Atlanta Teacher RICO Conviction is Blood Sacrifice to the Testocracy
Make no mistake.
The conviction of 11 former Atlanta public school teachers for cheating on students standardized tests has little to do with what these people actually did or didn’t do.
It is meant as a message for the entire education profession: if you cheat on standardized tests, you will be given the harshest possible punishment!
Don’t get me wrong. These people deserve punishment. They easily deserve to be stripped of their teaching certifications and to return the bonuses they received for engaging in this activity.
However, they are each looking at a potential 20 year jail sentence for essentially making copies, erasing pencil marks on paper and filling in different bubbles.
This is absurd.
It’s only possible because they were charged with and found guilty of racketeering. You know, the same charge we use against organized crime!
The justification given was that bonuses and raises were awarded to the former educators based on test scores. Prosecutors characterized this behavior as participation in a massive criminal conspiracy and charged the former teachers with violating the state’s RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act.
I’m not surprised that the state of Georgia tried to use this statute against these people. I am shocked, however, that it held up in court.
These defendants have been charged and found guilty of the same crime as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and theGambino Crime Family.
Changing standardized test answers to make it appear students are doing better than they really are is certainly a crime, but is it really on the same level as the mafia!? Is it the same as extortion, money laundering, loan sharking, obstruction of justice and bribery?
Because those are the crimes usually prosecuted with a RICO charge!
One thing is certain: it’s worse than murder.
According to Georgia law, actually killing somebody will get you a less severe sentence than cheating on standardized tests!
The mandatory sentence for second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in the state is only 10 years in prison. Involuntary manslaughter and assisted suicide will get you 5 years.
Heck! Even a first degree murder charge leaves you eligible for parole in 30 years! That’s only 10 years more than cheating on a bubble test!
Again, this has nothing to do with what these defendants did. It’s a message to the rest of us.
These people – all of whom are people of color – are being offered as a blood sacrifice on the altar of the testing gods.
Those of a reflective nature have already suggested that what this scandal really shows isn’t the danger of cheating so much as the problems of high stakes testing.
When you hold educators and schools responsible for student test scores, you create an environment rife for cheating. When you threaten to close schools and/or fire educators and/or withhold pay based on factors out of an individual’s Atlanta Teacher RICO Conviction is Blood Sacrifice to the Testocracy | EduBloggers: