Saturday, June 19, 2010

100 Atlanta school employees implicated in test cheating scandal �| ajc.com

100 Atlanta school employees implicated in test cheating scandal �| ajc.com

100 Atlanta school employees implicated in test cheating scandal

AJC exclusive: Respect earned by APS, superintendent in jeopardy

By Kristina Torres

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An investigation of suspected cheating at Atlanta Public Schools has concluded that as many as 100 employees at 12 schools violated testing protocols, the chairman of a special investigative committee told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday.

Gary Price, chairman of the independent panel that was formed to investigate irregularities on state standardized tests at city schools, did not detail the violations, which could range from inadvertently violating test security rules to outright cheating. Price’s committee will release the key findings and recommendations from its exhaustive three-month inquiry on Tuesday.

"I'm outraged, primarily because I think about 50,000 kids in this system," said Price. He has also declined to name the schools where these employees work, although school names will be included in the findings, he said. "If [students] don't perform well on these tests, if we've been passing people along through the system, that's the important issue."

The committee’s release on Tuesday will be a watershed for the Atlanta system and its acclaimed superintendent, Beverly Hall. Hall will either respond to the report in a way that engenders confidence in the system or that provides more ammunition to critics who want new management.

The school system continues to win national awards — as does Hall — for closing an academic gap that appeared

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DPS board chief Otis Mathis regrets lewd act | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

DPS board chief Otis Mathis regrets lewd act | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

DPS board chief Otis Mathis regrets lewd act

Superintendent says misbehavior is intolerable

BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER
Detroit school board President Otis Mathis admitted Friday to engaging in "inappropriate actions" but tried to take back his resignation after he was accused of fondling himself during a meeting with the district superintendent.
"As you know, I have made inappropriate actions toward a professional employee of the board. I deeply regret my actions. I have apologized to the employee involved," he wrote in his letter attempting to rescind the resignation. .
He said medical issues may have contributed to the incident. "I need to pursue treatment. ... I want to make sure that what happened doesn't ever happen again."
The allegations set off a furor Friday.
"It's over. He's done. We have more important business to handle," said Carla Scott, a member of the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education. "We can't afford a circus."
DPS police were investigating allegations by Superintendent Teresa Gueyser that during a meeting Wednesday, Mathis touched himself for 20 minutes, then unzipped his pants.
Gueyser, in a memo to the board, said she ended the meeting. "I told him that there was no reason for us to continue the meeting with that behavior," she said.
Gueyser said the incident culminated a long history of inappropriate behavior. "This situation is now untenable and intolerable," she said.
Anthony Adams, vice president of the Detroit Board of Education, said the board planned to post notices that the position is open and then vote to appoint someone from Mathis' district -- District 2, which encompasses southwest Detroit.
He said the board's policy is that a resignation is deemed accepted upon submission. During a previously scheduled school board meeting Friday evening, he referred to Mathis as the former board president. Mathis attended the meeting but sat in the audience and declined to talk with reporters.
Mathis earlier had submitted a letter apologizing for his actions and attempting to take back his resignation.
Anger and shock permeated the board meeting Friday amid the allegations that Mathis had fondled himself in a one-on-one meeting with Superintendent Teresa Gueyser on Wednesday.
[Page 2 of 3]

Mathis submitted his resignation Thursday, but then wrote the board a letter seeking to rescind it. He said medical issues may have contributed to his behavior and acknowledged he might need treatment.
"However, I do not need to resign in order to take care of my health. In some ways, the health battle I am making will be better served by continuing on the board," he wrote.
Former board member Marie Thornton said she was shocked at the accusations.
"He was always friendly, he was always professional, he always spoke to me even when no other board member spoke to me. He was one of the board members I liked," she said.
Thornton is organizing to defeat efforts to give Detroit Mayor Dave Bing control of Detroit Public Schools, but said the allegations could make the effort tougher.
"This is going to make people say, 'This is why we don't need a board,' " she said. "But this is not about the board members. It's about the people's right to elect officials. My thing is not to defend this board, but the right of the people."
Longtime education activist Helen Moore said the accusations are a distraction from the board's battle to retain power.
"That issue does not mean we give up our stance on keeping the elected board," she said. "We cannot indict this whole system because of accusations with the board president."
At least one DPS board member said Friday that he has no problem with Mathis remaining on the board.
Reverend David Murray said Mathis took responsibility for his bad behavior toward Gueyser.
"He's a young man; maybe he didn't know it was offensive to her," Murray said of the 55-year-old Mathis. "It's not something I would do. He's a young man. That's just the way it is."
Other board members, including Carol Banks and Carla Scott, disagreed. Scott and Banks said there is no chance Mathis is returning to the board.
"This is not something to play with," Scott said. "This is too serious. We have to move on."
Board members said Mathis had already packed up his office and turned in his key. His picture was removed from the wall in the DPS main office.
[Page 3 of 3]

Gueyser attended the board meeting Friday, but would not comment on the matter.
Adams said the superintendent was interviewed by DPS police.
"Clearly, we are disappointed, but those are the alleged acts of an individual and should not reflect on the board as a whole," he said. "This board has been consistent with respect to trying to move academic achievement and will continue to do that."
In a memo recounting the incident, Gueyser said that she has had to leave meetings on several occasions because of similar behavior by Mathis in the past. "This is a usual habit of President Mathis during any private meeting with me. ... Most times I try to ignore him," the memo said.
However, Wednesday was different from other incidents, it said, because Mathis "unzipped his pants" and appeared to be masturbating.
The allegations come as the board is fighting for its survival as an elected body. Board members and emergency financial manager Robert Bobb are wrangling over who has authority over academics in the school district. The board is alleging that Bobb, a state appointee who controls the budget, has illegally taken control of academics as well, rendering the board nearly powerless.
The board also is facing the petition drive that seeks to eliminate the board and place the mayor in control of the district.
Contact CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY: 313-223-4537 or cpratt@freepress.com. Staff writer Jennifer Dixon contributed to this report.
Otis Mathis resigned from the Detroit Public Schools board after allegations he fondled himself in front of the superintendent, which set off a furor Friday. But then he tried to rescind his resignation. "I deeply regret my actions. I have apologized," he wrote. (ROMAIN BLANQUART/Detroit Free Press)
Otis Mathis resigned from the Detroit Public Schools board after allegations he fondled himself in front of the superintendent, which set off a furor Friday. But then he tried to rescind his resignation. "I deeply regret my actions. I have apologized," he wrote. (ROMAIN BLANQUART/DETROIT FREE PRESS)

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Shake-up of Ackerman team continues | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/19/2010

Shake-up of Ackerman team continues | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/19/2010


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Shake-up of Ackerman team continues
A shake-up of Philadelphia Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's central administration continued Friday with the naming of a new crop of central office staff members, and with officials signaling that more changes were on the way.
SPECIAL PROJECTS

Report Card on the Schools
The Inquirer's annual survey of education in the region, with a searchable database of school and district information, and multimedia profiles of area students and high schools.

A Doorway Back
With the dropout problem in Philadelphia at crisis proportions, a chance-of-a-lifetime program offers 40 select students a shot at breaking the cycle of failure. But can they take advantage?

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A test-score milestone for Phila. schools
Philadelphia public schools reached a new milestone this year - the majority of city students met state standards in reading and math for the first time since 2002, when Pennsylvania began administering tests under the No Child Left Behind law.

11 Phila. schools granted new charters
The Philadelphia School Reform Commission said Wednesday that 11 charter schools would receive new, five-year operating charters once they met a series of conditions.

More N.J. seniors expected to get diplomas than thought
More New Jersey high schoolers will get their diplomas this month than seemed likely a couple of weeks ago, but the number who fall short will rise significantly from last year, a state education official said Wednesday.
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EducationNews.org Minn. Law Spurs Charter Sponsors to Think Twice

EducationNews.org

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Minn. Law Spurs Charter Sponsors to Think Twice

6.19.10 - Though seen as a national model, a law putting new demands on charter sponsors is prompting some districts to consider getting out of the charter-authorizing...
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U.S. colleges see highest enrollment jump in 40 years

6.19.10 - WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's colleges are attracting record numbers of new students as more Hispanics finish high school and young adults opt to pursue a higher...
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'Rap teacher' uses hip-hop to school L.A. kids in algebra

6.19.10 - LOS ANGELES — The class of eighth graders at a Los Angeles middle school tap their rulers and nod their heads to the rhythm of the rap video projected on a screen.
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Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

T.C. Williams hustles to get off urgent-reform list


After landing on the government's in-need-of urgent-reform list, T.C. Williams High struggles to find the prescription for smaller achievement gaps and higher graduation rates.
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Detroit school board head quits after complaint alleging inappropriate behavior

In the category of you can't make up this stuff, the Detroit Board of Education president quits after the schools superintendent accuses him of inappropriate behavior.

New regs for private special ed schools


District officials proposed new rules Friday to more tightly regulate the quality and cost of private schools where special education students are sent at public expense.
A 2006 law passed by the D.C. Council authorized more rigorous oversight, but only now is the District getting around to establishing specific regulations to put the measure on its feet. The rules, published Friday in the D.C. Register, will require the schools to obtain a "Certificate of Approval" (COA) from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education confirming that they comply with health and safety standards and are following each student's Individual Education Plan (IEP) -- the official document setting out the help that a child needs. It will also, for the first time, place limits on what the District will pay to private educators.
About 2,700 disabled District students attend private schools, at a projected cost this year of $283 million in tuition and transportation. Parents pursue private schools as an option for their children under federal law when it is determined that the District system can't meet their needs. There are about 90 day schools in the Washington area and an additional 119 residential facilities as far away as Colorado where District children have been placed.
The schools were issued COAs after the law was passed. But until recently, there has been little to no District monitoring. Teams from OSSE have now visited most of the schools and will begin to issue updated COAs after the regs go into effect. Tameria Lewis, assistant state superintendent for special education, said that while deficiencies have been identified in some schools, so far only one -- SunRise Academy in Northwest D.C. -- has had its certificate pulled.
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Alexandria educators try to reform (TWP)
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Unto Each, His Proposed Last. � Chalkdust101

Unto Each, His Proposed Last. � Chalkdust101

Unto Each, His Proposed Last.

by pjhiggins
We long for moments of exquisite clarity, where vertical forests separate and reveal their lost horizontal path and fog lifts long enough for you to arrive safely to where you are headed. It is in these moments that we find our true selves, the person we have dreamt of becoming–the leader, the visionary, the one who others look to when they don’t know the way. All of our systems are in flow, our shots are falling, our decisions ring with confidence, we know which way we are going.
This is how we would like to feel when we decide to change our lives. The odd part is, life doesn’t care how you want to feel. When external factors force your hand, the decision-making process rarely looks like the description above. Rather, it looks bedraggled, chaotic, forlorn.
And the looks of the process pale in comparison to how it affects the human heart.
I’ve spent the last 6 years of my professional life in a town called Sparta. My kids haven’t known me with any
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Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 7 Tips to Analyze the Formula of Your Life

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 7 Tips to Analyze the Formula of Your Life

7 Tips to Analyze the Formula of Your Life

by coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher)
1 person liked this
Who are you?
You are a sum total of how you spend your seconds, your minutes, your hours, your days.

Improving behavior starts by understanding that formula.

There are few surprises at the end of the year academic and athletic banquets. As teachers, we see the students who are there early in the

Daily Spotlight on Education 06/19/2010

by coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher)
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