Former Teacher Blames Education Policymakers For Atlanta Cheating Scandal
In 2015, a verdict was delivered on the cheating scandal in Atlanta Public Schools.
A 2011 Georgia state report found unethical behavior in the school system, including teachers and principals changing wrong answers on standardized tests. Two years later, a grand jury indicted the Atlanta school superintendent and 34 other educators. Some agreed to lesser charges; 12 eventually went to trial, and all but one of them were found guilty of racketeering in 2015 — a felony charge often used to prosecute the mafia.
Shani Robinson was one of those found guilty, but has continued to maintain her innocence. In an interview, she says she could not take a plea deal, even though she was pregnant during the trial (and gave birth shortly after it).
"Because I know that I'm on the right side of justice," Robinson says. "And I even get emotional talking about it. But the thought of being blamed for something that I did not do is horrifying. ... Here I was facing 25 years in prison for something that I didn't do, and I felt like if I was on the right side of justice, that one day I would be vindicated. That was the moment that I decided that I would never take a plea deal."
She is free now, pending appeal, and in the meantime has made her case in a new book, written with Anna Simonton. It's called None of the Above: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal, Corporate Greed, and the Criminalization of Educators. CONTINUE READING: In New Book, Former Atlanta Teacher Blames Education Policy For Cheating Scandal : NPR
None of the Above
The Untold Story of the Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal, Corporate Greed, and the Criminalization of Educators
Hardcover, 256 pages
purchase