When the news of the Atlanta Public School System cheating scandal was first reported in 2009, I hoped that the investigation would find that such a heinous crime against children would not turn out to be true.  The cheating scandal first became known in 2009, when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution raised questions about changed answers on standardized tests in the 50,000-student (mostly black) Atlanta school system.  The educators involved (appear to be mostly if not all black) in the cheating included teachers, a principal, and other administrators.  Teachers were accused of erasing wrong answers and changing them with the aid of the school district’s test coordinators.  It was reported that some teachers even held test-erasing parties in their homes.  Superintendent Dr. Beverly L. Hall (she denied any knowledge of the cheating) was the alleged ringleader of the cheating scandal.  Dr. Hall, who is also black, was named Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators in 2009.  She was credited with raising student test scores and graduation rates, particularly among the district's poor and minority students.  President Obama nominated Dr. Beverly Hall to the administrative post as member of the National Board for Education Sciences.

Thirty-five Atlanta educators in all were indicted in 2013 on charges including racketeering, making false statements, and theft.  Many pleaded guilty before the trial, and some of them testified at the months-long affair.  On April 1, 2015, eleven defendants were convicted of racketeering and falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs (some claimed that they were threatened with losing their jobs if they did not participate in the cheating).  Superintendent Beverly Hall, the alleged ringleader, is reported to have received up to $500,000 in payouts.  On April 14, 2015, ten of the eleven educators (Superintendent Beverly Hall died a month before) were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison (including probation time).

The heart-wrenching part of this entire scandal is that these black educators held little regard for the black children they were entrusted to educate.  By not properly educating the students and in turn falsifying the test scores, the students were set up for failure upon reaching the next grade.  One parent testified that her daughter had to repeat two grades because of cheating.  After all the struggles black Americans went through fighting for equal education for black children, how can these so-called educators be so callous and greedy?  The excuse given for the cheating is the No Child Left Behind law.  Many claim that the teachers were under pressure to ensure that the students pass the standardized test and that the school district’s funding was tied to the test scores.  That might be true; however, how does one explain the reports that some teachers received bonuses when their students scored high on the test?  If the teachers were competent and the students were properly educated, there would not be any pressure on the teachers or the school district.

The most infuriating and disappointing part of the scandal is the response from the black community and black leaders.  Instead of being angry with these black educators who defrauded black children, the black community rallied around them and asked the presiding judge for leniency.  Former U.S. ambassador Andrew Young testified during witness statements at the sentencing asking the judge for leniency, arguing that the former educators have much to offer the community if they are spared prison.  What exactly would these people have to offer the community when they did not do the job they were hired to do to begin with?  Protesters chanted outside the Fulton County courthouse during the sentencing hearing of the convicted former educators, carrying signs that read, “We support Dr. Beverly Hall and the APS employees.”  These people are in support of the Atlanta School System and Dr. Beverly Hall, yet no one seems to be in support of the children.  Their own children.  How sad is that?

Christian Commentary (http://patriciascornerblog.com), or contact the author at dicksonpat@sky.com.  Follow me on twitter@Patrici15767099.