The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Teaching by Example

Posted on | March 30, 2013 | 21 Comments

“The cheating had been going on so long. . . .
We considered it part of our jobs.”

The New York Times tells the story of the Atlanta teacher cheating scandal. Teachers systematically changed students’ answers on standardized tests, erasing wrong answers and changing them to the right ones, and the deception went all the way to the top: Dr. Beverly Hall, the Atlanta superintendent, was hosted at the White House and named superintendent of the year by the American Association of School Administrators. She collected more than $500,000 in performance bonuses.

And now Dr. Hall has been indicted by a grand jury on charges that could send her to prison for the rest of her life.

Pay attention, kids. This might be on your final exam.

Category: Education

Comments

21 Responses to “Teaching by Example”

  1. JeffS
    March 30th, 2013 @ 9:58 am

    This is how the Federal government “improves” education.

    No wonder we are boned.

  2. jetty
    March 30th, 2013 @ 10:35 am

    Insert my “Why would anyone send their children to a public school if they could choose otherwise?” comment here.

  3. smitty
    March 30th, 2013 @ 10:39 am

    Should we take a moment and blame the letter ‘W’ for forcing this sordid state of affairs?

  4. Neo
    March 30th, 2013 @ 10:47 am

    From the comments:

    I am a retired chemistry teacher from Texas. All the standardized tests in Texas got to be so time consuming, as far as getting students ready for them, I felt I could no longer teach my AP and preAP classes properly because of the lack of class time.

    … so worried about preping for the tests that there was no time for preping for the AP tests.

    There will be a test for irony later.

  5. benning
    March 30th, 2013 @ 11:01 am

    Of course this is Bush’s fault! Wheeee! Hah!

    The blame that never ends. *eyes rolling*

  6. Dan Collins
    March 30th, 2013 @ 11:05 am

    Well, it was quite a performance.

  7. Esau's Message
    March 30th, 2013 @ 12:01 pm

    Sending your children to public schools borders on child neglect, abuse and endangerment.

  8. Doom
    March 30th, 2013 @ 1:21 pm

    Well, I don’t know. It seems to be perfectly in line with their teaching methods and what they explicitly and implicitly teach, from k to grad. Something about passing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500?

  9. DaveO
    March 30th, 2013 @ 1:44 pm

    Unless I misread the stats – these children grew up to go to college, going tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and voted for the same candidates as the teachers and their union.
    Isn’t that the aim of education? Homogenization in economic slavery?

  10. WarEagle82
    March 30th, 2013 @ 2:16 pm

    Come on! They were just being creative and thinking outside the box! After all, they did it for the CHILDREN!!

  11. WarEagle82
    March 30th, 2013 @ 2:20 pm

    See, you’re not looking at this the right way. Since the teachers and administrators are actually taking the tests for the kids, the kids don’t actually have to go to school. They can hang out on the streets and engage in free market activities like the exchange of homemade pharmaceutical products and show demonstrate their support for their 2nd amendment rights.

  12. jakee308
    March 30th, 2013 @ 3:29 pm

    I blame it on Bush.

  13. Christy Waters
    March 30th, 2013 @ 3:30 pm

    I live in the Atlanta area. As a result of the cheating scandal, charter schools have surged, and a charter school amendment passed in November, making their formation much easier. School choice is an issue that’s supported across all demographics. GOP candidates should make it a centerpiece of their campaigns. Libs like to claim their “pro-choice”, but that only applies to the abortion issue. There’s a whole host of other issues that they’re very much anti-choice on, and we need to start calling them on it. Hijack their narrative and us it against them.

  14. Bob Belvedere
    March 30th, 2013 @ 3:49 pm

    This is not surprising at all in an epoch where those in charge have rejected Absolute Truth. This is The Age Of By Any Means Necessary.

    Morality has no agency; Tradition has no agency; Virtue has no agency; Honor has no agency.

    What commands power and influence are Power and Control and Nihilism.

  15. Rich Vail
    March 30th, 2013 @ 4:14 pm

    “Dr. Beverly Hall, the Atlanta superintendent, was hosted at the White House and named superintendent of the year by the American Association of School Administrators. She collected more than $500,000 in performance bonuses.

    And now Dr. Hall has been indicted by a grand jury on charges that could send her to prison for the rest of her life.”
    ______________________

    Good the bitch deserves it…but then, they need to charge every single teach in the district with misfeasance/malfeasance (depending upon which is appliciable) in office…and throw them in jail too. That won’t happen as they are all Socialist Democrats…and they won’t be prosecuted.

  16. Rich Vail
    March 30th, 2013 @ 4:15 pm

    GOP isn’t smart enough to make this an issue in the election.

  17. Christy Waters
    March 30th, 2013 @ 4:36 pm

    GOP as it is now isn’t, but that’s why there needs to be a conservative coup within the party.

  18. Rich Vail
    March 30th, 2013 @ 4:48 pm

    …and the Tea Party movement is a good place to start. Now, we need to build it into a new Conservative party…and dump the GOP with it’s tainted leadership.

  19. Quartermaster
    March 30th, 2013 @ 6:12 pm

    But, but, but,….the letter W brought us Sesame Street! Do you hate Big Bird or something?

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