Countdown to Chaos

Students return to class on Monday, August 8.

WSB-TV | APS Library Workers Forced Into The Classroom
Dozens of employees who head up media centers and libraries in Atlanta Public Schools are being transferred into teacher positions to replace educators removed following the test cheating scandal.
Some of the media specialists being placed in teacher positions contacted Channel 2's Tom Regan to complain that they are not prepared to lead a classroom even though they are certified to teach.
...Some of the media specialists also complained they were being uprooted from schools where they have worked for years and transferred to teach in another school.

No, this didn't happen to, er, a certain person I know. It might have happened, but (fortunately, I guess) she doesn't have the right certification. Many librarians are semi-retired and sorta-retired teachers, which makes them vulnerable to reassignment.

AJC | Parents defend Atlanta school caught up in scandal
Parents of students at [West Manor Elementary School] on Tuesday night defended their school and teachers at a town hall meeting. ...The town hall meeting, held at Jean Childs Young Middle School in southwest Atlanta, was called by the school board representative for the area, LaChandra Butler Burks.
Also Tuesday, about 15 clergy, parents and community members attended the early portion of a planned six-hour vigil outside Atlanta Public Schools. ...The event was organized by Rev. Timothy McDonald of First Iconium Baptist Church in East Atlanta as a way to highlight the work of the thousands of teachers and employees not associated with the cheating scandal.

Rev. McDonald never saw a camera he didn't want to jump in front of. He's our local Jesse Jackson, a man in danger of becoming a parody of himself.

AJC "Get Schooled" Blog | A rally downtown this evening to affirm the good in APS
The Atlanta Council of PTAs plans a rally this evening [at Centennial Olympic Park] on behalf of the Atlanta Public Schools to highlight all the good things about the battered system.

At this time, the "GOOD" statistics the event celebrates are questionable. The rally isn't a bad idea, but it may be premature or insufficiently researched.

WABE | Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens Addresses Atlanta Press Club
According to Olens, APS officials blatantly delayed or denied numerous open records request from Atlanta Journal Constitution reporters. This was prior to the investigation that eventually revealed systemic cheating: "It was abundantly clear that their responses to the request were not compliant to Georgia law."

There is more, but then the man is a lawyer, he phrases his remarks very carefully.

Lawrenceville Patch | Parents Talk: APS Cheating Scandal
With Atlanta only about 40 minutes away from Lawrenceville, a parent must ask, where will the teachers who participated in the APS Cheating Scandal end up? More than likely their teaching certificates will not be taken from them. They probably will not be able to teach in Atlanta again... so where will they go?

Retirement, mostly, but even that doesn't mean they won't show up in some unlucky district's schools.