issued by APS officials. PDP’s were issued for cutting in the cafeteria line, professionalism, and absences with a doctor’s recommendation. Sam’s pay was docketed for attending the Level 2 hearing with Reich’s supervisor. More than four Professional Development Plans were issued in less than 6 weeks while attempting to appeal APS grievance levels up the chain of command.
Reich’s vile conduct included her interception of lessons Sam sent to the substitute during his absence.
Reich took the lessons and left the substitute with out lesson plans in an effort to create chaos. McCarthy delivered the lesson plans daily. Reich interceded and forbid McCarthy to deliver the prepared lessons directly to the assigned substitute. Principal Reich held all of Sam’s lessons in her office while he was out on medical sick leave. For two weeks prior to Winter Holidays, Reich reassigned Wigdale (Jackson’s special needs teacher) to substitute in Sam’s classroom during his absence. Special Needs classes were canceled during December, 2001.
Mike
January 23rd, 2011
2:47 pm
Jennifer is so correct! This is the way business is done in most GA school systems by and large. Rule through fear. Those that don’t fear have their character assassinated and their reputations ruined. Call them disgruntled trouble makers and spread lies. Harass them and try to keep them from ever working in education again. All to protect the perception of perfection.
Ms.Teacher
January 23rd, 2011
2:47 pm
I think we’re going to see more and more whistleblowing from teachers across the board. It is all too easy and simple to just blame teachers for the decay of our educational system. When in reality, teachers have very little control over what happens in their classrooms anymore from something as small what is on bulletin boards,to the curriculum they teach, all the way to what disruptive students are allowed to stay in their classrooms. EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING in schools is coming from the superintendent through the building administration….if you want to point fingers, look at the people making the policies and inforcing them despite the obscene amounts of money and time they consume.
The young teachers are just scared
January 23rd, 2011
2:47 pm
The young teachers are just scared, overwhelmed, and speechless when told to keep quiet. At my age — if put in situations similar to those in the past, when an APS administrator would demand I memorize a CRCT exam, I would just laugh! Laugh, walk out, and walk all the way to the AJC.
But it is different when you are young. You are scared, you’ve just put years and years of your life into earning your teaching certificate – and then an older administrator puts the fear into you that she, not you, will be believed – and the certificate will be revoked. No young girl/guy right out of college wants the certificate that was just earned to be taken away. They have a way of mind control, a way of putting fear into the young teachers, that causes the silence. I witnessed it firsthand – was a victim, and saw it happen to others over and over.
On a slightly lighter note: I’d love someone to just go through the years and years of credit card bills to examine the Piccadilly charges…and I am NOT kidding! I think the two things that irked me the most as an APS teacher was watching the cheating and watching the credit card get run @ Piccadilly. I would get taken sometimes, try to pay my part, and just get laughed at…only to watch the APS card get swiped. For Piccadilly food! How many 100s/1000s of dollars spent @ places such as Piccadilly?
Piccadilly of all places!
Top School
January 23rd, 2011
2:51 pm
@ No Teacher Left Behind
“I have an Hispanic coworker who is being targeted for standing up to our chairperson’s condescending and racially toned antics. She was assigned on a PDP and is being documented on her every move. And even though she is a superb teacher in her subject, and her students’ AP scores track record is impressive, the administrators are choosing to tarnish her work performance record but she is standing up for her civil rights.”
Concealing Segregation/APS/Jackson Elementary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urvDMBN6y4k&feature=related
http://www.TopPublicSchoolCorruptionAtlanta.com
Top School
January 23rd, 2011
2:57 pm
Georgia’s educational problems are not the teachers or the students, it is the mediocre and unwise administrators that are selectively placed in these positions, not by their own merits or expertise but by who they “know” in the system.
and THE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS COMMISSION is the failed system “THAT KNOWS HOW TO TAKE CARE OF IT”
PSC / Warren Fortson / Reich / Cesspool of Inequity
http://www.youtube.com/user/TopSchoolAtlanta#p/u/9/b1vFdKXudjM
Who? helped who?…in this political cesspool of inequity. Before helping, did anyone research the information provided??? or Did those in power fall for the manipulation in Reich’s Rhetoric? Did she deceive everyone?…or Was this another neighborhood political favor?
On Everything I Love
January 23rd, 2011
3:04 pm
The young teachers are just scared ,
Nothing has changed. Yesterday it was Piccadilly, today it’s HOT WINGS. I have seen administrators buy food for the 2-3 teachers daily and call it a LUNCN & LEARN to justify. The food is then consumed behind closed doors. You can’t see them but you can smell the sauce!!!
Top School
January 23rd, 2011
3:16 pm
There is a book of documents that went to the Federal Court house…For some reason it was all ignored…DEPENDS ON WHO YOU KNOW…
REICH is still REIGNS as the PRINCIPAL at ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOL-WARREN T. JACKSON ELEMENTARY- 1325 MT. PARAN ROAD.
APS OFFICIALS AND THE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS COMMISSION ignored reports and the video taped depositions that proved the following acts were committed by a Northside APS principal:
* Payroll records to obtain a paycheck for the principal’s daughter for almost a year.
* Falsified attendance records of faculty and students.
* Retaliation against teachers willing to report and testify against APS
* Falsified information to obtain a Blue Ribbon School Award.
* Segregation of minority students in Northside Atlanta Public Schools
* Falsified criteria and dates for Bonus Paychecks paid to faculty members.
@ Dr. Craig Spinks…
N.B.: Keep detailed documentation of each episode of retaliation: What? Who? When?
Where? Why?
The e-mail address of the Atlanta FBI office is: atlanta@ic.fbi.gov.
Remind retaliators that tampering with witnesses in state and federal investigations is
a felony.
ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS…DOES NOT CARE ABOUT BREAKING THE LAW.
They are criminals.
Tamika
January 23rd, 2011
3:21 pm
The whistleblower relaliation is why the APS scandal should have been a criminal investigation from the first sign that Hall was stonewalling. The core problem here is that Hall and the board are not FIRST OF ALL committed to what is best for the students. That is the core defect that must be corrected for the schools to function properly. When the Superintendent and the board are utterly dedicated to the student, there is not a focus on blame shifting or retaliation. The superintendent and the board are the problems that must be solved.
The public in Clayton County and in the City of Atlanta have tolerated the intolerable. For whatever reason they looked the other way and school politics, grandstanding and powergrabbing. The voters in every district, at every moment have had the power to fix these messes but has been content with the status quo unwilling to demand better.
The state is not the problem, the voters are.
Top School
January 23rd, 2011
3:30 pm
How much more information and documentation is needed?
Call the police…and they will tell you to call the ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOL DETECTIVES.
The Governor needs to step in and criminally charge those involved in the TOTAL cover-up…
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS COMMISSION included.
I spent $150,000 on my case…and was my cost.
APS spent the taxpayer’s money to fight my case.
How much did they spend? Dorsey HOPSON? WARREN FORTSON?
Finally, it has come to this.
How many people need to come forward?
Atlanta Public Schools and the safety net PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS helped to cover-up this Northside rape of a two exemplary teachers.
SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE ENTIRE APS SYSTEM AND THE ENTITIES DESIGNED TO PROTECT THE SYSTEM!
http://www.toppublicschoolcorruptionatlanta.com/?page_id=46
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Augusta
January 23rd, 2011
3:39 pm
Bootney,
You’re right about the importance of documenting unethical and illegal activities. Like the computer, the tape recorder and the cell phone with video/audio capabilities can also produce credible documentation.
Top School,
Don’t rely on the GAPSC to provide incriminating documentation to the FBI. Whistleblowers need to provide their own documentation, as Bootney suggests.
My experiences with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission suggest that the term “GAPSC investigation” is oxymoronic.
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Augusta
January 23rd, 2011
3:45 pm
Tamika,
Your insightful analysis would be accurate in more GA public school systems than the APS alone.
Top School
January 23rd, 2011
3:48 pm
@ Attorney
@No Noise
@APS Teacher for now
Amen!
A Vile Witch-Hunt at Jackson Elementary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq2yLhdYFDw&feature=related
And this is the leader of APS top school Warren T. Jackson Elementary.
ALL THESE LEADERS ARE STILL RECEIVING A PAY CHECK.
Dr. John Trotter
January 23rd, 2011
3:50 pm
I have always said that school systems are some of the biggest lawbreakers, bullies, and thugs of all time. These folks running the school systems apparently think that just because they have loads and loads of monies at their disposal and can hire law firms to lie for them and to cover up for them, then they can act with impunity. At MACE, we love taking on bullies. I have always detested political, corporate, and educational bullying of all types. I founded MACE in 1995, and I suppose that MACE has always taken on my personality. The employees and associates of MACE are not afraid to take on superintendent-bullies and other administrator-bullies. In fact, we rather enjoy a good fight!
For those who may not be very familiar with MACE, just check out our website at http://www.theteachersadvocate.com and be sure to go to the Archives Section also to see that since MACE’s birth in 1995, we have been fighting the good fight for teachers. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of articles and photos. So, be patient with the loading of all the photos, etc., OK? We hate to discard any article. We have a section called Evaluation of Administrators. This is always a popular page. We name names to forewarn our members. But, this page is in constant need of update because of administrators being transferred and so forth. You may want to assist us on this page. If we have an error, please notify us about an update. Thanks for the kind remarks today about MACE. We just consistently try to kick ass for the teachers in order to protect them and empower them. Because the decks are always stacked against the teachers concerning hearings, law suits, and so forth, we have found that sometimes the best way to keep an administrator in line is writing an embarrassing letter and sending to the school board members and the superintendent (and sometimes putting in on our website) as well as a good, juicy picket in front of the school. It appears that MACE owns the school pickets. Nothing seems to excite the disheartened teachers more than seeing their bullying administrators mess in their pants when the MACE Picket Squad shows up. It is really comical. A sight to behold! My, how the mighty crumble! © MACE, January 23, 2011.
Top School
January 23rd, 2011
4:03 pm
@ Dr. Craig Spinks/ Augusta
iT WAS REPORTED ALREADY…
and the most recent report …
What I don’t understand is this…
Why is Warren Fortson representing the Professional Standards Commission and at the same time representing those reported to the Professional Standards Commission.
The case was has all the documentation needed.
Still it failed…due to the “connected folk” on the NORTHSIDE OF ATLANTA.
DOCUMENTATION? HOW MANY MORE DOCUMENTS DO YOU NEED?
This is the testimony…records? journals? documentation?
Waste of time? STILL THEY WORKED THE SYSTEM TO THEIR FAVOR.
Professional Standards looks as if it is OWNED AND OPERATED BY WARREN FORTSON and JOHN GRANT.
http://www.gapsc.com/Commission/Minutes/June_2010.pdf
Top School
January 23rd, 2011
4:09 pm
@Dr. John Trotter
Yea…show up at Warren T. Jackson Elementary and watch how quickly that neighborhood can silence your picket line.
I don’t think the same rules apply…