Panel announced to oversee Atlanta test cheating probe

By Kristina Torres

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The members of a “blue ribbon” panel announced Wednesday to oversee a probe into Atlanta's schools include a who's who of leaders from city businesses and foundations.

That they will direct an investigation of more than two-thirds of the city's public elementary and middle schools for possible cheating on state tests is certainly important. But that officials took pains to also stress the group's independence and integrity comes at a critical juncture.

State lawmakers warned earlier this week that they will watch the panel closely, citing fears it could be influenced in its findings. Atlanta school officials, meanwhile, have tried to assure parents that educators remain focused as their students prepare to take critical state tests starting April 20.

"The most important thing is the facts," said Gary Price, a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers and the panel's chairman. "The Atlanta school board commissioned an independent party to do the investigation. It's the right thing to do on many levels, especially for the 50,000 [students] who attend Atlanta public schools."

According to a state report released last month, 191 Georgia schools required investigation because they showed unusual patterns of erasures -- unusually large numbers of wrong answers changed to the right ones -- on the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests last spring. The tests, taken by students in first through eighth grade, are used to help determine whether schools met federal benchmarks.

Atlanta had the most schools flagged in any system with 58. Stunned city school board members said they would bring in outsiders to scrutinize those schools. Superintendent Beverly Hall said the system would act swiftly if it found wrongdoing.

The school board will take a vote Monday on a resolution to seek "a transparent and independent investigation" that includes periodic reports to the board. It also will rely on the nonprofit Atlanta Education Fund for technical assistance and help with fund-raising for the panel.

Five Atlanta-area lawmakers sent a letter to the school board earlier this week implying that the close relationship between the school system and the education fund could influence the investigation

State Rep. Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta), who signed the letter, said lawmakers have met with school board members and have promised to back the board, which promised an open and independent investigation.

"Now it's time to put our words into actions," he said Wednesday. "The allegations are extremely serious. If test scores were changed, we need to be able to identify these children so they can receive the extra help the law mandates they get."

On Wednesday, both Price and fund President Bill McCargo stressed the panel's independence. Its 15 members were picked from suggestions by the school board, the fund, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Price himself. They met for the first time Wednesday.

Price said they have not picked an investigator but have begun to vet organizations. The panel must meet a tight timeline: A full report is due to the state by May 14; recommendations about improving the city's testing procedures must be made before April 20.

The panel

A "blue ribbon" panel requested by the Atlanta school board to oversee a testing investigation includes:

• Gary Price, panel chairman, market managing partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
• John Rice, General Electric vice chairman, Atlanta Education Fund board chairman
• LaChandra Butler Burks, Atlanta school board chairwoman
• Penelope McPhee, president, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
• Beverly Tatum, president, Spelman College
• Helene Lollis, president, Pathbuilders Inc., chairwoman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s education committee
• Dennis Lockhart, president, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
• Jack Capers, partner, King & Spalding
• Curley Dossman, president, Georgia Pacific Foundation
• Ponder Harrison, part owner, Allegiant Air
• Gail Hayes, associate director, Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Milton Jones, managing partner, Integrated Capital Strategies
• Ingrid Saunders Jones, vice president, corporate external affairs, Coca-Cola Co.
• Susan Pease Langford, partner, Peck, Shaffer & Williams
• Thelma Malone, vice president, Atlanta PTA