Scathing excerpts from Atlanta indictment in test cheating scandal:

Scathing excerpts from Atlanta indictment in test cheating scandal

Posted by Valerie Strauss on March 30, 2013 at 5:00 pm

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Here are some excerpts from the 96-page indictment returned in Fulton County, Ga., against former Atlanta Schools superintendent Beverly Hall and 34 others in a massive cheating scandal.

The indictment portrays Hall as the head of a corrupt organization that used standardized test scores to financially reward and punish employees, and it alleges that those involved agreed to lie and cheat and destroy documents to cheat so that student test scores would look higher than they really were.

The indictment says in part:

…While Superintendent of APS, Beverly Hall set annual performance objectives for APS and the individual schools within it, commonly referred to as “targets.” If a school achieved 70% or more of its targets, all employees of the school received a bonus. Additionally, if certain system-wide targets were achieved, Beverly Hall herself received a substantial bonus. Targets for elementary and middle schools were largely based on students’ performance on the Criterion Referenced Competency Test a standardized test given annually to elementary and middle school students in Georgia. Additionally, student attendance was a contributing factor to achieving targets and obtaining bonuses.

Beverly Hall’s targets often set more rigorous goals for schools than Adequate Yearly 

Political Animal - What Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee doesn’t want you to know

Political Animal - What Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee doesn’t want you to know:

What Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee doesn’t want you to know

By Kathleen Geier

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What’s good enough for other people’s kids apparently isn’t good enough for the daughter of Michelle Rhee.

As The Washington Post’s Valerie Strauss reports, one of education reform advocate Michelle Rhee’s daughters apparently attends an elite prep school for grades 5-12 that charges tuition of upwards of $20,000 a year. On one level, the hypocrisy is hardly shocking. Elites tend to educate their little darlings at ritzy private schools, where they can mingle with the scions of other elites. This happens even when said elites are public servants (which Rhee is no longer — though the same cannot be said of her daughter’s father, who is Tennessee’s commissioner of education).

Still, Rhee is famous for her zealous advocacy of what Strauss calls “a corporate-based school-reform agenda that uses standardized test scores as the major accountability measure for students, schools and teachers.” Yet her daughter goes to a progressive school that takes a very different approach, emphasizing small classes and educating “the whole child.” It sounds very nice, actually.

But the hypocrisy here really is rich. Worse still is the way she’s handling it. First, her spokesperson misleadingly announced that Rhee is “a public school parent” (because one of her kids goes to a public school. But the point is, the 

Blue Jersey:: Education Round-Up 3/30/13

Blue Jersey:: Education Round-Up 3/30/13:

Education Round-Up 3/30/13

by Jersey Jazzman

A pre-Easter round-up this week, so I'll be keeping it short in order to preserve maximal egg-rolling time:Camden Takeover
So Chris Christie and Education Commissioner Cerf finally pulled the trigger and took over Camden's schools.It's worth noting that the district already had a state monitor and a mayor-appointed school board, so it's not like Camden is a case of an elected board run amuck.
Newark has been under state control for 18 years, Paterson 22 years, and Jersey City 24 years. There's no evidence state control has made any of these districts better. What is clear is that your district is much less likely to be taken over by the state if if doesn't have people of color or people living in poverty living within its borders.

Naturally, the state has not announced what it intends to do now that it has control, but the answer is obvious: 

Sun-Times claims credit for PURE state EIG complaint Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Sun-Times claims credit for PURE state EIG complaint:

Sun-Times claims credit for PURE state EIG complaint

by admin

Well, I’ll have to admit that it’s flattering for a major metropolitan newspaper to take credit for our action.
But the actual reason the state is investigating UNO’s $98 million grant is not the Sun-Times’s story, but the complaint PURE and LSC members from Pilsen Elementary filed with the state Office of the Executive Inspector General on January 17.
That was a story the Sun-Times failed to report despite having our press release. Catalyst, the only media outlet that showed up to our press conference at the EIG’s office, didn’t run a story.
That’s how out on a limb we were at the time.
A week later, on January 23, the Tribune referenced our complaint in another story about UNO, and Crain’s piled 

Missouri Education Watchdog: How will Common Core/National Science Standards Address Climate Change?

Missouri Education Watchdog: How will Common Core/National Science Standards Address Climate Change?:

How will Common Core/National Science Standards Address Climate Change?

by stlgretchen

A recent post by MEW reported on a parent's delight about the forthcoming national science standards and her belief they would teach climate change is primarily due to humans.  She wrote:


Federal science standards coming later this month will recommend that public schools educate students about climate change. Once students understand, they may just educate their parents. 


 Oops. From HotAir and The Economist's findings on climate change:

The Economist has been pretty reliable about beating the climate-alarmist drum for years on end now, often peddling the urgent need for an overarching global climate treaty to 

Diane in the Evening 3-30-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Pedro Noguera on Atlanta Cheating Scandal

by dianerav

Pedro Noguera, my colleague at New York University, said the following in an email this morning:
“How ironic.  Not one banker in jail for ruining the economy but a superintendent is under indictment for cheating.  Says a lot about our nation’s priorities. – pedro”
I asked and got his permission to post this. He added:
“I don’t condone cheating but I see what happened in Atlanta and the other districts where cheating has occurred as a direct result of the insane fixation on raising test scores at the expense of actually insuring that children are 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-30-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 19 minutes ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] G.F. Brandenburg: Atlanta Details Remind Him of D.C. Details by dianerav Count on G.F. Brandenburg to read the fine print, have a long memory, and share what he has learned with his readers. The excerpts from the Atlanta indictments may remind you of the PBS Frontline special about Michelle Rhee. Remember how she interviewed each principal and asked, “How many points will your scores go up?” “What can What Do Katrina, Camden, and Chicago Have in Common? by dian... more »

List of charges against 35 in Atlanta test cheating indictment:

List of charges against 35 in Atlanta test cheating indictment

Posted by Valerie Strauss on March 30, 2013 at 4:00 pm

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Here is the release from the Office of the Fulton County District Attorney, Paul L. Howard Jr., about a grand jury indictment of 35 administrators and educators in a massive test cheating scandal in Atlanta. (The misspellings are in the original):

GRAND JURY INDICTS 35 IN CONNECTION WITH ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHEATING SCANDAL

Former Superindent Beverly Hall Accused of Leading ‘Conspiracy’

Atlanta – A Fulton County Grand Jury has returned indictments against former APS Superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall and 34 subordinates in connection with a test cheating scandal.

Each of the defendants is charged with Georgia RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) conspiracy. The 65-count indictment also includes charges of False Statements and Writings, False Swearing, Theft by Taking and Influencing Witnesses in connection with the alleged conspiracy to alter Criterion Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) scores.

The District Attorney’s 21-month criminal investigation follows a 2011 probe initiated by the Governor’s Office into testing irregularities and cheating allegations on 2008 – 2009 CRCT exams in dozens of Atlanta Public Elementary Schools. The District Attorney’s 

Close Corporate Tax Loopholes, Not Public Schools | toteachornototeach

Close Corporate Tax Loopholes, Not Public Schools | toteachornototeach:

Close Corporate Tax Loopholes, Not Public Schools

by aristotlethewise

Close Corporate Tax Loopholes, Not Public Schools 

by Carl Gibson
If you’re in a canoe that’s got a hole letting in water, do you throw the other passenger overboard who is helping you row, or do you just patch the hole and keep rowing?
Chicago public schools are facing a $1 billion deficit. The corporate media would like you to believe it’s due to excessive spending and that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to close more than 50 schools, most of them in low-income neighborhoods, is the only solution. But the state of Illinois loses $4.8 billion annually in federal tax dollars due to corporate tax loopholes that shift profits overseas. It doesn’t take a math genius to see that simply closing these excessive loopholes would save the schools that so many kids in Chicago depend upon for their education.
These corporate tax loopholes cost us over $100 billion a year in federal tax dollars, which results in state and 

All Education Matters: Taegan Goddard's Coverage on Mounting Defaults

All Education Matters: Taegan Goddard's Coverage on Mounting Defaults: "increase in student loan defaults,"

Taegan Goddard's Coverage on Mounting Defaults

by Cryn Johannsen

This subject, that of an increase in student loan defaults, has been covered for several years on AEM. So, this won't come as a surprise to most of my readers, but student loan defaults are worsening.

Over at Political Wire, Taegan Goddard provided a short brief about the increase in student loan defaults.

Here's a snippet:

The Department’s Office of Inspector General… blames a system installed in 2011 by Xerox that is supposed to transfer defaulted loan accounts from servicing companies to private collection agencies… The Inspector General’s office says the collection problem led to a ‘material weakness’ in the department’s financial controls last fiscal year, according to CNBC.

While this post paints a decent picture of the problem at the macro level, it does not offer insights into the 

Thinking About Schools

Thinking About Schools:

Atlanta: We're All A Little Responsible

In 1999, many of my colleagues and I began writing about the perils of excessive standardized testing. I guess we should have anticipated the unanticipated consequences.  If only we’d been bolder and more courageous. 

 

In 2002, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was enacted under the shadow of 9/11 when no Presidential initiative would be contested.  If only we’d been outraged when we learned the “Texas Miracle” upon which NCLB was modeled was fraudulent. 

 

In 2003 small groups of Massachusetts parents and students boycotted the first round of the State’s new tests.  If only the resistance had grown in spite of academic gains (attributed more to a focus on teaching and district attention to curriculum and evaluation than the increased testing).

 

The decade which followed brought one-size-fits-all curriculum maps, teaching scripts, Peace Corp-

Ten Things Legislators Should Know and Do When Making Education Policy - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Ten Things Legislators Should Know and Do When Making Education Policy - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Ten Things Legislators Should Know and Do When Making Education Policy

by Nancy Flanagan

A couple of days ago, I had coffee with Betsy Coffia, who ran last November--unsuccessfully--for a seat representing the 104th district in the Michigan House of Representatives. Coffia and I had never met, although we have several mutual friends. We found each other on-line, in a Facebook argument over Detroit Public Schools' Emergency Manager. She liked what I had to say, and suggested we meet.
It was a great conversation. Coffia plans to run again, and asked lots of questions: What did I think about cyber-schools? Charter chains? The value of early childhood programs? Well-known education non-profits in Michigan?Although she worked for a time in a Head Start program, she admitted there were lots of theories and ideas in education policy she found murky.
Then she said this: Wouldn't it be great if there were a guide for legislators to making useful education 

Daily Kos: I know I am getting old

Daily Kos: I know I am getting old:

I know I am getting old

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

We recently put a new XM radio into my wife's car.  I tuned to the 50s station, which covers music of Rock's first decade, which means into the early 60s, or roughly the period of my school days.  I graduated from high school 50 years ago this June, but I am not sure how much that reality hit home until I was listening to songs of my younger days.
It shocks my spouse that I remember the lyrics from songs from the 1950s.  Perhaps it shouldn't - I am a musician by background and by training, and used to be able to learn lyrics within hearing a song three or four times, and in those days you might here some songs that often within a single hour, if not on the radio, perhaps in a jukebox in a diner.
Today we happened to have on PBS as my wife was eating lunch, and it was the 25th anniversary concert of Peter, Paul and Mary.  I immediately told my wife that had to be more than a quarter century ago, because they were popular in the early 60s, and famous before the 1963 Civil Rights March, at which they appeared.  Besides, they looked only mildly aged in the video.  I had no doubts when they sang a song titled "El Salvador" that it was filmed during the Reagan administration, and it was - in 1986.  Later there was a brief interview of Peter and Paul

Music of another time - yet relevant?

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

A song by Peter, Paul and Mary from the 1980s
If you want the lyrics, you can go here
Or listen, and think how the country may change, the amount of money may increase but somehow the role US plays???
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Teaching Beyond the Transmission of Knowledge | Education | M.A.Escotet

Teaching Beyond the Transmission of Knowledge | Education | M.A.Escotet:

Teaching Beyond the Transmission of Knowledge

by Miguel Angel Escotet

“Teaching to the test at the expense of teaching to the heart is wrong and reduces education to a very superficial acquisition of knowledge and values. Standardized testing for measuring knowledge, skills and attitudes goes against learning styles and individual differences.”

“One of the most important rules of teaching is to preach by example. Are all faculty in teacher preparation programs practicing what they preach?”

---

It is our believe that the aim of education should be to build in each student strong theoretical foundations, to help future teachers to be educated rather than trained, to be capable of understanding the complexities of the organic society —Gemeinschaft— rather than just the reduction of people to human 

The week in Bridgeport… - Wait, What?

The week in Bridgeport… - Wait, What?:

The week in Bridgeport…

by jonpelto

On Monday, the five members of the Bridgeport Board of Education aligned with Mayor Bill Finch voted to make Kenneth Moales the chairman of the Bridgeport Board of Education.

It was a banner day for Mayor Bill Finch, Acting Superintendent of Schools Paul Vallas, Connecticut’s Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor and Governor Dannel Malloy.

Moales promptly used his authoritarian, dictatorial and bullying approach to highlight his complete inability to function in a democratic society.  The so called “piece de resistance” came when he returned to the meeting after he had illegally adjourned it to threaten one of the board of education members who serves on the Board thanks to Connecticut’s minority representation laws, a statute designed to ensure that dissent is allowed and one 

Schools Matter: Attitude Toward Teaching

Schools Matter: Attitude Toward Teaching:

Attitude Toward Teaching

by Douglas Storm

Put a check mark (✓) if you agree with the statement.
Put a cross (X) if you disagree with the statement.

Form A

1. To strive to teach well is to pattern after Christ, who was the Master Teacher.  There can be no higher calling.
3. Teachers are the nation's leaders.
5. Teaching develops the mind.
8. Dealing with youth tends to keep a teacher young, alert, and active.
12. Teaching requires more intelligence than n most professions.
15. Teachers are the molders of society.
16. Teachers  do very well considering the small amount of co-operation they get from school boards.
19. Teachers are for the most part just

New Jersey Educators' WORST FEARS Come True

by Judy Rabin

Tested to Despair in New Jersey

Proposed Regulations for Tenure Evaluations Confirm

 NJEA's Worst Fears

Did you really think No Child Left Behind was to improve 

education? Well, that's what happens when you don't read the fine print or pretend it just isn't there.

solidaridad: Monica Ratliff for LAUSD at Empress Pavilion Fundraiser

solidaridad: Monica Ratliff for LAUSD at Empress Pavilion Fundraiser:

Monica Ratliff for LAUSD at Empress Pavilion Fundraiser

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

Hello Friend,
I am happy to let you know about a marvelous young candidate, a teacher, for LA School Board in a run-off in the area I served for 8 years in the East San Fernando Valley. She grew up with a single mom who went back to school to help her daughter go to College at Columbia University. Well her daughter, Monica Ratliff, won a National Hispanic Scholarship to Columbia and then went on to Columbia Law School. After law school she went to work both at the NAACP and Neighborhood Legal Services in the SF Valley. She then decided and has now taught for 11 years at a downtown garment district poverty elementary school earning honors for her commitment to students. She won the LA Times and the LA Daily News Endorsement. I would very much like you to support her as her opponent received 1.2 million dollars to her 14,000 dollars. I hope you will join us or send your support for her campaign.
Thanks always,
David Tokofsky

Monica Ratliff for LAUSD at Empress Pavilion Fundraiser by Robert D. Skeels

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One other thing about Ms. Ratliff that Mr. Tokofsky failed to mention above: she's NOT supported by Rupert Murdoch, Eli Broad, Philip Anschutz, and Michelle Rhee like some other District 6 candidates are. When United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) House of Representatives (HOR) was to vote on endorsements, I was with a group of Adult Education Students supporting my candidacy (when you work with the community, you get community support) passing out literature to voting HOR members. I was standing next to a young man who I assumed was an intern or working on another candidate's campaign because of his youth and inexperience. I introduced myself as a District 2 candidate and he said he was Antonio Sanchez, a candidate for District 6. I asked him my stock question that I ask all political candidates, "what is your stance on school privatization." I was taken aback by his response. He said "I don't like that word, we need to get away from using that word." Next morning I read in the LA Times that he came out of the Villaraigosa camp. That made sense, he didn't want to talk about school privatization at the UTLA building because he's for school privatization. At the Stonewall Democratic Club endorsement meeting I had the temerity to bring up Antonio Sanchez's connections with the arch-reactionary Coalition for School Reform (CSR), including Philip Anschutz, who was a major player in the passage of Prop 8. That truth made for a close vote, but afterwards I was told I was being unfair for "tarring Sanchez with the brush on an IE" (independent expenditure).
Let's be clear. Had I ever been endorsed or learned that and CSR IE on my behalf was started by fringe-right reactionaries including: Rupert Murdoch, Philip Anschutz, Eli Broad, Reed Hastings, Jamie Alter-Lynton, Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, Michael Bloomberg, and others, I would have held a press conference denouncing their politics and disassociating myself from them and their vile ideologies. Of course, that's because I believe in public education and oppose privatization and neoliberalism.
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