American school scam

The enormous scandal that occurred in the American state of Georgia strikes the Russian reader primarily not because of its scale, but because it happened in America and not in Russia, where they are already accustomed to the falsification of certificates, diplomas and dissertations.

Last Friday, 35 Georgia education officials were charged with years of rigging test scores. At least 40 of Atlanta's 56 public schools have been reporting unreliable state testing results for more than 10 years, according to investigators.

As reported in a report by The New York Times , Beverly Hall, the Atlanta school district superintendent and the main defendant in the future case of large-scale fraud, was recognized as the best educational leader in the country in 2009 and was even honored at the White House. In September 2011, when formal charges of fraud had not yet been brought, she stated that anyone could be convicted of forgery, but not her.

Doubts about the validity of Atlanta's high grades have been raised more than once since 2001, with many rightfully wondering how schools serving mostly children from poor and "colored" neighborhoods can outperform other schools in the state.

The prosecutor's office became interested in excellent students from Atlanta only in 2010. Two investigators (one from Democrats, the other from Republicans) brought fraudulent teachers to light for 2.5 years, just like in the movies.

A certain Miss Parks, a teacher with 17 years of experience, a single mother who committed a crime so as not to lose her job, agreed to cooperate with the investigation. She became a double agent: she went to school for months, hung with equipment, recorded conversations of teachers, and then told how they, wearing gloves, in a windowless room and under lock and key, erased the wrong answers on exam forms and wrote in the correct ones. Like Ms. Parks, other teachers turned to crime out of fear of losing their jobs.

Inspector Beverly Hall and her accomplices were also able to hide the falsifications for so many years because the outstanding performance of schoolchildren was also beneficial to local businessmen. Hall helped create a more attractive image for the state and was strongly supported by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. She now faces a $7.5 million fine and up to 45 years in prison.

The Atlanta school scam is the largest in the United States, but not the first. Before this, teachers "helped" students in Houston, Baltimore and Detroit.

There is a version that current American legislation provokes school principals and teachers to commit crimes: teachers’ salaries and state budget benefits paid to schools directly depend on student performance.

Now many American schools have to fight each other for survival, because due to the crisis, funding for the education system has been reduced.