Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog debated the sentences handed down to the defendants in the APS cheating scandal. Here is a sampling.
Lorac: Don't forget the part students and their parents play in lack of academic success. The parents who are complaining the most probably did not do one thing to help their children with their education. Also, quite a few students never do homework, school work or show any interest in their education. How can you blame teachers and the school system for students' and their parents' lack of effort? What the educators did was wrong. But the punishment certainly does not fit the crime. It appears the judge's sentences are cruel and unusual punishment, and I am hoping and praying these sentences are overturned on appeal.
GwinnetTeacher: The educators got what they deserved. We should be focused on the students who were cheated out of an education by these people instead of the "educators" who broke the law. To get lighter sentences, all they had to do was admit their role and take responsibility, which they didn't do. Glad to see them out of my profession.
TBTeach: Unfortunately, the punishment does not fit the crime. There are people who have committed crimes where their victims were killed and the perpetrator received a lesser sentence. These sentences scream bias.
KHarpe: These teachers did not take a deal because they don't think they did anything wrong, and I tend to agree with them. If you honestly and truly believe this behavior is restricted to APS, then I have a deal for you — an oceanfront condo just 10 minutes away from downtown Atlanta, real cheap. I can even take your bid on the only bridge that connects to this mystical land. But if you want to start a real conversation about the real culprit here, you need to start with the idiotic notion that class promotion rates define whether a school is successful or not.
Taxi: It absolutely amazes me anyone is surprised by these sentences. These "educators" violated every known ethical consideration and, in the process, broke the law. Phooey on them, and enjoy jail, you losers
Dismuke: I don't condone what these teachers and administrators did, but so much focus is put on peons that the bigger picture is missed — that the blame for this dog and pony show extends above and beyond Beverly Hall. It was never, not for a second, about "the children"— not to any great extent. It was about the appearance of success, by whatever means necessary.
Dreema: The judge's attitude will figure into the appeals. The harm he cites is not worthy of the steep sentences. He's just annoyed they didn't grovel before his mighty powers. These sentences and charging the teachers under RICO are a misuse of public funds.
Look: I think anybody involved in telling thousands of students they are too stupid to learn and handing them a third strike before they even reach puberty deserves some jail time.
