APS Educators Found Guilty and sent to Jail! Really? (Atlanta: 2014, high school)

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by bu2

Are you being funny?

You DO realize that is exactly what the prison guards at Auschwitz said.

I'm not saying it's justified, just that they would likely make that argument.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Although the cheating scandal was tragic and wrong I was a bit surprised to see all these people convicted. I figured they would say they were just following orders.

That's what I figured, too. I really didn't keep up with the story, but I bet someone tried that tactic.

[kool hand luke]

There are plenty of people in jail that are not a "danger to society"- why should they be excused when others are not?

[Scared to Life]

I thought that once the superintendent died they were going to pin everything on her and let these folks get a slap on the wrist.

Also following orders is a defense that can be used in court, I guess not this one, but it is. If a agent/employee is forced to do something within reason and threatened to do it with the cost of there livlihoods in jeopardy, courts normally only will charge the principle/employer and not the agent/employee. I couldn't believe it that they were found guilty. and the RICO/Racketeering charge is from the Mob days which was a stretch in my young legal eyes.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Scared to Life

I thought that once the superintendent died they were going to pin everything on her and let these folks get a slap on the wrist.

Also following orders is a defense that can be used in court, I guess not this one, but it is. If a agent/employee is forced to do something within reason and threatened to do it with the cost of there livlihoods in jeopardy, courts normally only will charge the principle/employer and not the agent/employee. I couldn't believe it that they were found guilty. and the RICO/Racketeering charge is from the Mob days which was a stretch in my young legal eyes.

"Within reason" is the key phrase. Doing something you know is wrong is something different.

The leaders were bad people. There was the one person who was ordered to sit under a table in a meeting. Hall's 3 underlings deserve at least 10 years and maybe the 20. Another one told staff to tell the state's investigators to "Go to Hell" and to write it down and tell their colleagues.

In the AJC they tell of one of the teachers convicted ordering her students not to tell anyone. A number of students and teachers and parents were justifiably afraid of retaliation and so kept their mouths shut. It was a poisonous atmosphere. In one case the teachers arranged for the testing coordinator to leave the building and then broke into his files and then they later had an answer changing party.

I doubt any of those convicted were acting "within reason."

[AnsleyPark]

Read something in the paper about a protest to support the convicted. One lady even said, "Let our educators go!" (or something along those lines). These folks do not deserve to be referred to as "educators."

[LovelySummer]

Sorry. They did children an injustice. Throw the teachers in jail. Furthermore, take over the estate of Beverly Hall and take every penny traceable to the bonuses she received back. She never had to pay for her role in this mess and I feel that there should not be anyone who benefits from these tactics at the expense of children's education.

Originally Posted by Larry X

I know what these teachers did was wrong but I don't think they deserve jail time for racketeering! are your serious, seems like they made up something just to send them to jail. I doubt these teachers are a danger to society or a flight risk, they shouldn't have to wait in jail for their trail.

Ex-educators jailed in Atlanta cheating scandal hoping for bond | www.ajc.com

[scatman]

A New Yorker observing this matter......

Supporters of the educators convicted say there was crazy pressure to change test scores in order for schools to get more funding and/or stay open. Opponents say that getting paid ain't about being pressured. Are those opposing points accurate?

[bu2]

It had nothing to do with getting more funding or staying open.

Now there was pressure to improve test scores or lose your job. And there was "crazy pressure" to keep silent about the cheating. That's where the RICO came in.

[scatman]

Originally Posted by bu2

It had nothing to do with getting more funding or staying open.

Now there was pressure to improve test scores or lose your job. And there was "crazy pressure" to keep silent about the cheating. That's where the RICO came in.

Were the teachers getting bonuses for fixing the tests?