Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal: Investigations Temporarily Suspended

Georgia's teacher licensing agency has temporarily halted investigations of nearly 180 educators implicated in the Atlanta Public Schools' widespread cheating scandal.

The hearings suspension results from a request by Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, who is concerned that the Georgia Professional Standards Commission's investigations could get in the way of his own criminal investigation into the scandal, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

"While our preference would be to continue our work without interruption, this is a reasonable request, and we will support it," PSC spokesperson Rick Eiserman said.

A spokesperson for Howard did not immediately respond to a request by the Associated Press for comment.

The hearings stem from one of the largest teacher cheating scandals in history. Over the summer, a report -- the product of a two-year investigation -- named 180 APS employees in nearly half of the district's 100 schools as involved in test tampering that involuted standardized test scores.

The commission will resume hearing cases in January and aims to finish hearing the 180 cases by May, WSB-TV reports.

In the first sanctions imposed in the Atlanta cheating scandal, the PSC decided to revoke the teaching licenses of eight teachers and three school administrators. The eight teachers can reapply for their licenses in two years, but the sanctions against the administrators are permanent.

Comments

[yesiamaconservative]

10:05 PM on 11/09/2011

The (artificial/fraudulent) high scores of Atlanta school children enabled Superintendent Beverly L. Hall to collect $600,000 in PERFORMANCE BONUSES over her 10 years in ADDITION TO HER $400,000 annual salary. Twice she got awarded Superintendent of the Year" ... Hall and her staff created a culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation that concealed a conspiracy that went unreported for years. Those who dared to report concerns abut cheating were held in contempt and punished, often with termination. Halls message was "get those scores up by any means necessary" - Please watch this story folks to make sure she's not given a slap on the wrist when others get fired ...

[montanasian]

10:44 PM on 11/02/2011

Why are there so many defending or rationalizing the cheaters? Some posts, rightfully so, believe there has been alot of arm twisting from the administration-probably. Probably alot of vested interests corrupting the process to get some money. Well no matter how one wants to spin, twist, explain, produce red herrings, whatever, would the teachers, principals, etc. accept the same line of bs from a student cheating on a test. What happened to personal responsibility? Character? Honor? How can one teach and be trusted ever again. Its a tough pill to swallow. So how far will the explanations go. Or is it always someone elses fault!

[Libbybucker]

09:07 PM on 11/01/2011

So these are the kind of bottom dwellers we have educating the children? Why don't they do their job, and actually educate them, rather than cheat for them? There are a lot of competent people out there looking for work. Time to replace those worthless teachers!

[OMEGA MAN]

12:41 PM on 11/01/2011

There are no teachers unions in Georgia. You know that, right ?

[cathyjs]

12:55 PM on 11/01/2011

Wrong.

Georgia Association Of Educators

Atlanta Federation Of Teachers

American Federation Of Teachers

http://www.teachersunionexposed.com/state.cfm?state=GA

[yesiamaconservative]

09:59 PM on 11/09/2011

HA! Caught again with a LIE ... as correctly by cathyjs ... why do you just make things up? Oh - you're a dopey lib. and since any means justifies the end with your politics ... another lib bites the dust ... too funny ...

[CrawfishFestival]

09:09 PM on 10/31/2011

In the first sanctions imposed in the Atlanta cheating scandal, the PSC decided to revoke the teaching licenses of eight teachers and three school administrators. The eight teachers can reapply for their licenses in two years, but the sanctions against the administrators are permanent.

******
They all should be fired - permanently!

[frdafury]

03:12 AM on 11/01/2011

They were...no matter their guilt level.

[deanleto]

12:02 PM on 11/01/2011

can we also investigate the conditions that would lead teachers to do this?

this did NOT happen in a vacuum.

[Libbybucker]

09:13 PM on 11/01/2011

More free government money, what else?

[BlueZoo]

08:22 PM on 10/31/2011

Howard is a stand-up D.A. and a good man. He is looking into the fact that many of these administrators and teachers received tax payer dollars for achievements they didn't make. It's fraud! Kudos to Howard!

[JustJoy7]

08:03 PM on 10/31/2011

NCLB was a devastating blow to education, mainly because it was a one size fits all formula. It is ludicrous to mandate that every child perform the same in this kind of formula. Just like clothes, shoes, etc. are not one-size-fits-all...impossible...the same is true of mental capability. I wear size 6/8 clothes. There's no way you can give me a size 2 or 24 and say if it doesn't fit, you fail.

Yes, there was ungodly pressure placed upon the teachers here in Georgia, with all kinds of threats of consequences. This does not say anyone should cheat. You need to know the whole story. It would have been true if ALL the current teachers had been fired and a total restaffing had taken place in the entire system. Short of that, who would have been placed to teach the students? NCLB had unreachable requirements. Another Bush administration hatchet job.

Trust me, it wasn't just Atlanta Public Schools. It's a problem nationwide and should be fixed. It might surprise all you people out there that love to pass judgement on trained teachers that while there are some bad teachers, it's not as rampant as portrayed. Wouldn't it be nice if politicians had to have some training for their jobs? After all, they are responsible for all laws that govern all people in the country. God help that they can pull up out of a plumbing pipe and qualify for such responsibility.

[CrawfishFestival]

09:39 PM on 10/31/2011

There is rampant corruption - because of teachers' unions - that prevents non-performing teachers from being terminated.

"Teachers" in the New Orleans Public School System were on the payroll for decades - while out on sick leave, never having a medical evaluation, and never walking back into the classroom.
This caused the QUOTA of (working) teachers that could be hired for a school - to be misrepresented - resulting in NO teachers for some classes - because of MIA teachers collecting a payroll check without ever teaching a class, entering a classroom, to perform their jobs.
The Mayor's aunt was discovered to be on the payroll - under her maiden name - able to draw checks and cash them - and had nothing to do - as a "teacher" or an"employee" - with the New Orleans Public School system - except to be part of padding the expenses.

These are just some of the reasons that the school children in New Orleans - were uneducated - and had the LOWEST ratings - because the Mayor, his family members and political allies were using the New Orleans Public School System as a Free Cash Resourvoir - and were being protected by a corrupt School Board president - (who is now serving prison time for bribery).

This former Mayor is now President of the Urban League - whose stated misson is education, healthcare, housing - for te black community = all things that were lacking - in his 8-year term as Mayor

[frdafury]

03:16 AM on 11/01/2011

And like in any organization, there are successful people who can use the organization for their personal gain and there are people who honestly work for what is right. As for your blanket statement about teacher unions, I think you really have no idea what you are talking about. Yes, you show definite anger but as far as claiming every person in a union is "bad" (which is what you imply), you show nothing but poor judgement on your part. I would not be happy working around a person like you in any capacity. Now let your head explode since I don't agree with you.

[deanleto]

12:05 PM on 11/01/2011

none of your evidence points to incompetent teachers, just corrupt individuals....

there is no evidence that industries with unions are more corrupt than those without....

try connecting up evidence with your assertions a tad better, and people might take your ideas more seriously.

[WillyC]

07:53 PM on 10/31/2011

Administrators are behind most of this, I'll bet.

[Fattonecat]

08:09 PM on 10/31/2011

They are. They're the ones that are mostly concerned about getting their allotment of "performance based" funding. They probably found a way to skim some off the top.

[JuanJeremy]

07:42 PM on 10/31/2011

180 teachers? thats pretty widespread

[VikingQuest]

07:09 PM on 10/31/2011

Fire these teachers now!

Nothing more and nothing less is acceptable.

[WillyC]

07:51 PM on 10/31/2011

Are you not presuming innocence until proven guilty in a court of law? That's the American way.

[skittle]

08:24 PM on 10/31/2011

I agree Willy, at least for criminal charges. As far as employment is concerned, the threshold is less.

[CrawfishFestival]

09:45 PM on 10/31/2011

@ Viking:

Looks like everyone wants to give the "teachers" a Free Pass for participating in cheating - to get at the cash allotments = Fraud.

Any one of these teachers could have reported what was expected of them - to law enforcement authorities - long before their cheating parties became social events.

But since it was rampant across the nation, the common thread that everyone had for these scheming activities = UNIONS.

I hope these teachers and administrators reveal the role that their Unions had in it all - o we can do something about some of these Unions operating as Crime Syndicates.

[gibraltar]

06:59 PM on 10/31/2011

You can bet every dollar you have that people at the very top either gave orders or put tremendous pressure on teachers to falsify grades.

[skittle]

08:19 PM on 10/31/2011

You don't know that but what you do know is the teachers didn't have to do it. There may be fault elsewhere but if the allegations are true, the teachers cheated and lied.

[frdafury]

03:28 AM on 11/01/2011

Nor do you know that the teachers had no choice in not doing it in fear for their lively hood. Misplaced fear since this has ultimately come and bit them in the butt. Still, being this judgmental makes you no better than the administrators who ordered this to be done. Who knows better? Those in the classroom every day or those who want unrealistic accountability? Please support your answer.

[Grogger]

12:41 PM on 11/01/2011

Bingo!

[kmichal2000]

06:46 PM on 10/31/2011

Don't let unions investigate.
They are liars and will try to cover it up.

[CrawfishFestival]

09:49 PM on 10/31/2011

I think Unions devised these scheming activities - across the nation - to assist teachers and administrators to get a FREE MONEY that they did not "earn" = Widespread Fraud.

How else could these teachers in different cities get it going - w their administrators - without any oversight?

[frdafury]

03:29 AM on 11/01/2011

I see you have been drinking the Kool-aid. Mighty tasty I bet.

[VoteThemAllOut]

06:25 PM on 10/31/2011

Wonder how many union dollars now reside Georgia's teacher licensing agency pockets?

[JustJoy7]

07:43 PM on 10/31/2011

We are a Right to Work state. No union.

[frdafury]

03:30 AM on 11/01/2011

And what you should really wonder is how this benefited the people at the top monetarily. I think that is the better question and might even give you some benefit to figure out.

[proudtohaveserved]

06:10 PM on 10/31/2011

and you want to compete with Europe? IN YOUR DREAM AMERICA right now you are last in math, science and languages.

[p mersault]

05:28 PM on 10/31/2011

Free market principles don't work in education (nor in health care, for that matter) because one can't align social objectives with financial incentives. NCLB is nothing more than attempt to do this and it will fail as all other attempts to do so have.

[frdafury]

03:31 AM on 11/01/2011

Actually, it has failed horribly and lost a generation in the process.

[sydneymoon]

07:08 AM on 11/01/2011

NCLB is a miserable piece of legislation.