Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed called today a “dark day” for Atlanta Public Schools and said the results of a special investigation into cheating on state tests “confirms our worst fears.”
Reed, who became deeply involved in a major dispute that erupted recently over the chairmanship of the Atlanta school board, also said blame rests with those who led the district.
He said “…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.”
At a press conference attended by six of the nine Atlanta School Board members Tuesday afternoon, interim superintendent Erroll Davis reiterated the sentiments of the governor in that there will be consequences for people found to have cheated in the Atlanta Public Schools testing scandal.
“Anyone who cheated or was responsible will not work in front of children in Atlanta again," Davis said.
Board members said they expect immediate action once all the information is available, but board chairman Brenda Muhammad said the board will look ahead, "committed to making sure this never, ever happens again."
Although the board has a lot to discuss and has not seen the report yet, Muhammad said it is focused on moving forward. That “doesn’t mean beating up Beverly Hall,” she said.
Gov. Nathan Deal warned Tuesday morning “there will be consequences” for educators who cheated in Atlanta Public Schools.
In a news conference at the state Capitol, Deal said that three district attorneys, interim Superintendent Erroll Davis and the state educator licensing board are receiving full copies of a detailed report submitted by special investigators that lays out a decade of organized, systemic cheating in the Atlanta district.
Deal did not release the report, instead providing the media with a two-page summary. He said the report names 178 educators, including 38 principals, as participants in cheating. More than 80 confessed. The investigators said they confirmed cheating in 44 of 56 Atlanta schools they examined.
“The report’s findings are troubling, but I am encouraged this investigation will bring closure to problems that existed in the Atlanta public schools,” Deal said. “I am confident that brighter days lie ahead.”
Deal cut questions from the media off after 10 minutes and would not allow the two special investigators present, former Attorney General Mike Bowers and former DeKalb County District Attorney Bob Wilson, to answer any questions.
Deal said the state Attorney General’s office is considering whether Deal’s office should release the full report.
Deal said he could not discuss any district employees the report accuses of wrongdoing or talk about what criminal charges might apply. Asked whether former Superintendent Beverly Hall, who stepped down at the end of her contract Thursday, should be penalized, he said “that is not a determination for me to make.”
Gov. Nathan Deal’s staff briefed several officials before the news conference, including Atlanta school board chair Brenda Muhammad, vice chair Reuben McDaniel, interim Superintendent Erroll Davis, state House Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, Mayor Kasim Reed and others.
Muhammad described what she heard as “absolutely devastating. Because it’s our children. You just don’t cheat children.”
State School Superintendent John Barge and Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Student Achievement Kathleen Mathers said in a statement Tuesday in coming weeks "they will be working on a number of key issues, including: 1) student support, 2) accountability, and 3) the financial benefit that some schools may have received as a result of cheating."
The pair acknowledged in the statement "evidence of unethical behavior within APS where some educators, including those in leadership positions, chose their own interests over helping students entrusted to their care."
According to officials who spoke earlier with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the state special investigators concluded that Hall knew or should have known about the cheating.
The report’s release culminates more than two years of inquiries into Atlanta’s huge gains on the state-mandated Criterion-Referenced Competency Test in 2009. An AJC analysis first detected statistically improbable increases in test scores at two Atlanta schools in 2008. The following year, the AJC published another analysis that found suspicious score changes on the 2009 CRCT at a dozen Atlanta schools. The newspaper’s reporting ultimately led to the state investigation that is being released today.
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.
At the same time, the document apparently provides a scathing assessment of the school system’s handling of the scandal, accusing district leaders of hampering the special investigators’ efforts to uncover the truth. The investigators reportedly accuse Hall and her top aides of refusing to take responsibility for the district’s problems.
The report’s release comes less than a week after Hall departed from the district. It is likely to provide the harshest critique to date of her 12-year tenure, which reached an apex in 2009 when she was named Superintendent of the Year for the nation.
Hall has repeatedly denied any involvement in cheating. For years, she disputed all allegations of widespread cheating in the district. But last month, in a farewell video to her staff, she finally acknowledged wrongdoing – by other district employees.
Staff writer Bill Rankin contributed to this report.
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