Letters About Clayton & DeKalb
More on Cheating,
Falsifying, & Violating Law!
This past week or so, MACE has received
two anonymous complaints about cheating and falsification going on at two middle schools -- one in Clayton County and one in DeKalb County.
The administrator at the former apparently, from the contention of this anonymous teacher, is encouraging teachers
to count students as present when they are actually absent, in hope of making AYP. Let me just quote directly
from this teacher's letter: "...The sad thing is that we will never know if we
really deserve the honor of AYP due to the altering of the records. We were asked to count at risk students
present when they were really absent. The counselor found out and warned us not to do this and warned that
we would be reported. Another problem is that we are still being encouraged to count students present when
they are not. I believe that attendance records are being altered also. I want to make
AYP without fabricating our data...We have been asked in advance to count students present in the event that they are absent
in the future, and also go back days and count them present. The problem mainly occurs if the student approaches
a certain number of absences. We were given a list of particular students to watch for. It
was [her/his; redaction mine] way of saying these students will keep us from making AYP, so do what you have to do.
In other words, if they are absent, count them present. Attendance records are not true reflections."
This educator went on to describe the horrific teaching conditions at this school and how the principal offers no support
but even undermines the teachers. Interestingly, this educator writes: "The
environment is so hostile that even the counselor is rumored to be in counseling." Well,
anonymous educator,if you think that the environment is bad now, wait until the California "Reject"/Marine Drill Sergeant arrives. These Gypsy Superintendents...should
I say "Educational Sl_ts"? No? Too harsh? But,
they jump in and out of different school board beds, depending how much money is waved in their faces. They
"love" and "care" for your community's children -- until a better offer comes their way, and then they
will uproot their pseudo roots and traverse the country for more BIG MONEY and more people
to CONTROL. Well, these Gypsy Superintendents are cut from the same cloth,
and they think that they can just "command" test scores to be raised...and often time these scores will go up a
miniscule point or two, but to the sacrificing of educational integrity and truth.
I think that DeKalb County had a situation where about 36 or 37 elementary students were in a summer
session. All had failed the CRCT. But, when they re-took the test,
wouldn't you know it?! They ALL passed with flying colors -- some with near perfect scores!
Sometimes these flakey and mean superintendents must think that the real people in the public are
imbeciles. Sort of like that the recent "Bullying Report" in
DeKalb. Who didn't think that Crawford Lewis's Administration
would come back with a "Report" that the child was not bullied? Again, Crawford,
we are not imbeciles. Talking about DeKalb County (where the other letter
came to us; it was also sent to "Whitleblower" at WSB TV): What
about a teacher who is allegedly taken out of his classroom on a regular and fulltime basis to serve as an "Assistant
Principal"? First of all, the students are left with a substitute teacher
on a regular and fulltime basis, and this teacher is illegally used in administration. This
violates OCGA 20-2-210 and 211. These administrative duties are not part
of his "job description," which, by the way, is required by law. The students are not benefiting
from this teacher who is apparently walking the halls and/or doing paperwork. But, this is minor compared
to another egregious violation of the law: DeKalb County,
under the unleadership of Crawford Lewis, refuses to the follow the Grievance Law
(for certified personnel). This law is OCGA 20-2-989.5 et seq. The
Office of Internal Affairs (under the direction of State Senator Ronald Ramsey) is a joke.
It is a sham and a farce. Just "shell action" is taking
place when the Office thinks that it can dismiss a grievance against the school system if the subject is too thorny
for little ole Crawford Lewis, the Superintendent Clown. How can teachers
feel secure about reporting incidents of bullying or the lack of support from their administrators when the teachers report
the bullying if the Office of Internal Affairs thinks that it can delay, bury, ignore,
and finally "summarily dismiss" complaints which are legally filed? No, Ronald
Ramsey, it doesn't work like that. We know that you are a State Senator,
but you need to learn the law and then abide by it. The Statute is
a good place to start. It reads that "...[T]he complainant shall [nice word
there] be entitled [another nice word] to an opportunity to be heard, to present relevant evidence, and to examine witnesses
at each level" (OCGA 20-2-989.8[4]). Pretty precise language. What say
ye? The law doesn’t say that squeamish administrators can “summarily dismiss” the teacher’s
complaint if it makes the administration too nervous. The complaints do not have to pass “Judge”
Ronald Ramsey’s (or other administrators’) smell test. This is not
discretionary; rather, teachers are “entitled” to this hearing. No,
we are afraid that so many of our school systems these days act like "Gansta Systems."
We call DeKalb County "Gangsta System Number One" now.
And that is saying something to surpass the Atlanta Public Schools! The school
system in Clayton County is coming up strong, though (we mean, by the way, in the Thug Department).
Cheating and falsifying records? Does it happen in our public
schools? What planet are you from? Does it happen? Do roaches climb
walls? Does it get dark at night? Does a cat have a tail? Is Crawford
Lewis a "Candy A__" Superintendent who is afraid to process grievances? Is
MACE willing to take on these "thuggish" school system administrations?
You know the answer to all of these questions. Enough for a Sunday afternoon. (c) MACE,
May 24, 2009
