The test-cheating scandal in the Atlanta public schools was a black cloud that has hung over our city and state for three years. It has always been our policy that cheating should never be condoned.
The Georgia Federation of Teachers/Atlanta Federation of Teachers was the first to blow the whistle on possible test erasures by teachers — and indeed, many people paid the price for using poor judgment. But as we also learned, the scandal shined a light on the state’s destructive, test-driven education system that has cared more about showing student progress on standardized tests, whether the scores were legitimately earned or not.
The mandatory district-wide ethics training that former Atlanta schools Superintendent Erroll Davis instituted and is being continued by Superintendent Meria Carstarphen is only as good as its content and audience.
Every employee in the system — from the superintendent and her staff to principals, teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators and other school staff — should be required to take the training: no exceptions. This scandal started at the top, with intense pressure placed on teachers to show improved test scores, and worked its way down to teachers feeling the heat to show decent scores or they would be punished.
What we need throughout the public school system in Georgia is a makeover to reclaim the promise of public education, so that everyone in the system acts ethically and also works in common cause to give our students a great education that will prepare them for college, career and life.
We have to fight back on problems that have set us back — an obsession with tests instead of teaching and learning — and fight forward with programs and services that will help all children.
This school year, we will focus on two areas that would go a long way to help improve teacher quality and student achievement: an effective teacher evaluation system, and wraparound services for disadvantaged children.
We need a comprehensive, fair and sensible teacher evaluation system to address underperforming teachers and give continuous support to all teachers. Teachers and administrators, together, should look at the New Haven, Conn., evaluation system, which has been recognized as a national model. It provides for frequent classroom observations and review of teacher and student work. Immediate assistance is provided to improve deficient areas. If teacher performance continues to be poor, that teacher would leave the system.
Poverty is not an excuse for poor student performance; it is a reality that affects a child’s life, including student achievement. We should look to cities such as Cincinnati, which have successful community schools. There, parents, teachers and administrators work with community groups to provide health care, social and emotional services, tutoring and other interventions at school. When children are sick and don’t have access to health care, they have high absentee rates or trouble concentrating in class. Children from difficult households need access to counseling services.
As we embark on a new school year, we have the opportunity to clear the dark clouds that have hovered over our school system. With a new APS superintendent, a desire to work collaboratively with teachers, an earnest respect for ethics, and new programs that can improve teaching and learning, we can reclaim the promise of public education in Georgia.
