When the state’s special investigators issued their report on the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal last week, it affirmed years of reporting by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The investigators mentioned the newspaper’s reporting in their work — although with their legal powers, they discovered appalling behavior of APS educators even more brazen than our disquieting reports.
APS officials for years denied, stonewalled and misled our reporters — and even refused to give up documents that were legally required to be made public.
We believe the reporting of this story stands alongside the most important work this newspaper has done during our community’s history.
It originated with our analysis of test scores, and it’s fair to say that this story might never have come to light without the work of Heather Vogell, John Perry and Alan Judd. We’re all proud of their work.
But here’s the thing: We took no joy in it. We live here, work here and send our kids to school here. For Atlanta to be home to schools that wasted taxpayer money, harmed students and were perhaps criminally mismanaged affects us all.
When a newspaper does its best work, it’s digging for the “real” story and representing the average person. That process can be messy, and it is rarely clear where the story might lead. It is difficult to subject important institutions in your own community to harsh criticism.
This was that kind of story. But our goals were simple. Get the story. Keep at it. Make sure we had it right.
When I arrived in January as editor, I was keenly aware of the cheating scandal.
And I got an early taste of the pressure the newspaper was under.
Within weeks of my arrival, APS Superintendent Beverly Hall and a representative of the Atlanta Education Fund requested a private meeting with me. It was presented to me as a “get-to-know-you” session — the kind of native courtesy many of Atlanta’s leaders offered upon my arrival.
Well, it wasn’t that. For an hour and a half I was pressured to call off our journalists. The newspaper’s reporters were criticized, as were other community leaders who supported our reporting. APS sources were portrayed as troubled malcontents.
I came away stunned by Hall’s attitude, a blame-the-messenger approach in which she clearly saw the issues as exaggerated — mostly by us.
In my notes of the meeting, I wrote: “I did not hear anything that would suggest we do anything but continue to be aggressive in reporting this story.”
One of the most alarming pieces of the investigators’ report echoes that first encounter with Hall.
“In many ways, the community was duped by Dr. Hall. While the district had rampant cheating, community leaders were unaware of the misconduct in the district. She abused the trust they placed in her. ... Her image became more important than reality.”
We’re proud that we didn’t let Hall dupe readers of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And we thank the thousands of readers who wrote to us and supported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for doing its job.
Kevin Riley is the editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
