The Federal government has billions of dollars to distribute to local school districts. But if schools want the cash they’ve got to play the game and ensure their indoctrination centers meet federal education standards, even if it means manipulating test scores for students who haven’t made the grade.
It’s about the money; nothing more:
In one of the biggest cheating scandals of its kind in the U.S., 11 former Atlanta public school educators were convicted Wednesday of racketeering for their role in a scheme to inflate students’ scores on standardized exams.
The defendants – including teachers, a principal and other administrators – were accused of falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs in the 50,000-student Atlanta school system.
The educators fed answers to students or erased and changed the answers on tests after they were turned in to secure promotions or up to $5,000 each in bonuses, the court was told.
…
The 11 will all be sentenced on April 8 and could face up to 20 years in prison for the racketeering charges.
They were all found guilty under the the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, which is typically reserved for major mobsters and organized crime bosses.
…
‘This is a huge story and absolutely the biggest development in American education law since forever,’ said University of Georgia law professor Ron Carlson.
‘It has to send a message to educators here and broadly across the nation. Playing with student test scores is very, very dangerous business.’
It it any wonder why the American education system is so broken that mediocrity has become the norm? The culture within these schools is teaching our children that success should be punished, failure is rewarded, and deceit is an appropriate strategy for getting ahead.
The outcome here is the best education students can get. If you lie, cheat and rob your way to the top you go to prison.
Now if we could just get a few hundred more RICO indictments into the pipeline in Washington D.C. we might actually change the trajectory of this country for the better.
Those people all seem to have something in common but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Must just be that they are teachers.
In any event, I hope they were arrested and hauled off in front of their students, a practical lesson about real life for them.
Just because an intellectually honest person verbally states the observation that they are all black does not make that intellectually honest person a racist.
I too seem to think there is a pattern but like Sharon and FreeSlave I just can’t understand what it may be. Ah, I got it, they are all from Atlanta. Hope this problem is confined to that area.
BigB
Not a white face in the lot. Just an observation.
Quite a bit if celebration here that the only teachers engaged in gaming test scores to meet minimum requirements in Georgia are seemingly black… yeah right!
So, 20 years for fraud based on $5000 bonuses… seems to me there were plenty of whites on Wall Street guilty of $hundreds of billions in fraud (and $hundreds of millions in bonuses as a result), but they get to use corporate funds (usually tax deductible) to pay fines… and not one was even charged.
So, any comments on the “life lesson” in that one Sharron?
There should be no Federal Department of Education or Federal Environmental Protection Agency for starters. Leave it up to the states.
Feel free to add to the list of Federal agencies that we don’t need and create more problems than they solve.
I wonder what Beverly Hall would have gotten if she had not died, she was a sorts of ringleader here…
Right, there should be no Fed. Dept. of Education.
There is no constitutional right to an education. You have the right to educate yourself, you do not have the right to force someone to educate you.
This probably goes on throughout the nation, they just happen to get caught.
Cut them lose. This whole scenario is INSANE. Expecting teachers to magically make smart kids in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. What kind of nonsense federale is asking for that. The ONLY measure should be improvement for these schools. If you don’t agree then you have not been to an inner city elementary school. The incoming upper middle class kid can read some BEFORE entering Kindergarten whereas the lower income kid doesn’t even know how to count, and often can’t even speak English. Simply different needs for different kids. The federale apparently put unreal expectations on these people. The only goal for them should be to get these kids to a functional level. Its just not realistic to expect kids 2-3 years behind their peers to catch up in 2-3 years. Only an idiot would think “No Child Left Behind” would work (or a crook, probably the latter based on what I’ve seen of the school [non-5 food group, nutrient deficient] lunch program. Schools are a racket. That’s why my state is breaking the backbone of the local county racketeers by promoting charter schools. They even promoted vouchers but of course got sued by the incompetents.
vtfree2….so you seem to be saying, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him THINK”?
How about the right to not have an Education at all. We have forced education. And most people are for that. Very few understand freedom.
Did I miss something here? Shouldn’t the government be indicted as well? Did these teachers not inflate test scores for “FEDERAL CASH AND PROMOTIONS?” They were probably told do this or lose your job!
If local schooling is to be wrangled from ‘federal’ capture, then ‘supplemental education’ needs to be undertaken by men and women on Common Law Practice in order to reclaim control over our local courthouses.
In Common Law, a man, a woman and their progeny are Private Property, each of the other. Private Property can only be asserted and defended by the man or woman so claiming, not any designee or representative.
“Court: The person and suit of the sovereign; the place where the sovereign sojourns with his regal retinue, wherever that may be.” –Black’s L.D., 6th Ed. Ab, pg. 247
The people of this State, as the successors of its former sovereign, are entitled to all the rights which formerly belonged to the King by his prerogative. [Lansing v. Smith, 4 Wend. 9 (N.Y.) (1829), 21 Am. Dec. 89 10C Const. Law Sec. 298; 18 C Em.Dom. Sec. 3, 228; 37 C Nav.Wat. Sec. 219; Nuls Sec. 167; 48 C Wharves Sec. 3, 7.]
“The very meaning of ‘sovereignty’ is that the decree of the sovereign makes law.” [American Banana Co. v. United Fruit Co., 29 S.Ct. 511, 513, 213 U.S. 347, 53 L.Ed. 826, 19 Ann.Cas. 1047]
Thus, ‘my People suffer for lack of knowledge’.
Hmmm, are ya seein a trend there?
Just sayin
Atlanta is about 55% black, but the defendants are 100% black. Merely an observation.
I’m a betting they are all Democrats!
I bet they were thinking they could get away with it because they are ethiopeans.
obama supporters! I wonder how many times in each of his elections they voted for him to make a little extra money. Affirmative action, isn’t it great!!!!
I surprised you can read. Considering, all you do is make boot legged alcohol in the woods. LOL!!!
how rude
Kula,
did you mean that they learned to be crooked just like our person in the whitehouse?? just wondering if maybe they took lessons from him!
This countries education system is a joke,states need to keep monies in states and not allow the feds to control education(among many other things!).These so called teachers have done what those in govt. and business do every day,cheat and steal,the only surprise to me is any got caught and actually prosecuted,glad they were but rico is a bad joke itself.
big deal
Wall Street steals that kinda money in a microsecond
govt will always go after the low hanging fruit
just to give the appearance that they are really doing something
What? No White People.
Calling Jesse and Al.
Standardized Tests. Are they below the grade being Tested? Still have to give the answers to students so they pass.
Has nothing to do with prepping except that we may have to fight “FUNCTIONAL ILLITERITS” in the future.
The misspelling of “functional illiterits” was intentional, right? Often sarcasm doesn’t convey well in the comments sections.
Question: how many of the students evolved here excelled in SPORTS and where are they NOW!
If they had to do it to “keep their jobs,” then there are people higher up who need to be arrested.
This is a direct result of common core .
Teaching to the test .
Everything is about the test scores .
No surprise here , I’m sure this kinda corruption is rampant.
This is NOT a direct result of common core. Have you even looked into what common core tests look like? You can’t just give answers. Geez…most of the tests are digital and require not just picking A, B, C or D. Past STATE tests are like that. Common core is not.
Honestly…people complain so much about common core but they are only complaining about what they don’t understand. Media, ALL media, is heavily biasing what common core standards are about. Go read the common core standards. I have, in depth. Honestly, the standards aren’t some tin hat, conspiracy. They will require kids to think and apply knowledge. How is that a problem?
Full of shit. They have themes in the lessons that often slant liberal. Also, the way they insist that a child think through math problems is like the person that travels from Ga to TN via Omaha. Please stop with the bullshit propaganda. Fed oversight of schools has not done a damn thing positive for the kids. More money and less to show for it each generation. Damn. Honestly.
Brilliant anti-Common Core Speech by Dr. Duke Pesta
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si-kx5-MKSE
You obviously don’t have any kids in school or if you do then you are definatly the type
That not only sends them to school but then daycare for dinner of mcdonalds
And then home just in time to get tucked in.
Go get a life because those of us that do have kids in school(even though we may
Want to home school) fight every dam day for teachers to teach everything
About a holiday. Never mind all the math and so called science or made up
History too.
holy cow…ridiculous. Not only do I have children, but I am an educator and I take my job very seriously. I work countless hours, hours that I don’t get to spend with my own kids, to ensure that my students truly LEARN from my classroom. I have my students apply their knowledge, challenge what they read, build, create, think… I don’t teach them ONLY the standards…that is merely a framework. And good educators know this. Good educators craft the experience in the classroom around these standards and provide amazing opportunities for kids to learn.
Don’t assume that all kids want to learn. You have NO idea what it is like for teachers. I have seen HORRIFIC things in schools and it is usually from students whose parents should be behind bars. It’s really easy to blame the teachers because God help us if we think that parents or students might be the problem. You have no idea how many useless parents I have dealt with…and their lack of caring for their own child leads to having kids that yell at teachers, threaten them, hurt other kids, ruin the classroom environment so others can’t learn…and we teachers can only do so much because these same parents will threaten to sue the school if we suspend their kids. They get their kid tested for every single learning disability in the book because they aren’t willing to accept that their kid is lazy and chooses not to learn.
If you want to be angry with someone, be angry with useless parents who are raising kids that will follow the same behavior as their useless parents.
It is people like you that make good teachers wonder why we work so hard if we’re only going to micromanaged by every damn person out there. Do you go to your doctor and tell them how to assess your vitals? How to do surgery? Do you tell your kids’ dentist how to do their job? No? Then let us do our jobs. You sure would hate it if we came to your work place and micromanaged the hell out of you.
So before you guys keep verbally assaulting all educators, I challenge you to think that maybe, JUST maybe, not all educators are horrible. Not all educators teach standards only. I encourage you all to truly read the standards. If you have any questions about common core I’d be happy to answer those questions. I’d be happy to engage in any conversation about education. I’m an open book.
If you think you can teach all topics, then by all means home-school your child. But I am and expert in my field (a former researcher so I bring the real deal to my classroom) and I deliver an amazing curriculum and learning experience to the kids. I would politely ask you not to talk crap about me or my kids. I don’t judge you for wanting to home-school your kid. So don’t judge me for trying to put a positive impact on thousands of kids lives, including my own children.
If you don’t like the educational system, then get your kids out of it. If you think you can do the job better, then become a teacher. If not, then shut up and let me do my job.
Kynase, how do you get away with teaching the real deal. And are you sure you teach the real deal. If you are a history teacher I bet you are not close.
Charles king…the kids love my class and the parents sing my praises. Administration doesn’t dare challenge what I do because it works. I’ve turned kids away from drugs and into engineering. I’ve helped abused children find the light in the darkness and reclaim their lives.
I teach science but within the science I incorporate history and english and math. And, in truth, I tell them that their books are slanted and full of misinformation. That’s why I don’t teach from a book. I bring them multiple perspectives and we discuss the implications of findings. Heck, I teach them about solar flairs and quakes, emps and other disasters. This leads to conversations about grid down scenarios and how they should talk to their family about bug out bags and not 72 hour kits…but 2 week home kits. If I hear them talking about something in history class I always bring the alternative spin. Or, I often times bring up fiat currency and the stock market while they are doing labs. You see, I want great American citizens coming out of my classroom. I want to see amazing community members that are willing to give back and not just take.
Kynase, will you tell us where you teach. I find your claims hard to believe. Are you at a small town school? Is the administration really afraid to cross you? Science is fairly cut and dry. Kind of hard to get to far out of line there. Are you able to slip in some tidbits of info that get under the radar or are you openly teaching what goes against the govt agenda.
charles king…I teach in a big school district in California. Administration has never had a problem with what I do. I wouldn’t say that admin is afraid to cross me, but they have no reason to get upset with my methodology. I don’t step on the toes…they don’t get complaints about me in the office. There is no huge conspiracy at the school I’m at and I absolutely feel supported by the admin team.
My students always do well on state tests, but are independent thinkers. I have no fear and do not fear teaching truth. I fear only one person and that is God. Sure, you can argue that science is cut and dry but you would be surprised with how much is left out of the text in regards to science. Heck, I loved the fact my students picked out the contradiction the authors made in an article I had them read the other day. I help my students recognize trends, not only in science, but in graphs in general…which allows them to start picking up patterns in the stock market. Do all of them get it? No…but they are learning how to look for patterns and to analyze data.
Now, I don’t teach anti-govt…I teach students to challenge what they hear and ask themselves is the evidence there to back up the claim. I love America and I love what America is supposed to stand for. I pledge the flag every day and require every student to respect the flag, whether they choose to pledge or not. I have nothing but respect for our men and women who are serving our country. I have never received any training on some great school govt agenda and if I did you’d hear it from me! Trust me, I dont live in lala unicorn land. I know that the govt has a lot of snakes in the grass. I wouldn’t allow my own children to go to public school if I thought there was some big conspiracy going on. Go talk to teachers…whatever crap people are dishing out about education is just that, crap. It is not founded on fact, only horribly biased opinion spun with tin hat conspiracy.
I am able to do all of these great things because I believe in my students and know that they have the power to make a great America again. I embed the science they need to learn, twist in common core English and math strategies. Heck I’ve had my students attempt to create the mathematical equations for a phenomena they were witnessing! The new common core math standards push for our kids to generate the equations by watching what they see/read. This is a HUGE step in the right direction in regards to thinking and applying.
Are there some issues with common core…sure. There are issues with all things under the sun. But I wouldn’t claim common core is dumbing down our kids or some great conspiracy to make our kids think like robots. If anything, common core will challenge our kids to think and create. My generation did not have this. We were told to memorize and regurgitate. Not with common core…which I believe is a good thing.
If there is some great educational govt agenda, I have not received anything on it…truthfully. If there is a teacher that has received something, I would love to see it, because niether myself or any of my coworkers have anything.
The more you talk the more clear it becomes that you are drinking the koolaid. When you are mind controlled you dont know it. If you did you wouldnt be mind controlled. Also, conformists dont have issues with their masters, because they are well they are conformists.
Well first of all if you really are a teacher which
I highly doubt…more like a gov troll but if you were
A teacher then you would understand that
Since you have my kids for 8 hrs a day then your
Dam right I’ll micromanage all day every day
How about this since you claim to be a teacher
How about you stop all the crying about how little
You make or how hard the job is and TEACH
Or get a normal job like all of us have just so
You can see how easy you really do have it
Chrissy’s sake I’m sick and tired of whiners
Be it about jobs or guns…if you don’t like it then
Move. Yeah I’m sure any administration
Will let you do anything your way too…that
Right there shows you have no clue what
Your talking about
Irish…you are no longer worth my time.
THANK G_D! I could not take another dictionary about nothing. When blacks invent SOMETHING or contribute SOMEHOW besides whining and violence let me know. Until then, shush yo mouth, boy. PS STOP BLACK VIOLENCE!
No, but you can bet all the faculty knew this was being done.
These poor black people were simply victims, forced to do what they did, by the “White Establishment”.
I’m sure that’s what Jesse and Al will be telling us on the news tonight.
Not to fear, high paying position already awaits them in the Obama administration!
every single one of them is an Obama nigra, are you surprised?
Hey congress: how about convictions for those corrupt agents who gave them the money? Unless it was YOU?
The culture within these schools is teaching our children that success should be punished, failure is rewarded, and deceit is an appropriate strategy for getting ahead.
… so you really can’t say they aren’t preparing the kids for REAL LIFE, can you?
Black.
The fact is that they did it for money in effect scamming the system. The reality is people graduate HS today that 60 years ago couldn’t get out of 8th grade. In the 1960s things started to change and they pushed through anyone that did not cause a problem.
The above just so coincidently coincides with the initial time frame for the start of US deindustrialization.
Take the education out of the states hands and this is what you get!
Sharon: I can’t quite figure it out my self but there is something there.
Sgt.
Son of a *****; what does this say for the black community??
When the graduate they automatically get an EBT and SNAP card for a diploma.
This has nothing to do with testing students, or race. It has everything to do with CYA and theft of public funds. They submitted false reports in order to avoid sanction, and obtain money.
I wonder how many failing students got a scholarship to some college based on their falsehoods?
The teachers union will foot the bill for an appeal.
“day diddin’du nuthin’s”
“once again the whiteman is trying to keep the blackman down!”
“their only crime is they aren’t jew’s!”
I pulled up a college level entrance exam circa 1900.
When I got through with it, I felt like a low grade moron, yet I scored in the top 10% on my SAT in 74.
Talking to the average high school graduate today is almost a waste of time.
Hell I have a cousin who is about 23 with a Masters degree…She can’t pour piss out of a boot with the instructions written on the bottom…Worse yet…She is a grade school teacher!
With the blind leading the blind, or as it is, the ignorant leading the ignorant…What can we expect?
The other day I met a young man in the 7th grade. After talking to him for a couple of minutes, I said “you are home schooled aren’t you”?. He said yes, and asked me how did I know…I told him he sounded like an intelligent person, and if he had been in the public system they’d a beat it out of him.
A sad state of affairs!
it may not have to do with money completely
check these links
I think it is a cover up
http://library.flawlesslogic.com/iq.htm
http://www.dailystormer.com/how-is-it-possible-that-africans-have-an-average-iq-of-70/
http://drjamesthompson.blogspot.ca/2014/03/what-does-iq-70-mean-for-black-and.html
HEY GET YOUR ONLINE COPY OF ‘THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK’ AND AL-CIA-DUH’S BOMB MAKING ‘INSPIRE MAGAZINE’ NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN!”
cause the zog amerika head jewess herself ca. senator diane fuglystein from commie cali is trying to have the books erased from the internet completely.
i got mine a long time ago , both books are worth having backed up to your shtf library.
You will hurt or kill yourself with that cookbook. I have read it, and it’s a waste of disk space, except for entertainment.
There are much better sources for that kind of information.
This is the result of creating a perception of a “PRIVILEGED CLASS” by legislating the idea of “HATE CRIMES.” We already have a long list of crimes. Naming something a “HATE CRIME” is an effort to suggest it is worse to hurt this person in stead of that person. That just creates a privileged class that think they can get away with anything.
I live in a exurban area outside Atlanta. There is a lot of poverty in my child’s school as well as in the Atlanta School System itself. About 50% of kids in GA qualify for free and reduced meals. When there is wide spread poverty, in many cases there is so much more that a teacher has to overcome in teaching a child. A lot of these kids come into K not even knowing what a letter or number is and the curriculum is such these days it kids need to be reading come K or they have a hard time catching up and keeping up. Schools around here are having to meet basic needs like sending kids home with food, scrounging up winter coats, etc. Teachers are meant to teach, not fix whats wrong with the kids home life so they can learn. While I dont condone their actions, I can imagine those teachers, dealing with student populations of close to 100% minority and free meals feeling like they were between a rock and a hard place. Common Core and the associated tests are just going to make incidents like this more common.
These sub-par teachers/bureaucrats are just practicing what they were taught. You know. … ‘job’ the system.
You don’t think they rose to their positions on merit, do you? Haha! That’s a hot one!
They were appointed via quota system. Duh.
As a teacher, I think they should not only be forced to pay back the bonuses but the entire salaries of the years they did this. I teach in one of the remaining good systems with great teachers, but we are far and few between. A lot of things can be blamed for our schools, but it all boils down to 2 words – political correctness.
Do you ever wonder why the morals of our young are slipping?
Follow the money……they be gettin theirs!
Diversity Stinks
all of us lie to keep our jobs. this is a comment on the system.Not these individuals. how will these people eat or support themselves without a job in our corporate dictatorship. these people are probably heroes not villians. freedom project.