At a time when New Rochelle Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak is making the absurd claim that 78% of the class of 2011 earned a diploma by the data of the June graduation, a massive increase over the past two cohorts in a year when the district increased the requirements to earn a diploma, the outrageous, far-reaching cheating scandal in the Atlanta Public School system holds many lessons for New Rochelle residents. The main one being if it sounds too good to be true, it isn’t.
…investigators describe an enterprise where unethical — and potentially illegal — behavior pierced every level of the bureaucracy, allowing district staff to reap praise and sometimes bonuses by misleading the children, parents and community they served.
WAOK CBS-Atlanta: Georgia Governor Releases Results of School Cheating Investigation
ATLANTA – Words like “devastating” and “troubling” are being used to describe the results of an investigation into cheating on standardized tests in Georgia. The partial results of the investigation were released today by Governor Nathan Deal. Among the disturbing findings:
- Cheating occurred in the majority of Atlanta Public Schools
Cheating may have occurred over a 10 year period
Former Atlanta Superintendent Beverly Hall knew-or should have known about the cheating
As many as 178 educators including more than 3 dozen principals were involved in the CRCT cheating scandal
The investigation began after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution begin to ask questions about huge gains in tests scores on the 2009 state exam. In an article published Tuesday by investigative reporters Heather Vogell, Alan Judd and Bill Rankin, the AJC said:
The findings suggest the national accolades that Hall and the school system have collected — and the much-vaunted academic progress for which she claimed credit — were based on falsehoods. Raising test scores apparently became a higher priority than conducting the district’s business in an ethical manner…The investigators’ report, officials said, depicts a culture that rewarded cheaters, punished whistle-blowers and covered up improprieties. Strongly contradicting denials of cheating and other irregularities by Hall and other top district executives, the report describes organized wrongdoing that robbed tens of thousands of children — many of whom came from disadvantaged backgrounds and struggled in school — of an honest appraisal of their abilities. District officials illegally altered documents related to the test and withheld material that should have been released under the state’s Open Records Act, the report is expected to say…Though allegations of cheating have swirled publicly for years, and Hall has been battered for more than six months with accusations of a cover-up, the Atlanta school board allowed her to finish out her current contract.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed issued the a statement which read, in part:
Today is a dark day for the Atlanta Public School system. The State of Georgia’s investigation into allegations of widespread cheating on the CRCT test confirms our worst fears. There is no doubt that systemic cheating occurred on a widespread basis in the school system.
Further, there is no question that a complete failure of leadership in the Atlanta Public School system hurt thousands of children who were promoted to the next grade without meeting basic academic standards.
Reed went on to praise investigators who “followed the facts, regardless of where they led” and the Atlanta’s press corps, especially The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, for “its service to the public by providing comprehensive, investigative reporting on the test score discrepancies.”
Talk of the Sound has documented similar massive increases in test scores at Isaac E. Young Middle School and the failure of the leadership of the school district to investigate glaring and inexplicable inconsistencies in test score data. Similar evidence has been provided showing serious violations of New York State civil service law, violations of students civil rights, covering up serious criminal allegations including assaults on children, and more. Likewise, Talk of the Sound has documented corruption in the New Rochelle City government. Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak has refused for years to comply with lawful FOIL requests by Talk of the Sound.
What is missing is someone like the investigators in Georgia who will follow the facts, regardless of where they led.
The lesson from Atlanta is that wholesale fraud cannot occur without many people knowing about it and covering it up. The former superintendent of the Atlanta public school system, Dr. Beverly Hall, retired on June 30th, the day the investigative report was delivered to the Governor. Officials are calling for a criminal prosecution of those involved, including Hall.
It is why the idea that the sort of criminal behavior that has been going on for years in the New Rochelle City government and the New Rochelle Public School System could occur without those at the top being aware of it and tolerating it is simply not credible.