As you may be aware, the legal proceedings regarding Atlanta\’s fraudulent educational system “success” have now come to fruition.
To refresh your memory, Atlanta, for years, was heralded as a great educational success, as test scores rose, thus students were, presumably, better educated and better prepared for the real world.
But, in reality, however, the students were doing terribly. And rather than face questions about why, which would cause some harsh realities to be faced about what was happening and why, some of the Atlanta “educators” decided that, instead of reporting the real scores, they\’d just make up better ones.
Yesterday, three of these “educators” were sentenced to 7 years in jail – and then 13 years probation, 2,000 hours of public service, and a $25,000 fine. Several others were sentenced to shorter terms in jail, and a number took plea deals. It is suspected that the total of “educators” being punished so far is just a small percentage of how many actually participated in this fraud.
Personally, I started with mixed feelings about the seven year sentences (not the lesser ones). After all, there are people convicted of violent crimes – rape, even manslaughter – who have been sentenced to less time in jail.
But then I thought about the fact that inflating student performance year after year did more than just get these people promotions and bonuses. It also caused countless students to be sent into the world unprepared to function even at basic skill levels.
How much punishment is that worth?
Then I recalled a terrible day I spent interviewing people for the Manager position in a business my partners and I were starting, which required strong communication skills (NOTE: I won\’t mention the city or the business, but I guarantee that I am not embellishing this story in any way).
One of my partners and I traveled to the city and spent a day interviewing applicants. One after another we saw young people, mostly from inner city minority backgrounds, who waved college degrees at us but had no command of the most basic grammar, let alone any apparent ability to communicate effectively.
By the time we finished, I literally was fighting back tears. And, having recently checked this city\’s proficiency levels in 8th grade reading and math, I can tell you that things are no better now than they were then.
I was forced to conclude that, at least in this one city, minority students were being pushed straight through el-hi, and even college, without regard to whether they were learning anything. Needless to say, therefore, the Atlanta Frauducation Scandal comes as no surprise to me.
Simple fact: no matter what the ultimate success rate winds up, it is 1,000 times better to be honest with students who are falling behind and at least try to work with them on basic skills, than to give up and just shuttle them through without regard to how a lack of basic education will affect their future.
When I think of how these children-turned-adults must feel, seeing that the “education” they thought they had successfully attained was getting them nowhere, realizing that they were sold a bill of goods, left high and dry and basically screwed over (a scenario which, I strongly suspect, is playing out in other cities throughout the United States as well), I can\’t help remembering those heart-wrenching lyrics from Elvis Presley\’s “In The Ghetto”:
People, don\’t you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he\’ll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
Are we too blind to see,
Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way
With that in mind, I have to say that the sentences meted out in Atlanta were correct. And I\’m only sorry they did not catch every one of the others who were involved.
