School Systems in Peril

100 Atlanta school employees implicated in test cheating scandal

Atlanta Public Schools are in peril due to the city wide cheating scandal. Most of the schools in the district have been under evaluation for cheating on the CRCT. Dr. Beverly Hall has been asked to step down because of the cheating test scandal.

An investigation of suspected cheating at Atlanta Public Schools has concluded that as many as 100 employees at 12 schools violated testing protocols, the chairman of a special investigative committee told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday.

Gary Price, chairman of the independent panel that was formed to investigate irregularities on state standardized tests at city schools, did not detail the violations, which could range from inadvertently violating test security rules to outright cheating. Price’s committee will release the key findings and recommendations from its exhaustive three-month inquiry on Tuesday.

"I'm outraged, primarily because I think about 50,000 kids in this system," said Price. He has also declined to name the schools where these employees work, although school names will be included in the findings, he said. "If [students] don't perform well on these tests, if we've been passing people along through the system, that's the important issue.



DeKalb fires 2, demotes 2 over sales of books written by administrators

What is it for a principal to make a 100,000 a year and want a little more money.
Several principals in the Dekalb county school system wrote books and then sold the books to the county totaling up to thousands of dollars. Princiapls who wrote books took it upon themselves to buy and sale copies of their own books which brought about the investigation.

DeKalb County’s top school official is firing two principals and demoting two other officials after an internal investigation found school funds were used to purchase thousands of dollars worth of books that school administrators had written. The personnel moves came in response to an investigation into the book sales by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

All told, the school system found three educators-turned-authors raked in a total of almost $100,000 in sales to district schools. One principal used her school’s funds to buy more than $11,000 worth of copies of her own book.

Interim Superintendent Ramona Tyson said the investigation uncovered a misuse of school funds that was “alarming,” “disturbing” and “unethical.”

In addition to the firings and demotions, Tyson outlined policy recommendations to the school board so the problem won’t happen again.

Howard Student on Alert

Between August 16 and September 16, 12 Howard students have been robbed, armed and unarmed, and two have been sexually assaulted.

This number, provided by the Howard University Campus Police Department, does not include unreported crime.

Five of the twelve robberies have occurred on campus. In addition, one of the sexual assaults occurred on campus.

Students may be disturbed to discover that the emergency Blue Light Systems on campus do not work and will not dial for help if you press the button.

Instead, students may hear the sounds of someone else dialing or a voice. Neither one is helping you.


Campus Police Chief Leroy K. James is in negotiations to replace the broken systems but finds that the cost of the project is slowing the progress. He reports the project will be finished within the coming months.

"I don't want to put in something that's mediocre," he said. "I want something that is available to you when you need it."

James said in the meantime, "I urge students to call the dispatch number since most students have cell phones. [Use your cell phone so] that when you're in a situation where you need help, you get help."
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