Last year we brought you the story of the Atlanta Public School System’s systemic failure, fraud and corruption: Top to Bottom
Across Atlanta Public Schools, staff worked feverishly in secret to transform testing failures into successes. Teachers and principals erased and corrected mistakes on students’ answer sheets. Area superintendents silenced whistle-blowers and rewarded subordinates who met academic goals by any means possible. Superintendent Beverly Hall (pictured above far left) and her top aides ignored, buried, destroyed or altered complaints about misconduct, claimed ignorance of wrongdoing and accused naysayers of failing to believe in poor children’s ability to learn. This went on for more than a decade. (more)
Now this newest revelation comes to light - It was a brazen and surprisingly long-lived scheme, authorities said, to help aspiring public school teachers cheat on the tests they must pass to prove they are qualified to lead their classrooms.
For 15 years, teachers in three Southern states paid Clarence Mumford Sr. (pictured left) — himself a longtime educator — to send someone else to take the tests in their place, authorities said. Each time, Mumford received a fee of between $1,500 and $3,000 to send one of his test ringers with fake identification to the Praxis exam. In return, his customers got a passing grade and began their careers as cheaters, according to federal prosecutors in Memphis.
Authorities say the scheme affected hundreds — if not thousands — of public school students who ended up being taught by unqualified instructors.
Mumford faces more than 60 fraud and conspiracy charges that claim he created fake driver’s licenses with the information of a teacher or an aspiring teacher and attached the photograph of a test-taker. Prospective teachers are accused of giving Mumford their Social Security numbers for him to make the fake identities.
The hired-test takers went to testing centers, showed the proctor the fake license, and passed the certification exam, prosecutors say. Then, the aspiring teacher used the test score to secure a job with a public school district, the indictment alleges. Fourteen people have been charged with mail and Social Security fraud, and four people have pleaded guilty to charges associated with the scheme. [...]
Mumford “obtained tens of thousands of dollars” during the alleged conspiracy, which prosecutors say lasted from 1995 to 2010 in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. [...]
Nina Monfredo, a 23-year-old history teacher at Power Center Academy in Memphis, has taken Praxis exams for history, geography, middle school content, and secondary teaching and learning.
Monfredo, who passed all her tests and is not involved in the fraud case, said the exams she took were relatively easy for someone who has a high school education. She said some people use study aids to prepare, but she didn’t. And she didn’t feel much pressure because it was her understanding that she could take the test again if she did not pass.
“If you feel like you can’t pass and you hire someone it means you really didn’t know what you were doing,” she said. “I think it would be easier to just learn what’s on the test.” (read more)
At Least 60 Teachers ! SIXTY !
What do you see as the common denominator ?
dammit! more to feel guilty about! I hate being a white person… I know I caused this somehow…
Why, yes, you (we) did. I guess we ought to be ashamed? So why am I just angry?
Oh. I know. Because I’m sick of the lying, the lack of achievement, the lazy, lazy, self-pitying, whiny, dropout blacks who make a profession of being lazy, self-pitying and whiny. I am sick of it. So I’m a racist for sure.
Once there’s enough of us, can we get our own Congressional White Caucus and White TV network?
The snow leopards vs the black panthers
Ebidents
If those who are entrusted to educate do not have have the minimum requisite skills to teach, this may be be part of the puzzle of “why Johnny can’t read.”
This is the “decade” of the black; woe to the poor whites. Hopefully it’s just a decade, but I’m thinking it will be longer unless this country self-destructs sooner.
If you have ever been to Atlanta you will see the situation as it stands on the national level in a microcosm, all city officials are black. The city is a mess. Crime, corruption and pay offs. Go to south Fulton, Clayton or DeKalb county and see the third world being re-created.
Ben Hill had a very nice shopping mall, called Greenbriar as the blacks moved in the mall started getting robbed, shoplifted every day from every store until the stores started closing and moving away.
You cannot operate at a loss that cannot be stopped.
Which is exactly what Obama is doing.
A previous author posted a question, and I had not thought of it this way before:
Can you name one city, town, village, suburb, or even subdivision…. just one, that has *ever* seen an improvement in overall quality from blacks moving in and whites moving out. Just one.
There are litterally hundreds of well known examples in reverse – but is there one positive example in this sociological way to reflect even the potential of it ?
The same question can be asked of any country run by blacks…and the answer is always the same…it’s never a positive outcome. And now looks what’s happening to America. I know this sounds racist, but you can’t argue about the facts.
It is precisely why whites do not want blacks living in their neighborhoods. It is NOT racism. It is common sense. White are clean, neat, orderly and take pride in how their yards look. Sorry to say that such is not the case with blacks. It is a fact that people like “our” black leaders will never admit.
“White are clean, neat, orderly and take pride in how their yards look. Sorry to say that such is not the case with blacks.”
Yep, you nailed it.!!! I have never a white person that was not clean, organized, etc and never met a black person that was. But give me more time to travel through that world of make believe, and I’ll let you know once I do.
My daughter, who is now 20, did some missionary work in Haiti and the Dominican.. and said she had never even imagined that people had so little respect that they could live in such squalid conditions voluntarily. She was there to spread the Christian Word but she said she would NEVER give a dime to them regardless of any natural disasters that might occur there. She was convinced that they live like they do out of personal choice and that their value systems are the opposite of ours. Her entire attitude about race relations changed as a result of her trips and she did not get that from me. She is very compassionate person. Almost all of her photos of her hugging or interacting with children born with serious deformities so she was “hands on” worker while she was there.
I did not know that shoes were such a valued item there. She said it was risky to take them off for even a minute and several in her group had theirs stolen. Have you ever heard of that before?
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“My daughter, who is now 20, did some missionary work in Haiti and the Dominican.. and said she had never even imagined that people had so little respect that they could live in such squalid conditions voluntarily. She was there to spread the Christian Word but she said she would NEVER give a dime to them regardless of any natural disasters that might occur there. She was convinced that they live like they do out of personal choice and that their value systems are the opposite of ours. Her entire attitude about race relations changed as a result of her trips and she did not get that from me
jordan2222: I guess this is an example to prove that blacks are not clean, orderly, and neat as you stated in your previous post. Duly noted and I know that no matter what I say to rebut that, that will be your perception and probably the perception of many others. I will not try. I will just live in my “squalid conditions” being unclean, nasty and disorderly. Thanks for responding to my post at least and have a great day in your clean and neat world.
Cheverly, its an upscale suburb of DC.
You are so dishonest. Cheverly is not a black-run “upscale suburb” of DC. It is a small enclave of 6,000 residents, heavily Jewish, and the management is all white – except for one council member. The local state delegate to MD is white.
All black Prince George’s County which surrounds it is a complete train wreck, however.
I just googled that, did some research into your claim…. and….. WOW – Now I know why you are a moderated poster, YOU’RE A LIAR! Why do you find the need to be deceitful just to be arbitrary?
What a horrid and deceptive person you have revealed yourself to be.
Please leave.
What do I see?
Using data from: http://www.blackdemographics.com/
Actual State Ranking from highest to lowest-top 11
State Proportion Blacks/Non-blacks
Mississippi 0.595813205 xxx
Louisiana 0.47976012
Georgia 0.446559297 xxx
Maryland 0.42670537
South Car. 0.392957746
Alabama 0.360881543
North Carolina 0.278137128
Delaware 0.277202073
Virginia 0.246505718
Tennessee 0.203658537 xxx
Arkansas 0.192076831 xxx
Want to guess where I would look for other problems?
“No child left behind”….Sorry, that belongs to Bush
Wonder why we continue to lower test standards in school for our students?
THERE IS ONE BIG PROBLEM: They are ATTEMPTING to teach our white kids. This is the greatest case for a return to segregated schools ever.
One of the reasons I have zero respect for the Kennedy’s.
you don’t know how true that statement is. the black teachers are NOT teaching. they are screaming and belittling the students to maintain a quiet non academic classroom. black teachers are not teaching. they have quiet classrooms with absolutely NO teaching ever. the kids may have their books open, but they should never ask the black teacher for help. the kid may not even understand the teachers ebonics to begin with.
I graduated high school in 1976. Two of the best teachers I had were black. None of the white teachers were great. Did have one in Jr. high who was outstanding.
Unless you have the diamond in the rough student that is bright & brave enough to challenge the teacher. Who can forget this exchange that happened recently in NC when a student challenged the teacher about Obama.
Teacher was suspended
“the black teachers are NOT teaching. they are screaming and belittling the students to “maintain a quiet non academic classroom. black teachers are not teaching. they have quiet classrooms with absolutely NO teaching ever. the kids may have their books open,but they should never ask the black teacher for help. the kid may not even understand the teachers ebonics to begin with”
Loudajew: Maybe some are them (black teachers) aren’t but many are. I come from a long line of educators one of whom was an educator with APS as a school psychologist and then as Director of Psychological Services before her retirement and she took her job very seriously. . I myself was an educator for a few years as a Special Education teacher working with students with Intellectual Disabilities and currently working as a substitute teacher as I complete studies for Masters.I gave it my all, every day in my classroom for students people feel cannot learn. While there are teachers who really didn’t care, there are many of us that did but the battle really was from apathetic parents and students who don’t value education at all.
I had one student a few years ago who stated he was going to be a pimp when I asked him want he wanted as a career.
Yes,much time is spent in classroom management to manage behaviors in many classrooms but not all of that can be attributed to the teacher.
Said more than i probably should have, but since I have experienced the classroom, just wanted to give my point of view.
P.S. Nobody took the Praxis for me. I passed the first time on my own
jordan2222:
This was the reason as well as the criminal activity that flooded out of ethnic areas into other ethnic areas that led to segregation in the south…by democrats.
I am 66. There were no blacks in our high school. IMO, this is a serious issue. I don’t know if it’s an IQ problem or what, but clearly a significant number of black students (and teachers) are not up to speed and only hold back kids (of all races) who are hungry for knowledge. Just take a look at how much standard tests have been lowered for them. It’s pathetic, but also tragic and it angers me.
The soft bigotry of lowered expectations. (is that from Clarence Thomas?)
According to Wiki, it was Michael Gerson:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gerson
Thank you–sheesh–ya’d think I wouldn’t have to be so lazy. By the time my fingers are in gear—my brain is in the dust. Should reverse that course.
It’s a liberal progressive problem
I’m shocked I tell you…….
Damn……….
I knew it all along……….
All women are cheaters ! ! !
Just kidding…………;->
I live in North Georgia I never go into Atlanta I despise the place