Prison sentences for eight former Atlanta educators in test-cheating scandal

http://news.yahoo.com/pleas-mulled-former-atlanta-educators-test-cheating-scandal-120733406.html

Prison sentences for eight former Atlanta educators in test-cheating scandal

All but one in Atlanta cheating scandal to serve time

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/14/atlanta-educators-sentenced/25759985/

 

Omg!!!!!!!

 

WTH? Fired - yes. Teaching license revoked - yes.
Jail? Ridiculous over-reaction.

 

I think they deserve prison, TBH.

This wasn't a few teachers "teaching to the test."

This wasn't a few teachers giving "helpful hints."

This was outright fraud.

They went through test booklets and erased wrong answers.

They were the only ones to gain anything positive from the experience. They continued to get paychecks (and likely bolstered their performance appraisals with these test results). The kid, in the meantime, got rubber stamped through the system. I read about the girl who had to repeat two grades because of her inflated test scores. Can you imagine being in school and having to repeat two grades because you never learned what you needed to the first time around? And all because your teacher decided it was easier to cheat?

The system itself needs reform. That is true. But I'd rather be fired by a broken educational system for trying to do my job well and failing to meet my metrics than to keep my job by screwing over the kids I was hired to teach. These people chose the latter.

I'm glad they are going to jail. I'm glad the judge refused to allow some of them to serve "weekend sentences." And I'm hopeful that these sentences will send a message to other teachers who cheat. There is more at risk than your job.

If a teacher willfully screwed up my kid's education the only person who would have to worry about jail afterward would be me.

 

These educators', given the prosecutor’s overwhelming evidence against them, were all given the opportunity to accept a plea bargain by the Court for substantially reduced sentences via publically taking responsibility for their egregious and illegal actions. Consequently, those sentenced to prison terms had declined to concede whatsoever to their culpability (e.g., remorselessness via arrogance).

 

Regrettably Steve, too often restitution sentences handed out is not necessarily over time stringently enforced per effective follow-up through overloaded Courts and casework probation departments as a condition to alternative /probated sentencing. Even so, in this case some were given a restitution /community service sentence.

 

RICO got 'em.

 

This was on the news quite a bit in my neighborhood. In general the reaction was that the sentences were overly harsh.

 

For those of you who feel a prison sentenced is justified; shove off. Some of these guys only "made" $5k extra over a 5-10 year period and were able to keep their jobs. Sure, let's take away the $5k bonus, or double or triple that as a penalty, but all this really was was kangaroo court showboating. RICO for teachers?!?! That's supposed to be for mobsters; the prosecutors should be in jail for overreaching like that.

Oh, and by the way, check out the white school districts that were doing the same thing. No charges were brought forward and no one lost their jobs in those cases. This was just an example of the court system watering at the mouth for all the money and people they could keep employed working these ridiculous cases. And no one can take that judge in a bow tie seriously either.

Teaching is becoming one of the absolute worst careers out there from a compensation and job-satisfaction perspective. Society deserves what they get for paying teachers *almost* as well as toll booth operators or UPS drivers. This is a line in the sand where I would tell anyone considering to be a public school teacher to say NO. So you have a job that maybe pays $50k tops with a MASTER'S degree with tons of uncompensated time, and now you can get treated like a mobster if you step out of line.

Take a look at this too:

Yahoo!

 

These teachers embody the "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" ideal. They cheated on the tests, from the top down and stystemically, in order to receieve federal funds. Which they then used to give themselves "raises". That's racketeering under RICO same as a gangster.

I don't feel sorry for any of them because they were all given the option at the last minute to plead guilty. The 10 of the would have been given weekends in jail for a year, fines, probation, community service and FIRST OFFENDER STATUS. That last part is huge because after probation was over it essentially would have been wiped off their records. All the judge wanted was for them to admit guilt and apologize. It wasn't a question of wether they did it or not because at that point they were all convicted of it. A jury decided that they were guilty. The only hope for the remaining 8 is that they could possibly say that they were afraid of losing their jobs and they were forced to stay quiet. They will lose their appeal. 1 took the deal right off the bat, 1 more took it after hearing the other sentences. 3 got 20 years with 7 to serve. The other five got less prison time. The judge told them to take the deal because they would not like his sentence.

And it all comes down to this; They had the choice not to break the law, Period. Sometimes someone must make a career choice versus committing a crime, Period.

 

So, they stole $5,000 plus the wages (from keeping their jobs through fraudulent means) for a 5-10 year period.

Sorry, thieves belong in prison.

If there were others in other school districts (regardless of the racial makeup of the district) they need to go to jail too.

According to Glassdoor.com, the typical salary for a UPS driver is $62k - $100k. That's a pretty hefty salary for lifting heavy things all day. Key difference is that UPS is a private employer and teachers are employed by the public.

Social Workers have just as much education as teachers and make even less. To top that off, some of them have to go into incredibly dangerous situations in the crappiest parts of the sketchiest cities.

And if they lie and cheat to keep their jobs, to the detriment of the people they are supposed to protect, they should go to jail as well.

And yet, I never see social workers whine as loudly or incessantly as teachers. Perhaps that's because they don't have hyper-inflated unions protecting their interests.

I have nothing against the teaching profession. I have nothing against teachers, in principle. What I have a problem with is the constant "We have masters degrees and we don't get paid enough" garbage that spews forth from them at every turn. I've never lived in an area where starting teacher salaries were below $42k. Not a bad salary fresh out of school for a 10 month year. But it isn't enough. Nope, the teachers have to strike because they don't want to pay ANY portion of their health insurance or because they don't want to have to contribute to their retirement plan or whatever the complaint of the day is.

But the constant whining, while annoying, is certainly a teacher's right. What is not a teacher's right is to lie and cheat so that you can steal wages and bonuses. Teachers do not have the right to rob my children of an education so that they can keep their jobs. This isn't "stepping out of line" this is fraud. This is theft. This is setting children's education back by YEARS so that you can collect a paycheck and bank years toward your own retirement. That doesn't make a person a mobster. But it does make their actions just as criminal.

Don't like it? Apply to UPS. Apply anywhere. Go out and do something where you won't be tempted to screw children over just to "get by."

The system is broken. But that doesn't give anyone a license to further exploit the system.

These people are going to jail. And when they get out, they will be looking for jobs in the non-education sector with felony convictions on their records. If their wages were just so oppressively low, then they should have little issue finding something of comparable pay.

 

Everyone, yourself included, is allowed to hold and express their own opinions as long as they do so in a respectful manner, right?

 

These purported educators made choices … illegal choices! And because of their choosing … the justice system has held them accountable under the statute of law. Selective prosecution; I don’t know AND neither do you Doc. Even if so … the perpetrators where duly prosecuted and consequently convicted by a jury of their peers; such is our judicial process (conceding not a flawless system). All the same, your comments remind me of the widespread justification /dismissive maxim … everyone does it … therefore no one should be chargeable.

PS Where is your evidence re “white” school districts, and without consequences, were /are doing the same that support your accusation?

PPS Clearly I disagree with your sentencing contention Doc; I have that latitude. Using your exact approach though: Why don’t you contemplate incorporating your own mention and … e.g., shove-off …?

 

December 2008
An AJC investigation highlights suspect scores on the state Criterion-Referenced Competency Test in five elementary schools, including one in Atlanta. APS responds that it has no plans to investigate.

Feb. 2009
Beverly Hall is named the national Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators, which credits her for rising test scores and graduation rates. The group called Atlanta “a model of urban school reform.”

June 2009
A state investigation finds strong evidence of cheating on retests at one Atlanta school and three in other districts.

July 2009
The state Board of Education throws out math retest results from four schools, including Atlanta’s Deerwood Academy, despite Superintendent Beverly Hall’s statement that external investigators found no evidence of tampering.

August 2009
Hall describes APS as a model urban school district with double-digit test score gains. An AJC investigation shows the district fails to scrutinize many allegations of test cheating.

Oct. 2009
An AJC analysis shows statistically improbable increases on the state tests in a year’s time at a dozen Atlanta schools and seven others statewide. Hall and her aides say they don’t believe there was cheating.

Nov. 2009
Hall announces that national experts will review test scores at schools that recorded extraordinary improvements.

Feb. 2010
The state Board of Education orders districts to investigate 191 schools statewide for potential cheating, including the 58 in Atlanta.

March 2010
LaChandra Butler Burks, chairwoman of the Atlanta school board, announces a “Blue Ribbon Commission” will oversee the district’s cheating investigation and that its members will be chosen from recommendations by the board, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and the nonprofit Atlanta Education Fund, a district advocacy group.

July 2010
The state board threatens to punish the district if it does not submit a report on its investigation by Aug. 2. The AJC reports that the APS panel looking into reports of cheating had ties to Hall or to the district, and that central office administrators took part in questioning potential witnesses.

Aug. 2010
After initially refusing to accept the Blue Ribbon Commission’s finding of cheating, the Atlanta school board relents. The commission concludes that cheating occurred at just 12 schools. The AJC reports that APS’ chosen investigators scrutinized fewer than half of the 58 schools in question. Gov. Sonny Perdue announces that special investigators will look into the cheating scandal.

Oct. 2010
Fifty GBI agents begin questioning Atlanta teachers and administrators about whether they falsified test results.

Nov. 2010
A study largely confirming the AJC’s 2009 analysis finally comes to light, months after Hall received drafts. Hall announces she will retire in June.

Dec. 2010
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard appoints two special prosecutors for a criminal probe of Atlanta schools. Allegations include possible felony charges of lying to agents or investigators and the destruction or altering of public documents. The AJC reports that Hall and other APS officials carried out a broad campaign over two years to suppress mounting allegations of widespread cheating.

Feb. 2011
State investigators say they uncovered a pattern of intimidation, threats and retaliation against APS employees who report cheating or other improprieties. They tell the district to drop plans to do its own cheating analysis, saying it would interfere with the governor’s special investigation. After the district refuses, a judge orders it to stop its internal probe.

June 2011
The AJC reports that a former high-ranking district official says Hall ordered the destruction of investigative documents detailing systematic cheating and ordered subordinates to omit adverse findings. At month’s end, Beverly Hall retires after 12 years with APS.

July 2012
Within days, specially appointed state investigators cite a wide range of cheating violations and organized and systemic misconduct in APS. Their report names 178 teachers, principals and administrators at 44 Atlanta schools. Eighty educators confessed to cheating, according to the report. Davis said most of the educators named in the report will remain on the payroll as the district decides what to do next. That same month, interim school superintendent Erroll Davis takes over.

Feb. 2012
APS officials tell educators implicated in the state report they have one day to resign or face firing. “I do not intend to issue contracts to anyone who has not been exonerated,” Superintendent Erroll Davis says. “I’ve made a commitment to parents that people who committed cheating, whether knowingly or unknowingly, will not be put in front of children until they are exonerated.”

March 2012
The Atlanta school district begins disciplinary tribunals for educators accused of cheating who want to appeal their dismissals. The educators also face suspension or revocation of their teaching licenses by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. The PSC says it won’t hear appeals in the cases until the district attorney completes the criminal investigation.

June 2012
APS announces that 12 educators named in the investigation can return to the classroom after it determined there was not enough evidence to fire them.

July 2012
Cheryl Twyman, former principal at West Manor Elementary, becomes the first accused principal to be reinstated into a school district job after a year on paid administrative leave. The district determined there was insufficient evidence to prove that she violated any testing protocol. She receives a position at the central office.

Dec. 2012
The Atlanta school board votes 7-2 to renew the contract of Superintendent Erroll Davis, whose current contract expires in June. The 18-month contract extension gives the board an out if it votes to hire a replacement superintendent. Davis has said he does not want the job long-term.

March 2013
Of the 178 people implicated in the state investigative report, 21 educators have been reinstated and three people are still awaiting tribunal appeals, said APS spokesman Stephen Alford. About 150 educators resigned, retired or lost their appeals to retain their jobs.

Sept 2013
Tamara Cotman, who oversaw 21 north Atlanta schools, is found not guilty of trying to influence a witness after a 3-week trial. Cotman still faces racketeering charges. Prosecutors were hoping to make Cotman’s case a test-run of their arguments.

Oct. 2013
Defendant Lisa Terry, a former Humphreys Elementary teacher, apologizes for her actions and pleads guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction, agreeing to testify for the prosecution.

Dec. 2013
Armstead Salters, a principal at C.L. Gideons Elementary for three decades, pleads guilty to a felony count of making false statements and writings. Prosecutors say it was an “open secret” that cheating had been going on at Gideons for years.

Feb. 2014
Millicent Few, a former APS human resources director, pleads guilty to misdemeanor malfeasance in office. Few is expected to testify that Beverly Hall ordered the destruction of internal investigative reports.

Feb. 2014
Of the original 35 educators indicted, 21 choose to enter guilty pleas by the deadline, leaving 13 to stand trial (one defendant passes away while waiting trial).

March 2014
Lawyers for Beverly Hall say that she is suffering from Stage IV breast cancer and is too ill to stand trial.

April 2014
It’s revealed that prosecutors and lawyers for Hall tried to work out a deal where she would plead guilty to a single felony charge in exchange for probation. Sources familiar with the negotiations say the deal fell through over the issue of admitting wrongdoing.

April 2014
Two cancer experts disagree on whether Beverly Hall can withstand a trial. The emotional hearing includes an outburst by former Mayor Andrew Young.

July 2014
Judge Jerry Baxter says the trial can take no more delays and sets the trial for August for the remaining 12 defendants, without Beverly Hall.

March 2, 2015
Beverly Hall dies of breast cancer at 68.

March 16, 2015
Attorneys give closing statements.

March 19, 2015
Jury gets the case to consider

April 1, 2015
Jury returns guilty verdicts for conspiracy and other felony charges for 11 of the defendants. Only former teacher Dessa Curb walked away with no convictions. The others are led out in handcuffs and booked into jail.

 

Thank you for providing the chronology of events! The justice system can take an extraordinary amount of time, thoroughness, and committed resources in response to pursue the truth in the service of justice; in finality per this case … via conclusive evidence. This process could not remotely be considered as a kneejerk reaction and/or witch-hunt by investigators or prosecutors …

 

03310151 - thanks for that thorough history! Did you write that or is it online somewhere? I'd like to send it to someone.

 

My apologies, I should have quoted the article. I was reading about this in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. I'm looking it up again now and will provide you with the link.

Here's the link: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/a-timeline-of-how-the-atlanta-school-cheating-scan/nkkLH/

I love how Doc Duodenum puts up a Yahoo "Article" as proof of something. The title of that article was; "The Biggest Outrage in Atlanta’s Crazy Teacher Cheating Case" Guess what the biggest outrage was? Your guess, mine, and most people of sound mind was- "Children" No...not to this author...no-no-no...Children? No, the biggest outrage was people from the Mortgage crisis did not go to jail. Children? What a couple of schmucks we are. Here we are thinking about what these kids have to go through (and their parents too) with this stuff...no apparently the real outrage is...Mortgages.

Children are mentioned once in that Yahoo article. Once.

 

It was a witch hunt. Anyone that's done the research on APS can only shake their heads. APS is still broken. It's still underfunded. It's still treated like a "second class citizen" when it comes to school districts. Judge Baxter is normally pretty tough on defendants but he went way over board on this one. They deserved to get punished. Their punishment simply doesn't fit the conduct. People who try and kill (attempted murder) someone have gotten lighter sentences. Drug dealers have be sentenced to less time. For Paul Howard to even charge them with RICO...mindblowing. The media was involved though so someone had to be made an example of and it was them.

The deal that was offered was terrible. Yes, it had a reduced jail time but you lose your right to appeal. With a 6 month trial you would be near crazy to take that deal when 1) the DA is recommending 3 years and 2) you're probably going to get an appeal bond.