I have not covered the Atlanta Public Schools teacher trials here, and I am not sure you are very interested, but I have been asked about it a bit. So I wanted to let you know that Jodi Arias was not the only person in court today pleading for leniency. Ten Atlanta Public Schools teachers have been convicted of felonies (racketeering) for their role in cheating on the CRCT.
There is way too much backstory to give but the NYT has a very detailed article today that is an excellent recap.
The Judge has given the ten (eleven really one just had a baby and will be sentenced separately and the others are in jail) defendants one last chance to come to a deal with the prosecutor or he will sentence them to jail time tomorrow.
Click through to read a brief excerpt from the NYT story.
Judge Jerry W. Baxter of Fulton County Superior Court, who has presided over the six-month trial, said that he was giving the two sides a chance to meet and discuss a deal and that he planned to reconvene court on Tuesday.
“See if you can come up with some agreement,” the clearly exasperated judge said. “I’d prefer for this thing to be ended for everybody, to try to help heal the open wounds in this city, in this school system, and to just have it over with.”
Judge Baxter said he was willing to sentence the defendants himself. “I’ve got a fair sentence in my mind,” he said, “and it involves going to jail for everybody.”
Paul Howard, the Fulton County district attorney, said that any deal would have to be predicated on the educators taking some responsibility for their crimes. Each of the educators has been convicted of racketeering, a felony that carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, though the judge said he had never considered a maximum. Some of the educators were also convicted of lesser crimes, including making false statements. [Complete NYT story is available here]
They took it to trial, they rolled the dice and they lost. There are no do overs. None of them have taken personal responsibility or shown remorse for the untold damage they have done to the most vulnerable members of society. Not only did they fail in their duty to those students, but they made their lives exponentially worse. I don’t feel a bit sorry for them. Jail them. Maybe, when their parole hearings come up, they will show sincere regret. They don’t get it still.
I don’t think the racketeering charge was appropriate. Teachers are not a drug cartel or mobsters.
I object to the type of charges.
I object to turning charged teachers into witness’s for leniency.
I don’t live there, I don’t know,
just doesn’t feel right.
I have not followed this case closely so I am no authority on its particulars, however, I believe in the APS schools teachers who students test well get a pay bonus based on scores and that is how the racketeering charges came into play.
On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 5:51 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Right, T. I understand calipatti’s feelings, and add that I retired after a lifetime of teaching. These test results were tied to bonuses. The teachers and administrators held wine parties where they changed the answers on the test. They are never going to be able to teach in Ga. again anyway so why not ask for mercy?
I could see this being handled by the Professional Standards Board and I’m not sure that RICO was the way to go. What they did was egregious and harmed the students they were charged with teaching. When we sign on to teach we pledge to be “in loco parentis”, in lieu of the parent. Most parents do not cheat their children.
I think these teachers did HORRIBLE things. Each time we gave THE TEST we were told to be extremely careful and go exactly by the book. There was almost always another proctor in the room. We were warned that even the appearance of impropriety could cause you to lose your license. Most of us didn’t really believe it was that serious. But the constant warnings started to make you paranoid after awhile.
On the OTHER HAND. We were all told to clean up out students bubble sheets. Darken circles completely and erase stray marks. This made me exceedingly nervous. I wanted no part of THE TEST after I had administered it. I hated doing that and refusing was not an option.
Also one year, one of my last years, I was told to mark every single student in my class as Hispanic. So was the rest of the school. I HAD A HUGE problem with that and I got in trouble for expressing my issues with that.
Another thing that went on is there would be people on my role that were not in my class. They would spread the students around ON PAPER to make enough classes to keep all the teachers. THAT was a big lie.
I say all this to say that teachers are told the must do some things that are questionable. I had the reputation of being “difficult” and “insubordinate” when it came to things like this. My objections would result in lower scores on part of my evaluation. If I had out right refused I would have been fired.
That said. I would have quit if I had been asked to change scores. But as peach says, this seems like something that could be handled by the ethics board. I’m not sure how this ever came to the attention of law enforcement. I get that the cheaters had financial gain from their actions, so the RICO thing sort of makes sense. But Apollo Nida will serve less than five years of his sentence and some of these people will be serving a full seven years of a 20 year sentence! That is crazy. These people have no prior criminal history. I think the whole “damage to the children” issue is overblown. I also think that more schools than not have this sort of pervasive cheating.
It’s all a bit crazy to me.
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 1:27 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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They shouldn’t have done what they did, but they also should not get 20 years. There are teachers sleeping with students and they don’t get anywhere near 20 years for that.
True. They should be doing community service, helping school kids. What good comes from locking them up?? I do agree What they did was wrong, and and financial gain needs to be repaid times several. Money should go to the schools.
um….
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 1:04 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I really have an issue with charging them under the RICO statute. They can use it on teachers, but not for any of the shenanigans that led to the collapse of our economy in 2007? Of course they deserve to be punished, but geez this seems like over kill. How about an honest national discussion on standardized testing and unintended consequences? Tamara, weren’t you a teacher? Any insights?
I totally agree, taking away their teaching credentials and firing them is more than enough punishment for career teachers/administrators. Testing has not been proven to be effective in evaluating teachers, so why are they touted as the answer to save our ‘ailing’ public schools?
Not sure about Ga but in my state the higher the test scores for a county the more budget that school system is awarded. It to me is ass backwards, there are so many schools that have great teachers and little funding to enhance students education because of lower testing scores, even if the scores are passing the schools with the best scores gets the bigger budgets. The whole system of giving monies to the best scored counties should be completely revised .
The temptation would be to rail against standardized testing as a reflection of academic effectiveness, but that’s not the central issue. These aren’t people worried about academic excellence, these folks were trying to save their own asses by covering up the abysmal failures in their own districts. Churning out high school graduates who can’t read kinda fucks up the ol’ job efficiency score, Dr. Charlatan.
Racketeering is exactly the correct charge.
See, here is the strange part for me, I also am OK with a RICO charge. It is a DISGUSTING thing to sit in a meeting and have a principal threaten your job if your class does not score well. I’ve seen some very bright students who could barely fill in the bubbles under their name. I also testified at a Standards’ meeting for a dear friend of mine who had changed one, 1, answer on the test. BTW, she lost her license for 6 months for that. As T says above, the protocols are strictly applied. A silly example, the test used the word wiener rather than hot dog and asked the kg. students to fill in the circle under the correct bread choice. My little south Georgia students had no idea what a wiener was and I wasn’t allowed to substitute words.
If you like testing now, you are going to love Common Core. It’s filled with high stakes tests all during the year. If you’re teaching to a test, you don’t have a lot of time for educating. Oh, and CC requires all new materials from day 1 thru testing. You’re going to have to give up a lot more tax dollars.
Penalty seems extreme as in breaking the fifth. They’re not wise guys.
I quit teaching with the advent of merit based promotion evaluations being tied to student “performance”. They gave me high schoolers who couldn’t read, inappropriate materials, and absolutely zero training in reading remediation, and it’s a surprise it didn’t work out? The kids showed up half asleep, hungry, depressed, occasionally even drunk, and dared me to try to call their moms who were never home to check messages because they worked 3 jobs.
So I quit. I didn’t cheat so I could keep my awesome benefits and summer vacations. I quit. And that is what these cheating a – holes SHOULD have done. So now they get to go to prison because they can’t convince a judge they had a mental disease that made them rape their students, which is how the pedo teachers get off without prison.
It does seem a bit harsh, but they could have taken a plea and owned up to their actions. I find it really disturbing that educators would do this just for a fatter paycheck. On the bright side, I think this really sends a message to other teachers who may be tempted to do this.
The system is severely flawed. In my state you can have excellent grades all year and not pass because of a failed standardized test. Some children are not very good at these long tests. Teachers already substandard pay for the job they do is also evaluated for raises as well as continued employment based on these scores. A teacher friend of mine who taught in the inner city here in her first year of teaching got 2 students in that were from Mexico. They spoke very little English and read none. How is she expected to get them up to standards. She quit after 2 years because of the stress of this and some of the other typical funding and issues with uninterested parents in their kids educations. I’m not for cheating the tests to get passing grades. But I think jail time is to harsh. Firing and loosing credentials seems like the best to me even probation. Thanks to all you teachers that put your time and effort into our children it’s often a thankless job with unappreciative parents and kids and I applaud your service and dedication despite the crazy low pay and indifference to the role you play in molding these kids into productive members of society.
I have a problem with the charge and the educators being treated as violent criminals. There was no reason why they had to be taken into custody immediately and the ring leader although deceased not investigated further in her part of this scheme. Most of these teachers were elementary school teachers in an impoverished neighborhood. The superintendent received a half of million dollars while the bonus money the teachers have been accused of having is no more than a couple of hundred dollars if any was received. I believe these teachers were the fall guys to a much larger problem and them going to prison is just sad. Leave that place for the real criminals. I pray they Will be able to work something out.
The CRCT , which GA stopped using for the even crappier milestones test with common core, was shit. The schools did get money- federal I believe, for performance of “exceeding” students on the test. Teachers were placed under enormous pressure for their students to exceed. Many of them passed that stress down to students making them and parents anxious and stressed. Those students with 503/504 plans were given special testing- the test was read to them, they were given extra time, all kinds of special provisions.
The CrCT was bullshit. Common core is a cluster fuck and I hate the No Child Left Behind act.
I’m not sure jail time is necessary. Pull their teaching certificates and not allow them to ever step foot inside a school.
I think the powers that be in the education system there are missing the true crime all together. These children need to be better educated. The teachers need to have better resources and help to make this happen. Possibly retired people willing to donate time for reading programs and college students doing some after school teacher asst. help. They are free programs that have helped at my kids school. I don’t know if something like that is allready in place but something needs to be done. The outcome is grim that the graduate or drop out barely out to read or perform simple math. They end up in low paying jobs and have to recieve public assistance in order to survive. That causes a strai on our economy. It is all very sad.
Holy sheeit! That judge is laying down the hammer! Dayum!
Watching this is literally giving me a panic attack. I do not know why. I just it’s just teacher flashbacks.
Administrators are getting 20 years to serve 7 Teachers 5 years to serve 2 One person so far has gotten off with one year. This is very upsetting to me.
OMG. That’s insane!! I thought the judge implied a short stint in jail but was giving them more time to work out a deal to avoid that. So that’s the final sentence?? Unbelievable.
It’s frightening as a current teacher to see this, not because I would cheat or alter kids test scores to make them higher, but I can see the teachers/admin motivation in the current high stakes testing environment in schools, where the only ones held accountable are the teachers, it’s truly scary.
Baxter then sentenced School Resource Team Executive Directors Sharon Davis-Williams, Tamara Cotman and Michael Pitts as first offenders to 20 years with seven to serve, 13 years probation, 2,000 hours of community service and a $25,000 fine.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/sentencing-resumes-tuesday-convicted-aps-educators/nksym/ Video is there too.
First offender status will allow them to clear their records after the sentence is served so they won’t be a convicted felon for life.
Why on earth didn’t more of these fools take the deal?? They were already found guilty, the judge warned them jail time was coming.. What did they possibly have to gain by holding out? We’re they that stupid and stubborn? Am I missing something here?
We got teachers going to jail for changing a damn test score. You got pedophile teachers getting away with a 30 day sentence. Where’s the justice?
I hate to pull the race card out but it does make you wonder if race is involved since all those convicted where black if I read correctly.
You don’t hate it enough not to do it obviously. The entire district is black, students, teachers, administrators. It’s not like there were white teachers doing the same thing. It’s an overwhelmingly black, inner city district.
Here is the sentencing. It starts around 20 minutes in.
https://youtu.be/X1QspQM04oU
The female defense attorney speaking on behalf of her dad is all about herself. The judge is so bored he sighs and blows it out through pursed lips. He is wishing he could give her life with STFU. Sorry, Dad.
Oh God channel 2 has found some kid from APS who transferred to another district and she has been held back twice. So they hunt her down so she can say that the teachers got what they deserved. My head my explode. What we need is to have some 16 year old in the ninth grade explain the judicial system to us on the news.
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 6:18 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Just saw a wild exchange on TV. Sounds like the judge is about to bitch slap some defense attorneys!
I’m listening to the video I posted in comments of the beginning parts I missed. I never watch video on line but this I just have to see for some reason.
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 3:42 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I’m watching too – I only got to see a small portion on TV. I just saw the attorney-daughter of one of the defendants tell the judge that she didn’t agree with the verdict. As an attorney, I would think she would know better than basically say the jury got it wrong. There aren’t there to discuss the merits – the jury has made its decision. Not surprised the judge had a negative reaction.
That girl was annoying. I am flipping through now. It’s getting redundant. This judge likes to talk.
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 4:32 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I just don’t understand why they could not come to a plea deal agreement. The judge said he would make them serve time if they didn’t. It’s sad. I agree with the majority. What they did was wrong. But to serve so much time is crazy. I swear our justice system can be so screwed up.
Oh shit. I just realized this is from yesterday.
Me too lol Just saw the “resumes on Tuesday.” I know there is a lack of morality involved here, but the man who spoke on behalf of the educators had an interesting point regarding the student loan debt some of these people are carrying. It really isn’t an excuse for what any of them did, but I can see how the issue could complicate matters.
The state wanted them to read a statement of responsibility and these fools did not do it. Only TWO of them took the deal. I’d read 50 Shades of Grey on national TV and act out the scenes if it kept my delicate ass out of PRISON FOR TWO YEARS.
WTF is wrong with these people?
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 5:21 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Word
This whole thing is so surreal I cannot process it. I am so glad I got out of education. I hate the way it went down. I should have never signed my contract but the year before I had to quit mid year was one of my best ever.
My principal who was such a nelly bottom, had jealous people get in his ear… and he was a completely different person the next year.
On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 10:02 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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UGH this is the one from today. I was wondering why the other one was full of character witnesses for the ones I watched today.
https://youtu.be/wH3XkRnPwkA
SEVEN ACTUAL YEARS IN PRISON. I have to stop obsessing about this and talk the dog for a walk.
I cant believe it either .. the punishment does not fit the crime in this case. Like others I dont get why they did not take the plea deal. My son is in 1st grade I always pick his teachers brain about this common core learning and all this emphasis on the standardized tests.She just nods and smiles and says something to get me off topic.Makes me wonder how much our educators are under pressure to get our students to test well. (Sigh)
She is not at liberty to speak freely to you. Trust me.
…and you got me hooked lol
Me too.
I don’t understand why the judge is allowing the cases to be re-argued, and he’s taking the bait. This judge has lost his shit. These folks are going to make out on appeal because of the way sentencing is being conducted. Wow.
It is very obvious that the judge was basically begging them to take a plea. Watching some of the defense lawyers made my blood boil. Do not interrupt a judge. Period. He is very willing to allow people to talk. They were not doing their clients any favors. It will be interesting to see if the appeals court even takes up their case.