The judge in the Alanta teacher sentencing case has acted so

[mfcorey1]

improperly. Tune in: http://www.11alive.com/videos/news/2014/05/30/5867887/

One teacher was sentence to twenty years to serve seven and a $20,000 fine. One of the lawyers pointed out that the judge had step back on something he said earlier and he went off and increased the sentence to the nonsense that he assigned.

[brooklynite]

1. Care to elaborate for those who don't have the time to watch a live feed?

Personally, I've heard two arguments about this case, neither of which I'm sympathetic to:

1. "They were doing it to get funds for the school". Perhaps so; and there should definitely be more public funding for education. But these teachers cheated to claim funds that their school wasn't entitled to; those funds might have otherwise gone to another school that was equally needy but played by the rules.

2. "Why convict teachers when (Bush/Bankers/Police) are allowed to get away with other crimes?". Sorry, but the criminal justice system doesn't work on the principle that no criminal activity will be prosecuted unless all other criminal activity - even in another jurisdiction - is addresses.

[Ms. Yertle]

2. They also personally profitted

with bonuses, etc.

[BreakfastClub]

3. It happened as a result of Bush and No Child Left Behind. Bush knew what he was doing.

He was trying to destroy vulnerable school districts. These "cheating scandals" happened in many different parts of the country at the same time. That's NOT a coincidence. The teachers were put in a no-win situation. They were blamed if the kids couldn't pass the tests, and the school would lose funding as well. There was tremendous pressure on them. Obama has taken off the pressure by giving exemptions to at-risk schools, but the damage was already done.

As a side note, the teachers/admin in Atlanta should have taken the plea deals that were offered. It was a huge mistake.

[Orsino]

4. Yep. The big-time crooks used NCLB to steal millions.

These teachers were racketeers, no question, but they are mainly fall guys. I'm only pissed at the double standard.

[Erose999]

5. NCLB is used in Georgia is used as a weapon to defund and close public schools. The affluent parents

pull their kids out of public schools, and the other parents use every string they can pull to get their kids into either religious schools, or public schools in affluent (white) neighborhoods.

The inner city schools that are left are then hit hard with funding cuts etc. Clayton county schools actually had their accreditation pulled for a few years.

When the schools have been beaten down enough the Governor sends in a team of cronies "fix" the school. which means pick the carcass over and see what all they can privatize.

[Ms. Toad]

6. As a former inner city public school teacher

who worked in a school where one of my fellow teachers cheated on standardized tests:

I don't have much sympathy.

Yes - they seem to have been unfairly singled out for public punishment.

But - the solution to the pressure they were under was not to change student answers on the exams. Just say no. Period.
They also should have used the brains they must have in order to have earned a teacher's certificate, plea bargained, and used their time doing community service (and for some weekends in jail) to contemplate things like integrity, standing up to peer pressure - you know - things I would hope they would model for their students.

I'm not some clean-hands hoity-toity unfamiliar with testing pressures - or the overwhelming challenges of working in a school district very similar to Atlanta. I was up to my neck in it for 11 years. The conditions in which they chose to teach do not excuse the behavior they engaged in.

[mfcorey1]

8. I was a test chair in another state so I, too, know of what I speak. They are

guilty of interfering with the administration and results of a state test. First, in the state where I was, access to test materials would not have been as easy as these educators had to them. The concern is that they were charged with racketeering because if a school's test results improved, the teachers at that particular school were compensated. Some were said to receive as little as fifty dollars. The sentence was too harsh. The judge was in a piss poor mood and he used that temperament to sentence the educators. The sad thing is that changing answers on the test has very little to do with whether or not a child in elementary school will succeed. Did a parent not know before the test that the child could not read? Did the parent look at the report cards? It seems there has been no improvement in the Atlanta Public school's performance since the allegations. A better sentence would have been for them to take fine money and rent a building where they would have been required to tutor students, since it has been established that they are competent teachers. Parents can have the option of utilizing the services for their children. Sitting behind bars serves no purpose since they have lost their certificates and will never be hired again. It's easy to point the finger now, but believe me, this goes deeper than t he scapegoats sentenced today. The pressure in this high stakes testing starts at the Department of Education that passes it on to the States that pass it on to the districts that give the greatest pressure to the teachers. I have seen principals prepare for the beginning of school by establishing remedial classes to teach to the test. To hell with critical thinking and all that will create an informed population. I have seen them shut down everything and have only days of focusing on testing skills with things such as how to bubble in an answer correctly. Them the system grades the schools according to student performance with A to F. Schools are shamed if their students receive a D or F grade and are then assigned to state supervision. Our educational system is f*&%$* up. There is no solution in locking up teachers in prison. JUST COLLECTING MY THOUGHTS!

[Phentex]

10. For what it's worth,

I agree with you. There is way more to this than just cheating. And they are missing an opportunity to make a real change.

And it's not just a bad mood. This judge's behavior has been downright odd through most of this. He seemed gleeful as he scolded them when they were found guilty. He's been show boating for the cameras the whole time. It's embarrassing.

[Ms. Toad]

11. That goes to the other part of what I said:

A better sentence would have been for them to take fine money and rent a building where they would have been required to tutor students, since it has been established that they are competent teachers. . . . There is no solution in locking up teachers in prison. JUST COLLECTING MY THOUGHTS!

They somehow lost the brains that they must have since they jumped through the hoops to become teachers.

They CHOSE to reject plea bargains accompanied by vastly lighter sentences. Those plea bargainswere still extended AFTER they had been convicted - nearly unheard of in the criminal justice system. Once you force the state to prove you guilty, you generally aren't given another opportunity at a deal. They were each given another opportunity - and all but 2 still rejected it.

Those who accepted plea bargains received:

five years probation, six months of weekends served in jail, a $5,000 fine, and 1500 hours of community service. The plea included first offender status. It also required Bullock accept responsibility and waive any future appeals. Bullock read a statement apologizing to APS students and the court.

Hours later, Pamela Cleveland became the second defendant to accept the state's plea deal. She was sentenced to one year of home confinement, including a curfew of 7 p.m.-7 a.m., a $1000 fine, and 1000 hours of community service.

The judge has a right to throw the book at people who have been given the opportunity time and time again to right the wrongs they perpetrated, and have repeatedly rejected it.

(If these individuals were innocent - and rejected the plea bargains in order to preserve the right to appeal, that is a perfectly acceptable choice - but you do that knowing that you are not likely to get a sentence anywhere near as lenient as if you accept a deal. And I don't believe most of those convicted and sentenced today are claiming actual innocence.)

[ga_girl]

7. It wasn't just teachers

The indictees:

SCHOOL DISTRICT ADMINISTRATORS

# Beverly Hall - Superintendent
* Tamara Cotman - Area superintendent
* Michael Pitts - Area superintendent
* Sharon Davis-Williams - Area superintendent
Millicent Few - Head of human resources

PRINCIPALS / ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS / STAFF

Christopher Waller - Principal, Parks Middle
Lucious Brown - Principal, Kennedy Middle
* Dana Evans - Principal, Dobbs Elementary
Clarietta Davis - Principal, Venetian Hills
Armstead Salters - Principal, Gideons Elementary
Willie Davenport - Principal, D.H. Stanton Elementary
Gregory Reid - Assistant Principal, Parks Middle
* Tabeeka Jordan - Assistant Principal, Deerwood Academy
Carol Dennis - Secretary, Kennedy Middle

TESTING COORDINATORS / INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES

Sandra Ward - Testing coordinator, Parks Middle
Francis Mack - Testing coordinator, D.H. Stanton Elementary
Sheridan Rogers - Testing coordinator, Gideons Elementary
Lera Middlebrooks - Testing coordinator, Dunbar Elementary
* Donald Bullock - Testing coordinator, B.E. Usher/Collier Heights Elementary
* Theresia Copeland - Testing Coordinator, Benteen Elementary
Tameka Goodson - School improvement specialist, Kennedy Middle

TEACHERS

Starlette Mitchell - Teacher, Parks Middle
Kimberly Oden - Teacher, Parks Middle
Shayla Smith - Teacher, Dobbs Elementary
* Angela Williamson - Teacher, Dobbs Elementary
! Dessa Curb - Teacher, Dobbs Elementary
Derrick Broadwater - Teacher, Dobbs Elementary
* Pamela Cleveland - Teacher, Dunbar Elementary
* Shani Robinson - Teacher, Dunbar Elementary
* Diane Buckner-Webb - Teacher, Dunbar Elementary
Gloria Ivey - Teacher, Dunbar Elementary
Lisa Terry - Teacher, Humphries Elementary
Ingrid Abella-Sly - Teacher, Humphries Elementary
Wendy Ahmed - Teacher, Humphries Elementary
Sheila Evans - Teacher, Benteen Elementary

Sources: Grand jury indictment, Fulton County Sheriff’s Department
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/whos-named-in-the-indictment/nXgTp/

* convicted
# died without standing trial
! not guilty
no symbol plead guilty

[Comrade Grumpy]

9. Sentencing these people to lengthy prison sentences is absurd...but oh so American.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

14. why? they conspired... they cheated...

the collected money for their crimes... and they denied the children in their care proper education... seems like prison is exactly where these assholes should be.

sP

[Vinca]

12. Wow . . . you might have thought they'd brought down the whole American economy.

[aikoaiko]

13. I can live with these sentences.