THIS is the U.S. education system? No wonder the rest of the world is laughing at us. Atlanta Public School Superintendent Beverly Hall And Others Indicited In Cheating Scandal Via AJC The supposed transformation of Atlanta Public Schools overseen by former Superintendent Beverly Hall resulted from a criminal enterprise that victimized thousands of struggling students for years, authorities alleged Friday. Capping a series of investigations that spanned four years, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Hall and 34 others on charges that they conspired to cheat on federally mandated standardized tests from at least 2005 to 2010. Further, the grand jury charged, Hall, several top aides, principals and teachers engaged in the scheme for their own financial gain. And with investigators closing in, the jury said, Hall and others lied to cover up their crimes. Hall inculcated an atmosphere that encouraged using any means necessary to achieve test-score targets, the indictment said, and then “publicly misrepresented the academic performance of schools throughout APS.” Pressuring subordinates to produce targeted scores, the indictment said, “created an environment where achieving the desired end result was more important than the students’ education.” “This is nothing but pervasive and rank thuggery,” said Richard Hyde, one of the special investigators appointed in 2010 by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue to delve into what has become the largest academic cheating scandal in U.S. history. The indictment served as a resounding refutation of Hall’s assertions that Atlanta had found the secret formula that had long eluded educators elsewhere: how to get strong performances from poor, mostly minority students in decaying urban schools. For her efforts, Hall was named the national superintendent of the year in 2009. The teachers chopping down the students and the school officials cheating the system for a couple dollars, makes home school look like a GREAT alternative… Now Hall, 66, faces as much as 45 years in prison. Grand jurors recommended that a judge set her bond at $7.5 million. Authorities gave all the defendants until Tuesday to surrender. Along with Hall, the grand jury indicted four other former top administrators: Millicent Few, who ran the district’s human resources division, and area supervisors Sharon Davis-Williams, Tamara Cotman and Michael Pitts. B-b-but wait it gets worse! Beyond the criminal acts it alleged, the indictment revealed the human toll exacted by years of test-score manipulation, first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2008. When a teacher at C.W. Hill Elementary complained about cheating by a colleague in 2005, Hall suspended the accused educator for 20 days. As for the whistle-blower, Hall fired her. Hall repeatedly ignored or disregarded reports of cheating or other questions about test scores. In 2006, Howard said, Atlanta resident Justina Collins was concerned when her daughter received the lowest score on a benchmark examination in her third-grade reading class — but then, somehow, exceeded reading standards on the CRCT. Collins managed to get an appointment with Hall, who told her there was no evidence her daughter needed help. She had, after all, done well on the CRCT. “Your daughter is the kind of person who tests well,” Collins said she was told. Now in the ninth grade, her daughter reads at a fifth-grade level. Bottom line, this beyotch ain’t isht and she, along with her accomplices, are about to pay the price. Peace, see ya later. Image via HullTruth
Black Employee Sues for $21,000 After Black Ape Left On Her Desk By Co-Worker An African-American employee who was shunned from a job promotion while her white co-workers were promoted will be laughing all the way to bank to the tune of $21,000. Following her missed promotion, the employee returned to her desk to find a life-sized stuffed black ape on her desk. When her supervisor refused to remove the stuffed animal, she sued for discrimination . Huffington Post $21,000 for a toy monkey? Michigan’s Department of Human Services (DHS) will be fined that amount after a toy ape that was placed on top of an African-American employee’s cubicle was left there for three weeks. The fine was levied by Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina after her consideration of a 2010 discrimination lawsuit filed by DHS worker Crystal Perry, the Lansing State Journal reports. Perry had sued after fellow white employees were promoted and she was not, but the judge found no evidence last month of discrimination for that charge. But after learning that a toy ape had been placed in her workspace and was not taken down by her supervisor, however, she fined the agency $1,000 for each day of the three weeks the toy had remained on her cubicle, in addition to Perry’s attorney fees, according to the Associated Press. Perry, who has a master’s degree in human resources and labor relations from Michigan State University, believes the action was racially motivated. Her supervisor said he didn’t know who put the toy on Perry’s work cubicle, according to the news agency. Sounds like this company and its’ racist azz employees got exactly what they deserved. Good for her. Shutterstock
Guess all those studio shots on Bey’s Instagram were for real. And according to The Huffington Post , the release will come before her Superbowl appearance. Huge news for Beyonce fans! The singer will reportedly release new music before her February Super Bowl performance. Billboard recently interviewed artist and Beyonce collaborator The-Dream, who spoke about what’s ahead for Bey. “Definitely,” said The-Dream when asked if Beyonce would release a new song before the Super Bowl. “She’s got her stuff going. She took the summer to start recording, and now she’s in a place where she’s ready to start gearing up to reveal her plan.” “She’s already gearing up to get ready to put stuff out,” The-Dream continued. “I’m sure there will probably be a couple records you hear before the Super Bowl gets here.” It was announced in October that Beyonce will be performing at Super Bowl XLVII. After reports leaked from an anonymous source, the singer took to her Tumblr page to post a photo of herself with the date of game painted on her face in eyeblack, confirming the plans. Little is known about the unreleased tracks. A photo leaked this week of Beyonce in the studio with husband Jay-Z, and she worked with Miguel earlier this fall, so a few collaborations may be in the works. Are you ready for some new Beyonce music or have you enjoyed her hiatus a little too much?? Images via tumblr/Instagram
And the battle for good healthcare for all continues… For the second time this year, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie rejected the Obama Administrations health care reform law. According to The Huffington Post , Christie’s blaming his lack of support on numbers…and it looks like Christie’s back to playing politics again since he won folks over after Sandy. : New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) became the latest state chief executive to rebuff President Barack Obama’s health care reform law Thursday by vetoing a bill that would have created an online marketplace for uninsured residents to shop for health insurance. …Christie rejected legislation passed by New Jersey’s Democratic-controlled legislature that would have established a state-run health insurance exchange under Obamacare. The exchanges will be the gateway to health insurance coverage and financial assistance for individuals and small businesses under the 2010 federal law. New Jersey is now the 19th state to decline to create its own exchange, which will leave the federal government in charge of these new marketplaces in those states. Christie said the health law, known as the Affordable Care Act, doesn’t give states enough leeway to design health insurance markets for their residents and that federal authorities haven’t provided enough information about how the exchanges would work. “I will not ask New Jerseyans to commit today to a state-based exchange when the federal government cannot tell us what it will cost, how that cost compares to other options, and how much control they will give the states over this option that comes at the cost of our state’s taxpayers,” Christie said in a news release. “We will comply with the Affordable Care Act, but only in the most efficient and cost effective way for New Jersey taxpayers.” Christie met with Obama at the White House Thursday to discuss federal relief funding in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The federal government has the authority under Obamacare to create health insurance exchanges in states that don’t enact their own, but the law was designed for federal authorities and states to share the responsibility. Lack of cooperation from states and poor coordination between levels of government could make the exchanges less effective at enrolling uninsured people into health coverage programs.States have until Dec. 14 to inform federal authorities of their plans for health insurance exchanges. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia already are moving ahead with their own exchanges, five states intend to jointly operate them with the federal government, and nine haven’t made announcements, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. One of those officially undecided states, Virginia, is unlikely to create a state-run health insurance exchange, William Hazel, the state’s secretary of Health and Human Resources, said at a conference held by the National Conference of State Legislatures Thursday. Don’t try to look all bipartisan when you needed federal aid and then turn around and side with the far right. Playin’ politics with people’s health just isn’t cool. Images via tumblr/facebook
One young voter described the choice this year as between ‘freedom and tyranny.’ By Gil Kaufman Ron Paul Photo: Getty Images MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — “They call it the Department of Education … Let’s put an end to the Department of Indoctrination!” That kind of sentiment was flowing like extra-hoppy craft beer on Sunday night at Manchester’s only brewpub, Milly’s Tavern. It was the site of the “Slam Free or Die” poetry open-mic event in honor of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. And while the sentiment onstage was often dripping with elegantly worded sarcasm, the boots on the ground had plenty of sobering thoughts on the suddenly surging candidate who refuses by play by his party’s staid rules. Nearly a week after the Iowa caucus , Congressman Paul’s rivals continued to take digs at one another in an attempt to win over traditional GOP voting blocs and prove their family values bona fides. Libertarian Paul’s pull with younger voters, meanwhile, was inspiring the kind of enthusiasm that motivated his followers to drive in from as far as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., to attend the slam and volunteer in the Granite State in the lead-up to Tuesday’s primary. A common theme among the Paul faithful who spoke to MTV News for the channel’s ongoing Power of 12 series was a disappointment with the Obama administration and a feeling that the promises of change touted four years ago have not come to fruition as they expected. “I think there were a lot of disillusioned voters in ’08 who thought Obama would be a good solution to the problems presented by Bush,” said Pericles Niarchos, 26, who like the 50 or so other Paul-ites in the bar was firmly focused on the poetry rather than the nail-biting Steelers-Broncos NFL playoff game being shown on the bar’s flat-screen TVs. “And after the last four years, we’ve seen the wars extended, we’ve seen [the terror detention center at] Guantanamo Bay remain open … the war on drugs continues on, we see bailout of the corporate elite that started under Bush. So, a lot of those supporters … [feel] Dr. Paul has a consistent record on these issues.” Niarchos, who recently completed a history degree with a political science minor from Drexel University, is among those who drove in from Philly to volunteer for the campaign, and he had a lot of issues on his mind. But one of the foremost was the various overseas military entanglements that are taking young lives and, he said, bankrupting the country. As to what it is about Paul — at 76, the oldest candidate in the running — that is speaking to teens and twentysomethings, Ryan Kuch, 24, said it is concerns about the economy and the libertarian call for a society that is “bottom-up … organic … people doing things, rather than top-down … people in Washington deciding what we should do to stimulate the economy.” Plus, he said, alluding to Paul’s non-interventionist theory of foreign policy, it’s his generation that will continue to pay for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, long after they are over. And not just with higher government debt but with issues like post-traumatic stress disorder and physical wounds that won’t heal. “Dr. Paul’s message seems to be more about sincerity and that you should be free to determine your own future,” said Niarchos. “A lot of young people today feel like they’re growing up in a world where they’re no longer free to determine their own future. They’re living in a set amount of circumstances that are being defined by older generations who don’t really understand what we’re going through. What our perspective is on the world is, what we want and what our values are … in my whole lifetime I don’t think the U.S. has been at peace for more than four years, and it’s really refreshing to see someone who advocates that so thoroughly.” “We need a cranky old president who keeps his money in a mattress,” said one poetry slam reader. Another read a piece entitled “Upholding Miserable Everywhere,” in which he selectively quoted the candidates in their own words. “I’m reciprocal,” he said, reiterating former Utah governor Jon Huntsman’s line . Another lamented that he missed the recent televised GOP debate because he was being arrested backstage after trying to “occupy” the event, and yet another referred to the various politicians as “New Hampshire’s deadbeat uncle,” who only comes around every four years when he needs something. What’s fascinating about Paul’s followers is that this poetry slam is not an isolated, election year event. They say that this is what Paul’s people do: They get together and lament the economic inequities of Pell grants, the tyranny of government’s tentacle-like reach into our pockets, the worthlessness of the Fed continually printing more money, the stifling of entrepreneurship by overzealous regulation and benefits of a free market system in the same way their peers discuss fantasy football stats. Emily O’Neill, 23, a member of the National Guard and self-described “misfit and contrarian” and “1920s feminist” who works in human resources in Washington, D.C., said the first time two Paul supporters meet each other, the opening topic is how they discovered their political icon. Dressed in cherry-red high heels, a gray skirt, ruffled white shirt and blue blazer, the New Boston, New Hampshire, native said she planned to wave signs and make calls on behalf of her candidate on Monday (January 9). “Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s not about left versus right,” she said. “We all agree on freedom and more government is not working. We’re less prosperous now than when we started off even a decade ago … people now want their freedom. Especially young people. This is the Internet generation. We can go online and find the answers and find out who the politicians are who are complete hypocrites. We know the truth so there’s no kidding us anymore.” Along with her friend Josh Luedtke, 26, a Roanoke, Virginia, reservist who just returned from his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, O’Neill said she might typically have been a Mitt Romney supporter. But not this time. “I came to the conclusion that what other people do, as long as it doesn’t hurt me, doesn’t affect me,” said Luedtke, who sported a red, white and blue Paul campaign T-shirt emblazoned with the word “liberty,” as well as a baseball hat that reads “Dysfunctional veteran … Leave me alone.” Inspired by the Occupy movement and the grassroots nature of Paul’s latest campaign, O’Neill said young voters are feeling motivated to get involved and be part of a new solution. “I hope that the difference between [the election of] 2008 and 2012 is that in 2008 young people came out and said, ‘We want the government to give us things.’ And in 2012, young people are going to come out and say, ‘We want the government to leave us alone.’ ” As for his peers who might be considering sitting this election out because they don’t like the options, Luedtke said they have two choices. “Freedom and tyranny. You can either vote for Ron Paul and take hold of your future with a government that is going to leave you alone … or you can choose tyranny and vote for anyone else.” Romney has a decisive lead in New Hampshire, where he’s polling at more than 41 percent, followed by Paul at 17 percent, which is not surprising given that 40 percent of the state’s voters describe themselves as independents. MTV is on the scene in New Hampshire! Check back here around the clock for up-to-the-minute coverage on the primary caucuses, and stick with PowerOf12.org throughout the presidential election season. Related Videos Barnstorming The Iowa Caucus With Andrew Jenks
If the folks at the New York Times had any sense of shame, they would feel foolish today. A review of the Times’s June 15 print edition index and review of the related articles indicates that the paper’s editors: Gave reporter Jeff Zeleny about 330 words on Page A21 to recycle a Caucus Blog post softly covering the video-recorded arguable assault North Carolina Congressman Bob Etheridge committed against a questioner on a public street ” last week ,” and which came to public light early Monday morning. The vague print edition headline (per the index ): “Congressman Apologizes After Tussle.” Devoted almost 1,000 words on Page A15 to a story about a three year-old alleged shoving incident involving California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman that “no one else appears to have witnessed.” Yet the headline gives the impression that the facts are not in dispute: “Settlement Was Paid in Whitman Shoving Incident.” What explains the disparate treatment? I suppose one could argue that the actions of a sitting congressman aren’t as important as those of someone who wants to be (but isn’t yet) chief executive of the nation’s most populous state. Nice try, but I’m not sold. Etheridge is a Democrat. It is still an open question as to whether the incident with which he was involved will become a criminal matter. There’s certainly no lack of evidence. All of this makes it a still-breaking and still-developing story worthy of far more attention than the Times gave it. Whitman is a Republican. In addition to noting that the incident involved has no identified witnesses, The Times report specifically tells us that the matter was settled through mediation, and that “the authorities were not involved.” Former eBay CEO Whitman has no criminal exposure. The report is a gratuitous, politically-motivated dredge-up of a long-forgotten matter. The Times’s Brad Stone and likely other reporters clearly put many hours of work into the Whitman report. In the process, he or they encouraged and ultimately convinced eBay employees to breach ethics and to violate confidentiality agreements. The incident’s alleged victim still works at eBay and has clearly moved on: In June 2007, an eBay employee claimed that Ms. Whitman became angry and forcefully pushed her in an executive conference room at eBay’s headquarters, according to multiple former eBay employees with knowledge of the incident. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the matter was delicate and was deemed to be strictly confidential. The employee, Young Mi Kim, was preparing Ms. Whitman for a news media interview that day. Ms. Kim, who was not injured in the incident, hired a lawyer and threatened a lawsuit, but the dispute was resolved under the supervision of a private mediator. Two of the former employees said the company paid a six-figure financial settlement to Ms. Kim, which one of them characterized as “around $200,000.” An agreement to keep the matter confidential was also part of the settlement, and the authorities were not involved. Ms. Whitman was counseled in the matter, the former eBay employees said, by the company’s human resources lawyers and by Henry Gomez, then president of the Skype unit at eBay and now a senior adviser to Ms. Whitman’s campaign. Ms. Kim still works at eBay and is now a senior manager for corporate and executive communications. … When reached by telephone on Monday, Ms. Kim said the issue was a “private matter” and declined to comment. Later, in an e-mail message, Ms. Kim said she and Ms. Whitman had overcome their differences. “Yes, we had an unfortunate incident, but we resolved it in a way that speaks well for her and for eBay,” Ms. Kim said. “And ultimately, I came back to the company, which is not something I had to do.” The Whitman campaign issued a statement signed by Ms. Whitman that described Ms. Kim as a “respected colleague and valuable asset to the company.” The Etheridge incident could yet result in criminal charges, and could affect the Congressman’s ability to continue in office. Absent criminal charges, it could at least subject him to some form of discipline from House leadership (well, let’s say it should, but given who’s in charge, whether anything negative will occur is highly doubtful). By contrast, exactly how is the years-old alleged Whitman incident relevant to the California governor’s race? The wildly different treatment of the two incidents — one drop-dead obvious, the other a “she said, she said” matter that has long since been resolved — reveals the Times’s primary motivation. It isn’t “journalism”; instead, it’s to discredit Republicans while protecting Democrats. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .
Actress Amy Ryan, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2007 for Gone Baby Gone , is going to be welcoming a baby of her own later this year! The actress, 39, is expecting her first child with fianc
She will be the first Houseguest to be sequestered in the jury house until the final episode on Tuesday, September 16th. Airs Thursday, August 14, 2008
