A last word from Beverly Hall, via the U.S. Postal Service
The temptation to write one’s own obituary is universal. But very few of us actually get the chance to do it – and at taxpayer expense, too.
Georgia’s political elite report receiving a manila envelope postmarked July 1 – prior to the release of the CRCT report — from Beverly Hall, written on Atlanta Public Schools stationery.
It was attached to an 11-page, glossy account of her years as Atlanta school chief, compiled by the APS communications department. Click here to see it.
From the cover letter:
“There are dark clouds and some storms surround us, but I am convinced that those matters will be dealt with appropriately.
“You can take pride in the fact that on the preliminary results of the 2011 CRCT, APS showed progress in 4/5 core subject areas; Mathematics, Reading, English/Language Arts and Social Studies. Science remained the same as in 2010.
Overall, the growth from 2000-2011 on these more rigorous assessments, given under the strictest security possible are significant.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
93 comments Add your comment
Wally
July 13th, 2011
2:14 pm
first again yeeehaaa
tnol
July 13th, 2011
2:22 pm
Jim, thanks for the scan. The chutzpah of some people never fails to amaze. Any word on who were the recipients of this nifty piece of propaganda?
Veteran Observer
July 13th, 2011
2:24 pm
It will be interesting if she is indicted for perpetuating this fraud on the children of Atlanta! This is a real opportunity for the school system to be cleaned up top to bottom. The school board should resign and a new board appointed by the governor until new elections and anyone associated with this immediately terminated. The new superintendant should look at the structure which was top heavy and design a more efficient delivery system and hire his own people to make it work. Everything should be questioned and examined and the community should support him 100% and not listen to the inevitable whining from the entrenched interests in the city. Any politician that supports the old way of doing things and opposes the superintendant should be voted out of office or investigated for fraud themselves! The opportunity is there and as a resident it has my full support!!!!
Brenda
July 13th, 2011
2:33 pm
Obviously ghost written, everything is spelled correctly and there are complete sentences.
Kindergarten Math
July 13th, 2011
2:40 pm
Actually, take a close look at her first sentence. Perhaps “surrounding ” us would be proper use of the English language ?
Brenda
July 13th, 2011
2:47 pm
Now now, you can’t ask for grammatically correct in addition.
Brenda
July 13th, 2011
2:48 pm
Saw the “interview” with Monica in Hawaii. What does Ms. Hall’s husband do? Anyone know? He had that deer in headlights look about him……
Linda80398
July 13th, 2011
2:51 pm
Wjy was this woman, with her apparent inability to use proper grammar and punctuation, chosen as a leader in our school systems? Perhaps her education was obtained through cheating.
Loran, Whatayagot
July 13th, 2011
2:55 pm
You almost feel sorry for her. What if your accomplishments, praised by the masses, were unmasked as fraudulent. Just when you might feel pity, your anger emerges. Not only has she retarded many student’s learning progress, but much has to be repaired before anything positive can begin. All of the idiots who worked around her, and the bickering school board (a joke) weren’t savy enough to pickup on what was happening. So it was incompetance upon incompetance. And I think she is somewhat delusional, much like Cynthia Tucker.
ATL Taxpayer
July 13th, 2011
3:38 pm
APS’s new superintendent and Board – on behalf of Atlanta taxpayers – should immediately seek return of all bonus money – derived from phony test scores – paid to any APS employee. Beverly Hall – when she returns from her luxurious Maui vacation – needs to be first in line to repay the over one-half millions dollars she fraudulently received!
catlady
July 13th, 2011
3:40 pm
Delusional to the end.
Native New Outsider
July 13th, 2011
3:43 pm
What’s been interesting (and laugh-worthy) are the “shocked” and “appalled” responses of residents of Atlanta for the past 12 years, including city& state politicians, reporters, parents, etc. To pull off a scam of this magnitude and duration is the equivalent of fixing the World Series of 1919 to the 10th power. Most of the pundits and media whizzes who have been pretending ‘amazement’ know perfectly well that THEY themselves CAME to Atlanta BECAUSE of its then-weakened, now-nonexistent school systems. They can attribute their own success (and loudly do so at every water fountain) to the fact that they did NOT attend school here; AND they encourage their cronies in fraudulence to move here and take up residence, too. They’ve helped all along to foster an environment in which appearances were more important than substance, and in which HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL (”evil” meaning “truth”) became the standard cultural expression, instead of the behavior of a few. It seems that in Atlanta, education has become the new bastion of oppression. In the 60’s it was voting. Believe me, ‘delusionment’ in this town is not confined to the handful of perpetrators who get caught. It has permeated the culture of head-bury-ers here, who always only manage to see what they wish to see.
momof3
July 13th, 2011
3:53 pm
I’m a product of Atlanta Public Schools, and I had the pleasure of teaching there through the Atlanta Plus program for 2 years. I was fortunate enough to have caring teachers who saw my potential and cultivated and honed my strengths. There wasn’t the pressure to make statistically impossible gains on high stakes exams. The only test we took was the BST, an exam taken in 10th grade to qualify one for graduation. I no longer reside in Atlanta, however, I am heartbroken over what I’ve been reading on the scandal these past couple of weeks. What is most disturbing is how people (namely politicians and lawyers who make their living off of capitalizing on the hardships of others) in the city have used this unfortunate mess as an opportunity to promote themselves. Sadder still is the fact that the schools that cheated are in some ways in better shape. They have better technology, better buildings, etc. The young children who attend these schools would not be afforded these things had the schools not qualified for grants and private funding sources because of the inflated test scores. The lesson to be learned is that the teachers, principals, and school district administrators are human. And when confronted with such pressure the goal then becomes survival. The children no longer matter, they are a means to an ends.
Ben E. Henn
July 13th, 2011
4:05 pm
Hall’s last words. Screw it. I’m going to Hawaii….then Disneyworld.
Ben E. Henn
July 13th, 2011
4:09 pm
The dark clouds will be dealt with. Pay back that big bonus money you used to take your husband to Hawaii. Cheater, cheater punkin’ eater!
Dave
July 13th, 2011
4:13 pm
The culture that existed at APS is one that has existed in Atlanta for decades. All you have to do is think about the underhanded way Billy Payne, Richard Stogner, and Bill Campbell handled the 1996 Olympics. Without ethics, Atlanta is doomed to give itself one black eye behind another. Atlanta is notorious for it’s efforts to redefine itself. But no one is buying it.
Education Insider
July 13th, 2011
4:14 pm
The folks at KIPP would be mighty surprised to find out that B. Hall is taking credit for opening their charter school in the APS zone. I didn’t fine tooth comb her list of accomplishments but did anyone see anything about fishes and loaves?
KenFromCalifornia
July 13th, 2011
4:18 pm
“memories, momentum, and milestones”
but shoulda been:
“malarky, malfeasance, and malcontents”
The Outlaw Josey Wales
July 13th, 2011
4:19 pm
She be crazy.
KenFromCalifornia
July 13th, 2011
4:19 pm
@education insider – i think there was a section about her inventing the internet
Burroughston Broch
July 13th, 2011
4:34 pm
She has just the skills needed for the President’s press secretary.
naysayer
July 13th, 2011
4:39 pm
“A dark cloud surrounds us, [I'm out. Good luck with that].” –B.Hall
Huh?
July 13th, 2011
4:41 pm
How much did this cost and who paid for it?? Is this woman mental?
Ron Dasher
July 13th, 2011
4:45 pm
Another success story of affirmative action hiring and promotion programs. That is, after all, the purpose of the APS and most everything else associated with the great city of Hotlanta.
Grits
July 13th, 2011
4:52 pm
I turned down a very good job offer in Atlanta because I didn’t want my kids going to the poor performing school system.
ethics smethics
July 13th, 2011
4:52 pm
oh man…this makes us a laughing stock as Georgia’s school sytem was already horrendous on a nationwide level…APS’s scandal is a black eye that will take years to heal, but have faith in the kids…the only real solution is for parents & teachers to work together to improve the quality of education, but we must see consistent improvements annully on statewide achievement test.
Unfortunately it will be years before we live this down…sad times for education in GA…shame on those teachers for setting a poor example on our kids….shame on the Board of Education for not stepping up sooner & stepping out more…Shame on any parent (busy or not) that leaves their kids education solely to the underpaid teachers of a crippled public school system…shame on all intelligent and educated childless individuals for not mentoring & volunteering to help…shame on us all!
We are only as strong as are weakest links…lot of weak links in the scenario…tons of them…the blame is not equal, but we all must own a part of it…all of us.
ethics smethics
July 13th, 2011
4:53 pm
annually…not annully…i know how you guys are quick to bash grammar, sentence structure, & improper use of rhetoric, so I apologize!
Butler9
July 13th, 2011
5:06 pm
Maybe the best defense is a good offense, but the gall that some people have never ceases to amaze me. I suspect that she has worked so hard to justify her actions (or lack thereof) that she has become delusional.
new teacher
July 13th, 2011
5:09 pm
What does this have to do with affirmative action? Nothing. Did Obama get elected because of affirmative action? Black leadership screwed up, period. Parents and teachers failed the children. Uneducated, unemployable citizens benefit no one. They weaken the nation and raise social cost. A weak urban community cost you money. I understand the right’s excitement, too bad Glen Beck lost his black board. APS leadership aided the far right in everything she did. You should give her a tax cut. The damage she has done to an already difficult system will take a decade to reverse. Happy now
Richard Braswell
July 13th, 2011
5:47 pm
Beverly Hall wants everyone, especially the GBI, to PRETEND that they agree with her estimate of her role in the scandal. She wants to assume the role of SGT Shultz, “I know nothing”, and in fact that is just the description for her tenure as superintendent, an incompetent bumbling foil for the gang of cheaters. But, like SGT Shultz, her pretense is clouded and muddled by complicity. Hall wants the public to believe that she was clueless, in fact had NO KNOWLEDGE of any discrepancy. She wants the public to believe that she had no misgivings of impropriety when a school went from last to first in ONE year. She wants to be painted as the champion of learning and progress for the poor and underprivileged. Hall is a thief and a liar just like the others. She used the perceived stigma of black, in need of enhancement, at the knee of the white establishment, to quell any hope of improvement and at the same time drive down further the educational status of the kids in the Atlanta Public School System. Hall is not a victim, she is a predator, and now she is trying to be upwind and out of the fray. I hope the GBI sqeezes a few of the rats in her former basement kingdom and get the information needed to prosecute her. If she gets off with out a conviction, it will be because she is black, and in Atlanta.
Choppy Seas
July 13th, 2011
6:07 pm
Transfer Beverly to the airport where all the other failed Beverlys ended up. This town has had a bad run of Beverlys and no more should be hired.
Deborah Wakefield
July 13th, 2011
6:20 pm
I saw a Channel 2 reporter attempt to interview BHall last night on the news. Ms. Hall was on vacation in Hawaii on the money she apparently fraudulently obtained via a massive conspiracy from the children of Atlanta. She had nothing to say for herself–disgusting.
loislane
July 13th, 2011
6:22 pm
Grammar alert – the growth IS significant.
“Overall, the growth from 2000-2011 on these more rigorous assessments, given under the strictest security possible are significant.”
APOLOGIZE!
July 13th, 2011
6:26 pm
APOLOGIZE!
July 13th, 2011
6:26 pm
Enter your comments here
Richard Braswell
July 13th, 2011
6:31 pm
Lois…
I see that by your stated objective and following proof statement, you are a teacher in or graduate of the APS. Good job, you have proved my point.
We are gaining
July 13th, 2011
6:31 pm
Atlanta; Chicgo of the South
Bobby
July 13th, 2011
6:32 pm
I suspect Dekalb CEO Ellis and his lieutenants jrader and kgannon agree whole heartedly with Dr. Hall and will gladly raise Dekalb taxes again in about six months so they can have staff meetings in Hawaii. They can all have dinner with Dr. Hall and her husband while discussing how to further mishandle Dekalb taxes.
Mr Charlie
July 13th, 2011
6:34 pm
New Teacher…The criticism of affirmative action was that it would promote a lowering of standards.
Is it lost on anyone that when we had segregation and Jim Crow laws, we also led the world in education, technology, space exploration, and medical advance…Now educators see no other way to get a kid to the 2nd grade than to cheat…..Does anyone think the critics had a point?
APS Parent #2
July 13th, 2011
6:36 pm
Keith Bromery of APS Communications handed those out to any who he thought were sympathetic to Hall. He would also sit in the audience at the board meetings and if the 5’s voted against what Hall wanted, he would feed text to the parent group who persecuted the 5. (Look for their yellow signs and buttons.)
APS Communications should be working on behalf of the students, not the personal vanity of the superintendent or the whims of the minority vote on the board. Her record will take care of how history treats her tenure and how well the elected board officials represented their electorate….or not.
APS spin machine is out of control and parents do not trust info to be transparent or accurate, but biased b*!!s?’+.
loislane
July 13th, 2011
6:37 pm
@richard braswell – neither. I went to private schools in another part of the country.
We are gaining
July 13th, 2011
6:38 pm
Thankfully, we have private schools available
Shakey
July 13th, 2011
6:38 pm
What if Bernie Madoff published a report touting his balance sheet? That’s what this reminds me of.
On the other side
July 13th, 2011
6:40 pm
After seeing so many “interviews” with “former” principals and supers, I wonder how they feel being threatened and intimitaded?
Bill
July 13th, 2011
6:41 pm
There are at least three (3) blatant grammatical errors in just the three sentences above attributed to her in quotation marks.
How can someone so stupid be given the $100,000 plus job as Superintendent of Schools? The APS Board got what they asked for!
No wonder she ran off to Hawaii!!!
Mr Charlie
July 13th, 2011
6:42 pm
To think that we led the world in every facet of education, technology, space and medicine…..Wow, looks like the liberals were wrong….
Atlien
July 13th, 2011
6:43 pm
The teachers are just as dumb as the students they pass along (and the parents too). Has nothing to do with race or poverty.
The whole education system is a cartel.
Mr Charlie
July 13th, 2011
6:44 pm
Bill, it is lowering of standards. It is what happens when you promote someone for political reason instead of ability and achievement.
Richard
July 13th, 2011
6:45 pm
Gee, it sure is interesting to see all the APS employees who for some reason or another have decided to retire this month. And, now we as taxpayers have the privilege of funding their pensions! As soon as my daughter graduates from GSU I am moving from this nut place.
Mr Charlie
July 13th, 2011
6:48 pm
atlien, yep, and how many of those teachers got through their respective colleges due to quota requirements and affirmative action? Now again, while I think it is a great gesture, overall it leads to the exact result we got.
Waldo 313
July 13th, 2011
6:59 pm
Hey! It’s not like she has a doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT. She has a “fluff” doctorate which is worth nothing in the private sector. She would be lucky to get a job at McDonald’s. These “pseudo intellectuals” aren’t qualified to shine shoes, yet are running our schools and government. No wonder America is in trouble!
Ms. Charlotte
July 13th, 2011
7:02 pm
Mr. Charlie from the 1930s Jim Crow South is something else that Beverly Hall and her cheating crowd has allowed to crawl out of the basement.
Bill
July 13th, 2011
7:03 pm
Waldo:
She couldn’t even get a job at McDonalds. You have to be able to make change for customers there.
What rock did the APS board look under to find this Neanderthal? Let’s hope she goes back there!
midtown
July 13th, 2011
7:05 pm
Get back all the bonuses Beverly Hall got for great test scores!!!
Then send her to jail.
Hank Johnson
July 13th, 2011
7:10 pm
Why are all of you racist trying to destroy this great women? I am convinced that there was not any cheating going on in APS. This is just another ploy to destroy the Black community.
American
July 13th, 2011
7:13 pm
Beverly Hall needs to face criminal charges and civil lawsuits for her misdeeds. Whatever money APS is paying her should be stopped and recovery of past “bonus” money should be sought.
Beverly Hall
July 13th, 2011
7:13 pm
I am not a crook.
There was not any cheating at any of our schools.
Logic 05
July 13th, 2011
7:14 pm
Beverly Hall is a criminal. She should be in prison.
Another Voice
July 13th, 2011
7:16 pm
Interesting. At one point, I was asked to consider taking the communications role for APS. Glad I had other priorities at the time – the entire communications team should be dismissed. I can’t imagine how Erroll Davis could trust that group any more than the SRTs or Beverly’s handpicked lieutenants (Jocye & Kathy, the girlfriends), the General Counsel or Millicent Few. Erroll, dismiss the whole cabinent and bring in people who know how to work – and have decent morals.
Wondering
July 13th, 2011
7:20 pm
I don’t understand why some are defending the teachers that cheated.
Why do some say when you tie pay to performance it creates a culture of corruption?
I work off commission. I don’t have to cheat or steal to earn my salary. Why should teachers not be expected to perform? All of the corrupt teachers in APS should be fired.
RGB
July 13th, 2011
7:24 pm
I think you all have been too hard on Bev and should apologize.
She would be right at home as Education Czar in the Obama administration.
I’m reminded of 2 old adages:
1. Birds of a feather flock together.
2. When the going gets tough, the freaks turn pro.
No Teabagging
July 13th, 2011
7:25 pm
With statements like that, she should run Nathan Deal’s re-election campaign.
rob
July 13th, 2011
7:26 pm
Unconsciously incompetent…
Obama
July 13th, 2011
7:28 pm
I think Beverly Hall needs to be tarred and feathered. It’s that simple. I can supply the tar, the feather and the lighter.
CPGal
July 13th, 2011
7:29 pm
You should be in jail Dr. Hall. Here’s hoping.
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Augusta
July 13th, 2011
7:34 pm
GODSPEED to Chancellor Davis as he unties the Gordian Knot that is the Beverly Hall-contaminated APS!
The future of The South’s greatest city, our state and our children depend upon the success of his efforts.
John Edwards
July 13th, 2011
7:42 pm
Beverly Hall makes me look ethical.
She is an absolute zero.
JJ
July 13th, 2011
7:42 pm
Enter your comments here
TIM
July 13th, 2011
7:44 pm
It takes a village to cheat the way APS did. Congratulations to the URBAN village of Atlanta, Dekalb and Clayton. You’re a class act.
I bet everyone passed Ebonics………
TruthBe
July 13th, 2011
7:49 pm
Beverly Hall should be fined and in jail. She created fauld and stole from the taxpayers. The Children have been hurt by these low down bunch of crooks. The GBI and the Federal Justice Department should bring criminal charges aganist Beverly Hall and Mayor Reed. Oh I forgot Eric Holder the Attorney General won’t proscute ” My People of Color “. I guess if you are a corrupt Black Politican or Government Employee you can’t be charged for crimes because you are Black. This is way our Country is falling apart because of too much political correctness.
To: TruthBe
July 13th, 2011
7:57 pm
While I’m with you on your other comments, I don’t think there’s evidence that Mayor Reed was involved in the scandal as it predated his arrival in office. In fact, he has moved to oust the school board–probably at some political risk.
Ekim
July 13th, 2011
7:58 pm
With your punctuation, TruthBe, YOU could be the reason our country is falling apart.
Clinton "Skink" Tyree
July 13th, 2011
8:00 pm
Horse hockey!
Voice of Reason
July 13th, 2011
8:01 pm
What this woman has done is clearly criminal and she should be locked in jail as long as the law will permit. Hopefully, she can have a redemption and return to society after paying her debt, but I doubt it.
RLM
July 13th, 2011
8:08 pm
Atlanta schools have been pitiful for years. Poorly performing due to mediocre teachers and cover your a** administrators.
Paul Hickel
July 13th, 2011
8:44 pm
APS – “We are here for our children” … to hell with yours!
The curriculum is a failure implemented by the same, where is the school board going to run when the public gets the fraud investigation of the $1B school construction costs.
BADA BING
July 13th, 2011
8:52 pm
Hey, when is the Jackson-Campbell-Franklin-Hall Airport opening?
Atlanta Academic
July 13th, 2011
8:52 pm
Look up Organized Crime on Wikipedia.
I am looking at the forest from a satellite. I am not looking at the trees, I am looking at the forest.
Can you identify Atlanta after reading Organized Crime on Wikipedia? The solutions are more pervasive than just the school system. Normalisation of criminogenic needs must end, anomie must end.
The solutions are in a city that matures gracefully and finally finds definition. Conflicts must end. Solutions must be found. I found many solutions through understanding of the causality of Organized Crime on Wikipedia. I hope you do too.
BADA BING
July 13th, 2011
8:55 pm
Big Mama Hall, stay in Maui. I hope it tips over.
Richard Braswell
July 13th, 2011
9:12 pm
Atlanta Academic…
You must be a member of the other more prevalent and dangerous of the Atlanta schools, a graduate of the APS, and a card carrying member of the Greater Atlanta Crack Heads Society. A group yet not identified, but certainly attributed to B. Hall and her great ensemble of educators. Fire it up…..
Atlanta Academic
July 13th, 2011
9:25 pm
@Richard Braswell
I went to elementary schools in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
Atlanta Academic
July 13th, 2011
9:44 pm
Claeification – Pennsylvania was Midlle or High School as it may be defined.
godoggo
July 13th, 2011
9:50 pm
Can you imagine if the morally corrupt, incompetent, typically implicated individuals were held fiscally and civilly responsible to the children and their parents ? I believe i have a new angle for an Insurance policy : )
Where are the Civil Rights prostitutes….Jessie “love child” Jackson and Al “Tawana Brawley” Sharpton on this matter ??? I know…..there’s no Corporation to shake down for payoffs !
Atlanta Academic
July 13th, 2011
10:57 pm
Rio
APS Parent #2
July 13th, 2011
11:06 pm
@TIM, come on I know you are feeling a little defensive because you work for APS I have to believe with the posts you make. I think you work in communications with the way you always try and recast the issue.
It won’t work. The people now have the state’s report and finally have the truth. Dr. Hall, any who worked on her cabinet, Sharon Pitts, Office of High Schools, and the 4 on the board “Go to Jail, Go Straight to Jail without passing Go!” (No more money for you except the cost we incur while you all are incarcerated.)
Atlanta Academic
July 14th, 2011
12:52 am
Private banking, tick tock, tick tock
Richard Braswell
July 14th, 2011
1:26 am
Where are the Civil Rights prostitutes….Jessie “love child” Jackson and Al “Tawana Brawley” Sharpton on this matter ??? I know…..there’s no Corporation to shake down for payoffs !
******absolutely correct*********and then some
Richard Braswell
July 14th, 2011
1:57 am
Where is the conference from Jesse (bend over I love you so much) Jackson and Al (let’s smear some feces on one another) Sharpton in defense of the children of the Atlanta Public School System. I GUESS THERE IS NO MONEY FOR THEM HERE.
Richard Braswell
July 14th, 2011
2:23 am
The AJC and the GBI will let Hall and her conspirators go BECAUSE THEY ARE BLACK……..
Penny Lane
July 14th, 2011
2:57 am
I am waiting for the racketeering charges.
APS Parent #2
July 14th, 2011
3:01 am
@Penny Lane, likely coming attached to the feds focus on getting federal money awarded due to falsified data. (Read AJC article online.)
Remember Al Capone went to prison for taxes.
Daughter of Educators
July 14th, 2011
10:31 am
The President of the Newark, NJ Teachers Union, Joseph Del Grosso, recently stated that Hall was under a cloud of cheating allegations for years when she was superintendent up there.
She knew.
Ron Dasher
July 14th, 2011
3:27 pm
With the pervasion of this cheating scandal in her staff and minions, perhaps the RICO statute couild be used against them and get them some real time in the ‘big house’ down on McDonough Blvd. They could put their skills to good use educating the residents of this fine facility. Any state or federal ethics violation charges wil only result in ’slap on the wrist’ type of punishment and she will be back to Hawaii in no time.