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The Atlanta 51���� system has had more than its share of publicity this past year. When allegations of cheating on standardized tests arose in Atlanta 51����s, an investigation was launched. The investigation resulted in the implication of many teachers and principals throughout the district in what quickly became a widespread cheating scandal. Once the facts began to materialize, the new acting superintendent became wrapped up in the foray. Today, the fallout from the scandal is continuing, as the teachers involved in cheating have been given an ultimatum from the top: resign or face termination.

Beginnings of a Scandal

Beverly Hall took over as superintendent of Atlanta 51����s just before the turn of the century, when concern over the quality of education in Atlanta was at an all-time high. Hall worked hard to improve test scores in schools across the district and even received national accolades when the scores began to rise. However, the higher test scores began to gain the attention of the media and school officials, who wondered exactly how some schools were able to register such large improvements.

When an internal investigation was launched, an abnormally high number of erasures were discovered on many of the standardized tests in a handful of schools in the district. This discovery led to additional investigations, and the cycle continued for many months until the full scope of the cheating scandal could be identified. Currently, the district has implicated 178 teachers and

The No Child Left Behind Act signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2001 promised to provide schools with the necessary incentives to raise the bar on the quality of education across the country. The bill emphasized stringent, standardized testing that would effectively identify underachieving schools. Those schools and school districts would be threatened with the prospect of limited funding if they did not bring their test scores up to the national average. The ultimate goal of No Child Left Behind was to ensure every student in the United States was reading and writing proficiently by 2014.

The Deadline is Looming

This year marks the deadline for many schools to bring their standards up to par or face significant funding cuts by the federal government. While the theory behind No Child Left Behind sounded good on paper, school officials are now seeing the problems with the act, as nearly 80 percent of the nation’s schools may receive a failing mark according to federal standards. This means that either the majority of schools in the country could lose important funding at a time when budget cuts are already impacting the quality of education in many districts.

The summer months have been a turbulent time for No Child Left Behind. On the one hand, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has hinted that he might relax standards – or provide waivers – to schools that are unable to make the grade before the next school year

Public schools have faced a myriad of challenges during the current economic slowdown, with budget cuts forcing everything from firing faculty to cutting programs. To help alleviate the financial pinch, some schools are turning to commercialism to make ends meet. By selling advertisements on scoreboards, school buses, and even student lockers, school districts are able to gain enough income to make up for some of their budget shortfalls. However, this practice is a controversial one, as parents and community members ponder whether advertising in and around schools is sending the right message to students. We’ll take a look at both sides of this heated issue.

A History of School Advertising

Selling advertising on school buses began nearly two decades ago in Colorado, and it quickly spread to other states like Texas, Arizona, and Massachusetts. According to a report in the New York Times, Utah became the latest state to allow the practice, signing a bill to allow school bus advertising just one month ago. New Jersey also joined the pack this year, signing a law in January. The ads on buses can generate a significant amount of revenue, with advertisements in the prominent location selling for as much as $150,000 to $250,000, according to the Ad Nauseum blog posted by the New York Law School.

Although school bus advertising has been revving for some time, it is not the first bout of commercialism to hit public schools across the country. Advertising in yearbooks

Colorado School District Facing Outrage Over Voucher Program

School choice has been an ongoing debate in districts nationwide, but one Colorado district has been getting plenty of attention on this subject lately. Douglas County, located in the southern part of the Denver metro area, has unanimously approved a voucher program that provides state funding to parents who want to enroll their children in private schools. The Douglas County school board approved the measure in March of this year, but the fight is just beginning over the constitutionality of such a move. We’ll look at both sides of this potentially explosive issue to determine whether using taxpayer dollars to fund private schooling should be allowed under the law.

The History of the Voucher Program

The “Choice Scholarship” pilot program, due to launch in Douglas County during the 2011-2012 school year, was the brainchild of Milton and Rose Friedman. These two economists established the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation in 1996 to advance an education system based on free choice. This couple firmly believes that the most effective way to raise the bar on the quality of education in this country is to provide free choice to parents and students that promotes healthy competition within the educational framework.

The Friedmans state on their , “This foundation is the culmination of what has been one of our main interests for more than four decades: improvement in the quality of education available to children of all

Buckling under the performance pressures placed by some standardized test scores, teachers and administrators are allegedly backed into corners where they either alter test results or lose funding for their schools. The problem has been seen in Washington D.C., and now Atlanta schools may be joining the ranks of school districts caught in the act. Allegations of widespread cheating that have plagued the Atlanta school system for the past year are not showing any signs of going away, as new accusations have recently come to light from a former school district official. The latest news suggests that the former superintendent for Atlanta 51����s may have known about the problem – and even taken steps of her own to cover up possible indiscretions.

A History of the Atlanta Cheating Scandal

During the summer of 2008, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution launched its own investigation into the validity of standardized test results from some of the schools in the district. Of particular interest was Deerwood Academy, which showed “suspiciously large gains,” according to a later report in the . When the publication questioned school officials about the improvements made at Deerwood, as well as a handful of other school districts, reporters were assured that the gains were “valid and defensible.” School officials saw no reason to pursue an investigation of test results at that time.

However, questions about Deerwood began brewing again a few months later, when a state investigation was initiated in response