Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Indicted black Democrat educators surrender in Atlanta school testing scandal
2 views
Skip to first unread message
Leroy N. Soetoro
Apr 6, 2013, 4:01:13 PM4/6/13
to
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-educators-surrender-
atlanta-testing-scandal-20130402,0,595854.story
A parade of Atlanta educators trooped to the county jail beginning in the
early hours of Tuesday morning and surrendered to officials on criminal
charges stemming what is believed to be the biggest testing scandal in
American education.
By early morning, at least four of the 35 teachers, principals and school
officials had turned themselves in and were expected to post bonds ranging
from hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than $1 million. All were
named in a 65-count indictment released last week by Fulton County Dist.
Atty. Paul L. Howard Jr.
�The four principal crimes that are charged in the indictment are the
statements and writings, false swearings, theft by taking, and influencing
witnesses,� he told reporters. The maximum penalty, if convicted, could be
as high as 20 years in prison for most defendants.
Still to be heard from is Beverly Hall, Atlanta's retired school
superintendent. On her watch the hard-pressed school district earned a
national reputation for improving test scores. She was also given
performance bonuses totaling more than $500,000 for her efforts.
Investigators allege she pressured teachers and principals to cheat, and
punished those who refused to bend the rules. A grand jury recommended her
bail be set at $7.5 million. She faces up to 45 years in prison.
Hall has denied all of the charges
The Atlanta scandal is considered the largest to hit a school district in
recent years. About 200 educators have admitted to a variety of
improprieties, including tampering with students' standardized tests,
erasing wrong answers and correcting them by inserting the correct ones.
The goal was to increase test scores and it apparently worked: At one
middle school, 86% of eighth-graders scored proficient in math, compared
to 24% a year earlier.
While the Atlanta cheating effort seems to be the largest, charges have
surfaced in more than two dozen districts since the federal No Child Left
Behind law was signed in 2001. The law penalized low-testing school
districts.
�We don�t condone cheating, but when you have high-stakes testing, which
are one-shot deals that don�t tell you whether a child is going to fail or
succeed, the whole setup in terms of No Child Left Behind was unfair to
children, unfair to educators,� Verdaillia Turner, president of the
Georgia Federation of Teachers said to MSNBC on Monday.
The first educator to appear at the jail was Tameka Goodson, a former
school improvement specialist at Kennedy Middle School, who walked into
the jail at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, escorted by her attorney, Raymond
Lail.
�She's been anxious about this, of course, since she's heard about this.
[She's] very distraught over it,� Lail told television reporters. �It's
the closest she's ever been to a jail in her life.�
Goodson's bond was set at $200,000.
Just before 6 a.m., Donald Bullock surrendered. He's a former testing
coordinator at Usher Collier Heights Elementary. Bullock�s bond was set at
$1 million.
An hour later, Theresia Copeland walked into the jail. Copeland is a
former testing coordinator at Benteen Elementary School and her bail was
also set at $1 million.
By mid-morning, Gregory Reid entered the jail, escorted by an attorney.
Reid was the assistant principal at Parks Middle School. His bond has not
yet been set.
--
Barack Obama, reelected by the dumbest voters in the history of the United
States of America.
Eric Holder, racist black murdering United States Attorney General, still
has his job.
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact to
improper vetting of Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama, a confirmed
felon using SSAN 042-68-4425, belonging to a dead man.
Obama ignored the brutal killing of an American diplomat in Benghazi, then
relieved American military officers who attempted to prevent said murder
in order to cover up his own ineptness.
Obama continues his goal of disarming America while ObamaCare increases
insurance premiums 200% and leaves millions without health care.
Obama helped bankrupt Illinois. Democrat run Chicago closes 54 public
schools.
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ne...@netfront.net ---
atlanta-testing-scandal-20130402,0,595854.story
A parade of Atlanta educators trooped to the county jail beginning in the
early hours of Tuesday morning and surrendered to officials on criminal
charges stemming what is believed to be the biggest testing scandal in
American education.
By early morning, at least four of the 35 teachers, principals and school
officials had turned themselves in and were expected to post bonds ranging
from hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than $1 million. All were
named in a 65-count indictment released last week by Fulton County Dist.
Atty. Paul L. Howard Jr.
�The four principal crimes that are charged in the indictment are the
statements and writings, false swearings, theft by taking, and influencing
witnesses,� he told reporters. The maximum penalty, if convicted, could be
as high as 20 years in prison for most defendants.
Still to be heard from is Beverly Hall, Atlanta's retired school
superintendent. On her watch the hard-pressed school district earned a
national reputation for improving test scores. She was also given
performance bonuses totaling more than $500,000 for her efforts.
Investigators allege she pressured teachers and principals to cheat, and
punished those who refused to bend the rules. A grand jury recommended her
bail be set at $7.5 million. She faces up to 45 years in prison.
Hall has denied all of the charges
The Atlanta scandal is considered the largest to hit a school district in
recent years. About 200 educators have admitted to a variety of
improprieties, including tampering with students' standardized tests,
erasing wrong answers and correcting them by inserting the correct ones.
The goal was to increase test scores and it apparently worked: At one
middle school, 86% of eighth-graders scored proficient in math, compared
to 24% a year earlier.
While the Atlanta cheating effort seems to be the largest, charges have
surfaced in more than two dozen districts since the federal No Child Left
Behind law was signed in 2001. The law penalized low-testing school
districts.
�We don�t condone cheating, but when you have high-stakes testing, which
are one-shot deals that don�t tell you whether a child is going to fail or
succeed, the whole setup in terms of No Child Left Behind was unfair to
children, unfair to educators,� Verdaillia Turner, president of the
Georgia Federation of Teachers said to MSNBC on Monday.
The first educator to appear at the jail was Tameka Goodson, a former
school improvement specialist at Kennedy Middle School, who walked into
the jail at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, escorted by her attorney, Raymond
Lail.
�She's been anxious about this, of course, since she's heard about this.
[She's] very distraught over it,� Lail told television reporters. �It's
the closest she's ever been to a jail in her life.�
Goodson's bond was set at $200,000.
Just before 6 a.m., Donald Bullock surrendered. He's a former testing
coordinator at Usher Collier Heights Elementary. Bullock�s bond was set at
$1 million.
An hour later, Theresia Copeland walked into the jail. Copeland is a
former testing coordinator at Benteen Elementary School and her bail was
also set at $1 million.
By mid-morning, Gregory Reid entered the jail, escorted by an attorney.
Reid was the assistant principal at Parks Middle School. His bond has not
yet been set.
--
Barack Obama, reelected by the dumbest voters in the history of the United
States of America.
Eric Holder, racist black murdering United States Attorney General, still
has his job.
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact to
improper vetting of Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama, a confirmed
felon using SSAN 042-68-4425, belonging to a dead man.
Obama ignored the brutal killing of an American diplomat in Benghazi, then
relieved American military officers who attempted to prevent said murder
in order to cover up his own ineptness.
Obama continues his goal of disarming America while ObamaCare increases
insurance premiums 200% and leaves millions without health care.
Obama helped bankrupt Illinois. Democrat run Chicago closes 54 public
schools.
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ne...@netfront.net ---
0 new messages