The state department of education is speaking out about its role in helping the Atlanta Public School District get back on its feet after a massive cheating scandal.
Their challenge includes figuring out how school funding could be affected if schools that cheated have to give back some of the achievement awards they received, while also helping students who were harmed.
Gideons Elementary School was one of the most serious examples cited in the 800-page CRCT standardized test cheating report released last week. Nearly a dozen teachers and the school’s principal confessed to playing a role in falsified test results.
It would be extremely costly to track down and help all of the kids who missed out on extra instruction. Also, the school may have to give back more than $21,000 in bonus awards it got for those high scores.