Why parents in the metro Atlanta area subject their children to child abuse in the form of Atlanta government schools is beyond me.  Even after this investigation has been released, parents will still maintain that their school is a good school .. it is other schools that have problems or cheated or are corrupt.  The AJC has been doing some excellent investigating into this scandal and has uncovered that systematic cheating has been going on for at least a decade and clearly ignored.  A report released yesterday [pdf] found cheating at almost 80% of Atlanta schools -- 44 of the 56 schools.  “At least 178 educators, including 38 principals, are named as participants in cheating.  More than 80 of them have confessed to misconduct.”  This paragraph from the AJC should outrage you:

The investigators’ report, officials said, depicts a culture that rewarded cheaters, punished whistle-blowers and covered up improprieties. Strongly contradicting denials of cheating and other irregularities by Hall and other top district executives, the report describes organized wrongdoing that robbed tens of thousands of children — many of whom came from disadvantaged backgrounds and struggled in school — of an honest appraisal of their abilities.

Hall, by the way, would be former superintendent Beverly Hall, who conveniently decided not to seek a renewal of her contract this year.  The investigation concluded that she knew or at least should have known about the widespread cheating.  She was, after all, named Superintendent of the Year for the nation based on these false test scores.  My guess?  Some other urban school district will snap her up and pay her a six-figure salary within the year.