Understanding The Need For Effective School Governance
A 2009 series of articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution raised suspicion of pervasive cheating among Atlanta Public Schools on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, a set of standardized tests administered throughout the Georgia public school system to students in 1st – 8th grades.
The articles led to an investigation that uncovered what has been described as the biggest test cheating scandal among K–12 schools in United States history.
Investigators found evidence of educators systematically changing students’ test answers.
The numbers were staggering. Evidence of cheating was found in 44 of the school district’s 56 schools. When the dust cleared, 178 educators stood accused, 38 of whom were principals. Even the school district’s Superintendent, Dr. Beverly L. Hall, was accused of misconduct. Investigators alleged that Dr. Hall fostered an atmosphere conducive to rampant cheating in order to enhance her reputation and the status of her school district. She and 34 other educators were indicted. Twenty-one of those brought up on charges accepted a plea bargain. Two of those indicted (including Dr. Hall) died before standing trial. The remaining twelve educators elected trial by jury. Eleven of those 12 were found guilty of racketeering and were sentenced to anywhere from 5 to 20 years in prison and heavily fined.
It was a scandal of monumental proportions that got national attention and rocked the city of Atlanta and the entire educational community. But surprisingly, it was not the
cheating scandal that caused Atlantic Public Schools to be in danger of losing its accreditation in 2011. While the Georgia Bureau of Investigation swept in to investigate the allegations of cheating, school board members were too preoccupied with internal disputes over leadership to concern themselves with the cheating scandal. The situation became so contentious that news of the school board’s behavior reached AdvancEd, the organization that accredits the Atlanta School District.
The resulting AdvancEd site visit in December 2010 revealed gross mismanagement on the part of the school district’s board whose members were so embroiled in conflict over leadership that they allowed the cheating scandal to occur under their noses. In fact, right in the middle of the cheating ordeal, some of the board members actually sued to remove the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from office. AdvancEd site visitors concluded that the situation in Atlanta was so dire that it called into question the school board’s ability to govern. As a result, AdvancEd placed the entire Atlanta school district on probation in 2011.
Atlanta Public Schools nearly lost its accreditation, not because of poor school academic performance, but because of the board’s lacking leadership. This highlights the importance of effective school governance by a board whose main focus is the operational effectiveness of the schools under its authority. A properly functioning governing board is vital and necessary to ensuring that academic standards are met and that every student receives a quality education