I’m not surprised . . .

The Atlanta Public Schools district is national news. And not in a good way. Many friends and family, knowing my battles as documented here with APS, have asked what I think about the recent CRCT cheating scandal. Safe to say I feel the same as most parents – embarrassed, angry. One thing I’m not, however, is surprised. Previously I’ve written about the Jarron Draper case. Anyone familiar with that case won’t be surprised by the actions of the district during this cheating scandal. From a story here in USA Today:

The pressure even prompted one frightened third-grade teacher to tell investigators that “there are ways that APS (Atlanta Public Schools) can get back at you” if teachers don’t go along with cheating.

“APS is run like the Mob,” the teacher said, according to the investigation report.

The scandal hits all my buttons – a culture of corruption in the school system, the use of standardized testing tied to individual financial reward, and the dire consequences for all students who have, through no fault of their own, been damaged by the actions of APS. It also makes it difficult to hope or believe this system can equitably or effectively educate my children with autism.

The worst part of the story in the APS cheating scandal, for me, is not the fact that it happened. I believe the system in some ways incentivized people to do the wrong thing and that goes all the way to the very top with former Superintendent Beverly Hall. Rather, the thing that upset me the most was the audacity with which teachers and administrators conducted themselves. They held answer-changing “parties” for God’s sake. To me that speaks of institutionalized corruption and a profound lack of judgment.

But do I understand why they did it? Yes. Because under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), these schools must show consistent improvement in test scores year over year or they risk losing funding. How they’re supposed to do that without necessary additional resources is a question I’ll leave to state and federal lawmakers, but that is the expectation. In theory, NCLB purports to level the playing field for all students, whether special needs, gifted, at-risk or typical. It’s an admirable goal and one I support. But the implementation of NCLB has created strong incentives to get the test scores by any means possible. Because if you don’t, you’ll lose your job or your school could face loss of funding and eventual closure.

I know there are many people who would say that schools who can’t achieve these targets should be closed. That their teachers should be fired. Unfortunately, it’s much more complicated than that. Certainly there are some ‘bad teachers’ at APS. But there are also good ones. I believe part of the problem at APS is that good teachers are often thwarted by bad administrators and an unresponsive district. That’s no easy thing to change, new superintendent notwithstanding. It goes back to the culture of corruption that, when allowed to continue and grow, becomes as inherent a part of the organization as students or teachers themselves.

With their systematic cheating, these teachers and administrators hurt every single student at APS. There’s an old joke about privileged kids who ‘were born on third base and think they hit a triple.’ Many of these kids don’t even get to the plate. And for those who do, against all odds, achieve, this scandal unfairly taints their hard-earned accomplishments.

Several of my friends on Facebook posted about their children passing the CRCT. They were rightly proud and relieved. It made me wonder, though, why does it seem so easy for kids in suburban schools to pass this test but not the inner-city schools? Some of the schools involved with the scandal previously had less than 30% passing rates in reading and math. How? Why? And why on earth would the superintendent, administrators and teachers who cheated try to undermine their own students who didn’t get the help they needed because the test scores were artificially inflated?

As for how any of this relates to autism, I’ll leave you with this. Having seen how the school district operated, with arrogance and perceived impunity, you can imagine what it’s like to challenge them on what a ‘fair and appropriate education’ for a kid with autism means. And we were at one of the ‘good schools’ in APS. One that was not involved in the cheating scandal but will, by many, be painted with that same broad brush.

As for the CRCT? My son Robert will not be able to take the CRCT. Therefore, he will not be able to receive a diploma. Students in special education who don’t participate in standardized testing, upon graduating from high school, receive what amounts to a certificate of attendance. It’s not even equivalent to a GED. In fact, students who receive this special education certificate cannot even get a GED (high school equivalency). Guess that answers my question about why so few students with autism go on to higher education, even if they have skills and capabilities to do so. But that’s another question for another day.

The answer is that there are no easy answers.

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