Beverly Hall: The scandal is not the whole story

08-10-2011

Opinion by Beverly Hall/Education Week

Beverly Hall was the superintendent of the Atlanta public schools from 1999 to 2011.

Scandal is the news, but it’s not always the story. I know, because the Atlanta public schools, which I ran for 12 years until I retired in June, are embroiled in cheating allegations that rightly are the focus of extraordinary media coverage. Yet there is a growing danger that this disgraceful situation will set back national educational reform, when it could ironically advance it. There is no excuse for cheating, and I deeply regret that I did not do more to prevent it. The challenge now, even as law-enforcement agencies go about their business, is to learn from all of this and ensure that our nation’s schools are improved by it—because the problem of cheating is not unique to Atlanta. According to The New York Times, “Allegations of cheating have erupted in several places, including Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and Los Angeles.” (more...)

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Beverly Hall: The scandal is not the whole story

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