Ripples

Cheating allegations follow former APS official | ajc.com
Millicent Few, who once served as APS' chief of human resources, was brought in by well-known Superintendent Paul Vallas to serve as a consultant in Bridgeport (Conn.) Public Schools, a 20,000-student district. But the district severed ties with Few on Tuesday after she had two days on the job.

...Few resigned from APS in July shortly after state investigators released a scathing report alleging cheating took place at 44 Atlanta schools and involved about 180 educators. Few, who joined APS in 1999, is accused of illegally ordering the destruction or alteration of documents and making false statements to investigators.

The article goes on to point out the resemblance to Kathy Augustine's situation in suburban Dallas, but also points out a big difference: Few was only intended for a short-term consultant's job. She wasn't being considered as a full-time employee, nor for a position of leadership or management.

But the big similarity, and the one that attracts my attention, is the fact that neither system could be bothered to do a Google search on their candidate's name before putting her on the job. The Atlanta situation (and Few's name) was all over the news, so it's not like information would have been difficult to find.

I'm seeing two possibilities. One: The education industry is a big social club, and membership in one chapter qualifies you for membership in all of them. She's already got her credentials: Further investigation would be... rude. Two: Few's actual sin (and Augustine's, and Hall's) lies not in her unethical actions, but in getting caught.

I'm thinking that many educators really don't see an ongoing need to change they way they do business in response to so many of them getting caught gaming the system.

But of course she hasn't actually been found guilty of anything.