General Discussion

CatWoman

(79,302 posts) Wed Apr 1, 2015, 10:06 PM Apr 2015

So now we are jailing teachers [View all]

Atlanta cheating scandal teachers go to cells in hand-cuffs: Eleven educators face up to 20 years in prison for inflating their students' test scores to get bonus money for their schools . . . and for themselves

In one of the biggest cheating scandals of its kind in the U.S., 11 former Atlanta public school educators were convicted Wednesday of racketeering for their role in a scheme to inflate students' scores on standardized exams.

The defendants - including teachers, a principal and other administrators - were accused of falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs in the 50,000-student Atlanta school system.

The educators fed answers to students or erased and changed the answers on tests after they were turned in to secure promotions or up to $5,000 each in bonuses, the court was told.

However the person accused of benefiting the most from the conspiracy, Superintendent Beverly Hall - who is thought to have received up to $500,000 in bonus payouts - died of breast cancer over the course of the trial.

A 12th defendant, a teacher, was acquitted of all charges by the jury this week.

The 11 will all be sentenced on April 8 and could face up to 20 years in prison for the racketeering charges.

They were all found guilty under the the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, which is typically reserved for major mobsters and organized crime bosses.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3021915/11-Atlanta-educators-convicted-test-cheating-scandal.html#ixzz3W76lDhgA
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53 replies

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Highlight:

So now we are jailing teachers [View all] CatWoman Apr 2015 OP

if they committed fraud Man from Pickens Apr 2015 #1

ha! marym625 Apr 2015 #7

Mostly black teachers, I couldn't help but notice. 99th_Monkey Apr 2015 #2

One black teacher was found not guilty. 840high Apr 2015 #35

RICO is not just reserved for mobsters Major Nikon Apr 2015 #3

God damn the RICO act marym625 Apr 2015 #4

thank you Mary CatWoman Apr 2015 #5

I forgot to K&R marym625 Apr 2015 #6

it's crazy caraher Apr 2015 #10

I agree. they wouldn't be. marym625 Apr 2015 #13

+1 appalachiablue Apr 2015 #26

btw.. marym625 Apr 2015 #33

good point caraher Apr 2015 #42

We jail teachers all the time when/if they are convited of crimes. Child molestation, drunk driving kelly1mm Apr 2015 #8

Personal gain my ass. ND-Dem Apr 2015 #11

Dd you not read the OP? $5000 bonues is not personal gain to you? From the OP: kelly1mm Apr 2015 #14

i read it. i also read other stories about it, and the background. more than half the teachers in ND-Dem Apr 2015 #17

This is not a tabloid 840high Apr 2015 #36

the daily mail is a british tabloid. that's the link that's in the OP. if atlanta is your town, ND-Dem Apr 2015 #37

I most certainly did - BBC has coverage 840high Apr 2015 #40

They cheated and lined their pockets. 840high Apr 2015 #15

But up to 20 years? caraher Apr 2015 #12

The length of incarceration is a different question than should they be incarcerated at all. I kelly1mm Apr 2015 #16

some people will believe any garbage that fits with their preexisting biases. ND-Dem Apr 2015 #18

Whilst simultaneously rationalizing fraud as part and parcel of a noble endeavor. LanternWaste Apr 2015 #47

This is the rotten fruit of "education reform," putting teachers and administrators ND-Dem Apr 2015 #9

I don't know as anyone 'planned' for teachers to cheat on these stupid tests. I think certain malign KingCharlemagne Apr 2015 #21

of course they did. when you construct impossible tests that *all* students must pass or the ND-Dem Apr 2015 #24

It's an interesting theory you posit, but do you have any evidence for it? Or is it KingCharlemagne Apr 2015 #31

+1 F4lconF16 Apr 2015 #43

I'll Buy the First Part RobinA Apr 2015 #49

One black mother just said on Tv that 840high Apr 2015 #19

Oh, puh-leeze. No Child Left Behind was and is a crime against the children. Its perps KingCharlemagne Apr 2015 #22

Tell that to the mothers on TV. Another 840high Apr 2015 #29

I'm not 'defending crooks' either, merely pointing out who the real criminals are (the architects KingCharlemagne Apr 2015 #32

I am not defending it. 840high Apr 2015 #34

The elite's priviledged progeny are the future 'leaders' who'll be running the country, God help us- appalachiablue Apr 2015 #30

We all know that none of them will get 20 years. NaturalHigh Apr 2015 #20

Rod Paige was the Sec of Education under George W. Bush guillaumeb Apr 2015 #23

+100. Ditto Michele Rhee and a host of others. Including a raft of now closed charter ND-Dem Apr 2015 #25

plus Jeb Bush was heavily invested in school testing guillaumeb Apr 2015 #28

and his little brother, Mr. Neil "(Cash) Cow" Bush. ND-Dem Apr 2015 #41

+1 nt F4lconF16 Apr 2015 #38

Thank you for that link, very interesting. betsuni Apr 2015 #39

rod Paige is a white male? Doctor_J Apr 2015 #44

and I get yours guillaumeb Apr 2015 #50

IOKIYAR, as always. eppur_se_muova Apr 2015 #46

I think they should get probation bluestateguy Apr 2015 #27

Of course we are. This was all preordained in NCLB. Orsino Apr 2015 #45

Thanks for telling us. Trillo Apr 2015 #48

Inevitable get the red out Apr 2015 #51

First of all 20 years would be nuts dsc Apr 2015 #52

The pressure starts at the Department of education and by the time it trickles mfcorey1 Apr 2015 #53