After a summer of scandal, cheating charges and career casualties, Atlanta children are returning to school today.
One month after Atlanta parents were shocked to learn of a widespread school cheating scandal, where 200 teachers and principals admitted to tampering with standardized tests to raise students’ scores, teachers and students are bracing for a new school year that the whole country will be watching.
“Of course it affects me,” said Pat Crawford, a 7 year veteran teaching 4th Grade at Toomer Elementary School. “There’s some anger there, of course, for what went on. But we’ll try to make the kids feel at ease, and tell them that we’re going to have a great year.”
3rd Grade teacher Samantha Tulin added: “The nation’s eyes are on us. I want to be part of the positive after all the smoke clears.”
<span>Yes. All eyes are on Atlanta right now because quite frankly they've been cheating for YEARS, got real arrogant AND sloppy AND then got caught. Now all h*ll has broke loose. But just as I suspected…and expressed here on this site…THIS scandal is widespread throughout the United States. HuffPost Report: "Schools Caught Cheating In Atlanta and Around The Country" On a national level, the cheating story cuts to the heart of a major education policy debate over accountability. The Atlanta report's conclusion that cheating resulted from a culture of fear, one spurred by rising test-score targets, fuels the argument that policies determined by test scores provide perverse incentives that are not in the best interests of students. […] Story & video: <span> <a href="http://;http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/08/atlanta-schools-cheating-scandal-ripples-across-country_n_919509.html</span>” target=”_blank”>;http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/08/atlanta-schools-cheating-scandal-ripples-across-country_n_919509.html</span> So which "POLICY" might be most responsible for this FAILING? Well since the Repubs have decided to draw blood when it comes to destroying the Presidency of the first Black President in American history (and doing so by ANY means necessary) I have NO problem pointing out EVERY d*mn thing they've done (from Reagan to G. Dubya Bush) that has NOW resulted in this country's MAJOR decline. </span><span></span><span>I give you "NO Child Left Behind." Another one of G. Dubya's DISASTROUS policies that has come back to haunt this nation (via Our children) IN SPADES..particularly children attending inner-city school districts. But because I'm intellectually Honest: I also give you the IRON fist of the NEA (the National Education Association) the largest Teachers Union in the United States, which brings me to a related story: Over the weekend I had an opportunity to watch "Waiting For Superman." "An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim offers an eye-opening overview of America's ailing educational system." "For a nation that proudly declared it would leave no child behind, America continues to do so at alarming rates." Let me just say: If you really want to learn more about just how BAD America's PUBLIC educational system is_AND WHY?_this documentary is a MUST SEE. I watched the entire thing on Youtube.</span>