“Consequences” for APS Cheaters

Gov. Nathan Deal says “there will be consequences” for those guilty in the APS cheating scandal.

From The AJC:

‘[Deal] said the report names 178 educators, including 38 principals, as participants in cheating. More than 80 confessed. The investigators said they confirmed cheating in 44 of 56 Atlanta schools they examined.

‘“The report’s findings are troubling, but I am encouraged this investigation will bring closure to problems that existed in the Atlanta public schools,” Deal said. “I am confident that brighter days lie ahead.”’

Not exactly sure how there couldn’t be brighter days ahead for APS…

Side note: Abolish the use of “educator”. “Teacher” didn’t need a synonym and an “administrator” doesn’t educate (which is just an awful verb here). Ergo, no need for the pretentious, meaningless, and useless “educator”.


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4 responses to ““Consequences” for APS Cheaters”

  1. JMPrince Avatar

    Some more relevant commentary from Z about the scandal here:
    http://thinkprogress.org/education/2011/07/07/262184/atlanta-cheating-scandal-union/

    Way back in 2005, the local AFT apparently warned Hall of these allegations in many formal complaints made to the administration. JMP

  2. JMPrince Avatar

    Again, pedantic semantics. And not to accuse anyone of being a poor alter ego, there’s a larger lesson here, somewhere.

    When everything is working ‘well’? Yes, ALL of those people do play a role in educating your kids. From the janitors on up. Should they be denoted as such by the bureaucracy? Who can say? But what’s lost in the pedantry here is that they do indeed contribute to & play a vital role in the enterprise of education. And that’s the mission that they’re tasked with. All of them.

    From the much derided ‘lunch ladies’ nudging kids to make better food choices, and yes answering questions on same & nutrition, to the janitors who often watch out for the safety of the younger kids who might be getting trampled under foot or lost in the maelstrom of the frustrating & sometimes frightening experience that is MS/HS, they all play a part in the whole.

    And we forget that. For the whole thing to work, it requires the dedicated participation of many folks, not just the teachers. Ditto for the Army which BTW, has roughly about the same ratio of ‘trigger pullers’ to logistical staff.

    So I’ve got little idea about what constitutes ‘clarity’ for the Eds. But me? I knew the cop who was my crossing guard in grammar school, his 1969 Buick Skylark he parked nearby, and the limp he had from the Korean War. I recall our favored bus driver from way back then too, who would listen to baseball games on a small loud early transistor radio, and gruffly relay play by play to the rest of us in the back, while shouting to us to ‘shut up & listen to the game!’. He smoked stogies from time to time too.

    I also recall most of the janitor crew from both middle school & HS, as I was often late, and needed to be let in various locked doors. Once they knew you, (and back then they were around forever), you were good to go. Back then we did not have parapro’s and they’d often stand in for something that the teachers may have needed or to provide assistance & aid when required.

    They were each tasked with & dedicated to the mission of furthering and aiding the education of the children in their charge. Each & every one of them. I’m not sure they’d enjoy the bureaucratic distinction, but I know that many of the kids learned something from many of them down through the years.

    Again, largely besides the point. And on the issue, I think criminal prosecution are largely a wast of time & effort. There’s other ways of properly sanctioning wrong doing w/o wasting more money while we’re at it. Which was the shorter answer.
    JMP

  3. Ed Avatar
    Ed

    “‘Educator’ incorporates all in the building”

    That is so utterly and totally useless you’re providing more fodder for it to not be used.

    Janitors have no role in educating children. Cafeteria workers, the same. Principals can have never stepped in a classroom other than to observe.

    Yet they are considered “educators”? Come on dude. It is a meaningless catchall that obfuscates what someone is or is not doing in a school. If your words aren’t providing clarity then don’t use them.

    And what was wrong with “school employee”? That at least has some precision to it.

    PS: administrators at APS HQ are also “educators”. Again…

  4. Jason A Avatar
    Jason A

    Ed,

    ‘Educator’ incorporates all in the building. Educators are the teachers, administrators (Principals: Full, Assistant, Vice, etc.), counselors, graduation coaches, special education leads, paraprofessionals, nurses, etc..

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