Atlanta School Cheating Administrator Found Not Guilty

Refer my blog of 3/28/10, "Trust is Missing". Merle

 

From The Wall Street Journal, Saturday, September 6, 2013. See

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324123004579059102108040982.html

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Former Atlanta Educator Found Not Guilty in Cheating Case

Verdict Comes in First Trial Connected to Probe of Schools

By Cameron McWhirter

A jury found a former Atlanta school administrator not guilty Friday in the first trial relating to one of the largest school-cheating scandals in U.S. history.

The outcome suggests that it might be difficult for prosecutors to win their cases against 34 former educators in Atlanta's public schools. A state judge has scheduled one large trial for the defendants next spring.

Tamara Cotman, a former area director overseeing 21 schools, was found not guilty of influencing a witness. The jury deliberated Thursday afternoon and part of Friday morning after a trial that began with testimony on Aug. 23.

The verdict came after prosecutors presented evidence and brought in testimony from numerous witnesses, including former Gov. Sonny Perdue, who had ordered a probe of the school system after allegations of widespread cheating on state standardized tests.

 
The charge against Ms. Cotman stemmed from allegations that she had intimidated staff as part of an attempt to force them not to cooperate with state investigators. She had sought a speedy trial, so her case came first.

Ms. Cotman said outside the courthouse on Friday that she felt vindicated. Her attorney couldn't be reached for comment on the verdict.

Although Ms. Cotman was acquitted of the influencing charge, she still faces a racketeering charge, along with other defendants.

Bruce Harvey, an attorney for a former elementary-school principal indicted in the conspiracy case, said the verdict "shows that you can't convict people on emotion; you need evidence. And clearly, the state's case was all emotion."

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said at a press conference after the verdict, "We are just going to get ready for the larger case," referring to the trial set for next year.

A 2011 state report found that cheating on state standardized tests was rife in Atlanta schools, including allegations that teachers erased incorrect answers because they would get bonuses if their students got higher scores. The report said the educators were responding to pressure from the administration of Beverly Hall, Atlanta's superintendent from 1999 to 2011, to show marked improvement in their students' scores or face discipline or less pay.

Ms. Hall, who resigned in the wake of the scandal, was indicted along with 34 other educators earlier this year on racketeering and other charges. Lawyers for Ms. Hall have said she didn't participate in wrongdoing, and she pleaded not guilty. Recently, one of the defendants died of cancer, and lawyers for Ms. Hall have said she is suffering from breast cancer.

Richard Quartarone, president of an education-policy group called Southeast Atlanta Communities for Schools and a parent with two children in the city's public schools, said Friday, "I hope the prosecution is able to shore up their cases as everything moves forward. If there are no guilty verdicts, that is just horrible."

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SIDEBAR PHOTO:  Former Atlanta school official Tamara Cotman speaks Friday after a jury found her not guilty of charges related to an alleged cheating scandal. Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Associated Press

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Write to Cameron McWhirter at  cameron.mcwhirter@wsj.com

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A version of this article appeared September 7, 2013, on page A2 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Former Atlanta Educator Acquitted.

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-- 

Jerry P. Becker
Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction
Southern Illinois University
625 Wham Drive
Mail Code 4610
Carbondale, IL  62901-4610
Phone:  (618) 453-4241  [O]
            (618) 457-8903  [H]
Fax:      (618) 453-4244
E-mail:   jbecker@siu.edu

Water Company Buyout Again Before the City Council Soon

George Jacobs cast the deciding 6th vote that killed the buyout attempt by those who who profit from city ownership. Unfortunately, the astute Mr. Jacobs in no longer on the board and the new members are untested. For background read my many blogs "Water-Logged" that I published the last time this issue received serious press. Despite All the same old "buy" rhetoric, it is less feasible today than ever with the city already overloaded with problems.

Oh, well, it's just money and the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer. And that is a FACT.

The PAAG sued the City of Peoria to get their million plus interest back from the City?? Never saw anymore about it in the JS.

Last time, 80% of the public voted "no buyout" yet 5 councilpeople voted "yea".???

"Water-Logged" Debate Coming Up Again

So Steve Van Winkle says that Peoria should buy out the water company and dump it on the taxpayers. He uses the truth to confuse the taxpayer. He says that 80% of the communities own there own water distribution. Of course they do. What capitalistic corporation would want to own Congerville, Carlock, Goodfield, Deer Creek, Mackinaw, etc.? They would lose money on all these small communities Van Winkle uses in his statistics.

Is Van Winkle, always an opportunist, have something to gain personally if the city buys the water companies stake in Peoria? You bet.

I'll let you study Steve's history and  the situation and figure our how. He has supported every attempt by the city to buy out the privately owned water company. Yet smart cities like Indianapolis are more and more turning the running of utilities like water companies over to the private sector. Mayor Ardis has always voted "no" on the periodic buyout attempts. However, I am not sure Jim is the same person I long ago helped win a seat on the City Council.

Expect people like Lowell "Bud" Grieves, Terry Kohlbuss, Rita Kress and especially Councilman Chuck Grayeb to lead the buyout charge. And maybe the PAAG with spokesperson Sandra Birdsall stepping in again with another million to support a buyout. I believe all of the members of this group are still alive with the exception of Ted Fleming. Expect developer Giebelhausen  to lend strong support. All of the members of the PAAG stand to gain with city ownership as that would take the water company out of the regulation of the ICC.

Kohlbuss? He is always trying to strengthen his position and earnings by being on the side of the elite who run Peoria.

Hmmmm.

Poisonous Gas Stored in the U.S.A.

Three times the amount stored by Syria. Why do we store all this poison? To kill militants, invaders and innocent people?

Interesting isn't it? And then we have all this poison gas emitting from most politicians and liberal medias.

Hm.

Focus Forward Central Illinois (FFCI) Meeting Thursday

It may be in your best interest to be at this meeting. Note that these meetings in fhe future mwy not be open to public scrutiny and you may wake up one day with some surprise you didn't see coming. Merle

 

County Board Meeting

The Peoria County Board will meet as a committee of the whole Thursday, September 12, 2013

at 5:00 PM in room 403 of the Peoria County Courthouse. This will be an update of Focus Forward Central Illinois. It is important that we hear this update so that we can develop an understanding of

this new Public/Private Committee which will not follow the open meeting laws. Any regional governance will diminish the the mandate of our elected bodies, and must be carefully studied. A key question is, “what is the limit of their authority?”

The Peoria County Board will meet in regular session at 6:00 PM in the same room. Agenda item number II is an update on the Peoria Regional High School. What is the meaning of “Regional High School”?

Agenda item number III is for citizen's remarks. If you desire to speak, fill out a card and submit it to the Chairman before the Board Meeting.

It is important that we attend these meetings to gain an understanding of the changes which are taking place.

Terry Rowe

A White Side Against Racism

The White  

Side  

of the Story of  

"Negroes."  

 

 

This is the reason CNN has dropped Buchanan. It's like  

Newt G. said, "You're not supposed to bring up  

uncomfortable Facts." (verified on Buchanan's  

website)  

 

BUCHANAN  

TO OBAMA  

 

Finally.............It  

is said Publicly. I have never seen the white  

side explained better!  

Pat Buchanan had the  

guts to say it. It is  about  

time!  

 

BUCHANAN TO  

OBAMA  

By  

Patrick J. Buchanan  

 

Barack says we  

need to have a conversation about race in  

America .. Fair enough. But this time, it has to  

be a two-way conversation.. White America needs  

to be heard from, not just lectured to.... This  

time, the Silent Majority needs to have its  

convictions, grievances and demands heard. And  

among them are these:  

 

First, America has  

been the best country on earth for black folks.  

It was here that 600,000 black people, brought  

from Africa in slave ships, grew into a  

community of 40 million, were introduced to  

Christian salvation, and reached the greatest  

levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have  

ever known.. Jeremiah Wright ought to go down on  

his knees and thank God he is an  

American.  

 

 

Second, no  

people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks  

than white Americans. Untold trillions have been  

spent since the 1960s on welfare, food stamps,  

rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell  

grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid,  

Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs  

designed to bring the African-American community  

into the mainstream. Governments, businesses and                                    

colleges have engaged in discrimination against  

white folks -- with affirmative action, contract  

set-asides and quotas -- to advance black  

applicants over white applicants. Churches,  

foundations, civic groups, schools and  

individuals all over America have donated their  

time and money to support soup kitchens, adult  

education, day care, retirement and nursing  

homes for blacks.  

We hear the grievances.  

Where is the gratitude??  

 

Barack talks  

about new 'ladders of opportunity' for blacks.  

Let him go to Altoona? And Johnstown, and ask  

the white kids in Catholic schools how many were  

visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing  

out scholarships for 'deserving' white kids...?  

Is white America really responsible for the fact  

that the crime and incarceration rates for  

African-Americans are seven times those of white  

America? Is it really white America's fault that  

illegitimacy in the African-American community  

has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate  

from high schools in some cities has reached 50  

percent?  

 

 

Is that  

the fault of white America or, first and  

foremost, a failure of the black community  

itself?  

 

 

As for  

racism, its ugliest manifestation is in  

interracial crime, and especially interracial  

crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that  

while white criminals choose black victims 3  

percent of the time, black criminals choose  

white victims 45 percent of the  

time?  

 

 

Is Barack  

aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times  

more common than the reverse, that  

black-on-white robberies were 139 times as  

common in the first three years of this decade  

as the reverse?  

 

 

We have  

all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about  

Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And                                    

all turned out to be hoaxes. But, about the  

epidemic of black assaults on whites that are  

real, we hear nothing.  

 

 

Sorry,  

Barack, some of us have heard it all before,  

about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.  

This needs to be passed around because, this is  

a message everyone needs to hear!  

 

 

OK  

pass it on?  

 

 

 I did  

will you?  

 

 

Because  

I'm for a better  

America  

 

  I  

am  

Not racist,  

Not  

violent,  

 

 

 

 

Just not  

silent anymore.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Syria - Vote Out Any and All Who Support the Syrian Folly

From the Western PAC. Merle Dear Patriot, You've been watching the developing situation with the Syria vote, and you know that momentum is on our side. Only 6 of the 50 current Senate candidates support intervention in Syria, and 224 representatives are reported as voting no.  We've got 170 representatives listed as undecided, and that's where you come in with your support.   We've been mounting a letter writing campaign to Congress, with great effect.  Every dollar donated has enabled us to put 5 Americans in contact with their congressional representatives and senators to send a message to Obama: the days of blank checks for presidential excess with our military are over.  You can send your letters for free by clicking here. We're fighting to have a Congress that does its job, by insisting that a president make his case to the American people and their elected representatives BEFORE committing our fighting men and women to his personal vendettas. Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to intervention in Syria because President Obama has not proven his case to the people or their elected representatives.   In fact, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has been arguing against intervention in Syria for months to Congress. He's warned against intervention, because he understands as a soldier the difficulty of getting out of Syria once we're in Syria.  The only ally President Obama has in Syria are the Al Qaeda allied rebels.   It's time to keep the heat on, and it's time to put a stop to President Obama's endless, irresponsible, and unconstitutional gambles with our military and its personnel.  Your donation will help us continue to send the message to Congress that enough is enough.  Donate here!

Warmongers ARE Usually Liars - Then There is a Fool Called Obama

And all those who love him dearly. Every time he opens his mouth I feel like puking.  Merle

Dear merle,

Today, I will return to Washington for emergency hearings of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee, of which I am a member.

We are told we will hear evidence from Obama administration officials of why we should engage our military in Syria.

I cannot imagine what they will say that could justify another war.

Our national interests are not at stake in Syria, and using our men and women in uniform to salvage the credibility of this administration would be a shocking misuse.

Next week, the full Senate will deliberate and vote on an authorization for military action. I will lead the opposition to try to stop this mistake from ever happening.

And it would be a grave mistake, one whose consequences we cannot even be sure of right now.

I am asking you to let your voice be heard this week and next.

You see, one of the major reason the constitution requires CONGRESS to send us to war is because the voice of the people can be heard clearly here.

Let them hear your voice, and let them hear a resounding "NO" to war in Syria, as they weigh this important decision.

There are many reasons my colleagues could have for voting no, among them:

*** Our military would be joining the same side of this civil war as Al Qaeda. We cannot be sure who among the Syrian rebels are potential allies, and we know many of them are Islamic militants.

*** The hundreds of thousands of Christians in Syria would be in even more danger if the extremist rebels were to take over Syria.

*** There is no real military goal, and no clear sense of what victory is. Without that, our military should never be asked to risk their lives.

There certainly are more strong reasons to stay out of this civil war in Syria. And I will make sure my colleagues here them all this week and next, as I take to the Senate floor and to the airwaves to lead this fight.

But I am counting on you to back me up.

Congress MUST hear from every American who doesn't want to see anyone's sons or daughters be the first to die for a mistake.

Congress MUST hear from every American who knows we can't be the world's policeman.

And Congress MUST hear from every American who would be sickened to know we were contemplating joining a war on the same side as Al Qaeda.

So let them hear you.



Please sign this petition today to add your voice to mine and say "NO" to U.S. military action in Syria.


In Liberty,

Senator Rand Paul

P.S.   American involvement in the Syrian conflict would only strengthen al-Qaeda terrorists.

The president and Congress need to learn from history and pursue a Constitutional, common-sense foreign policy. One that does not needlessly endanger our brave men and women in uniform.

Please, add your name to this petition calling for Congress to reject Obama's request to take military action against Syria.











Like Rand Paul On Facebook

Luciano Is the Only Reporter on the JS News Staff That Properly Exposed the Truth That the Museum Would Fail

Headline and today's JS says it all. Many Peorians don't care for people who get it "right". But Phil's job is secure.

Headington Oaks - Next Missed Projection?

Supposed to open June 1. Then in August. Now almost a week is gone in September and the building sits empty. What's wrong? Not a peep from the JS who would be all over my butt if I was involved. And no, I didn't have sex with any of the three visitors. One was about 55, one 18 maybe and one was 27 or near. And no, there is no "upstairs" in MY ranch style home, as Buedel sensationalized to make it appear I spent my few minutes in a bedroom probably with the 18 year old , (the dancers sister)while the dancer stole from me "downstairs" in the office.and the older woman (the dancers aunt) rode 'shotgun'. And no, I didn't say say the dancer stole from me. I never left eye contact with her while they were in and outside under a shade tree at MY house. No, Buedel, we never sat on a "porch" as you reported we did.

Nor did I "step down" from my Peoria County Board position.
Definition of stepping down is resigning. Look it up. I served out my third term and ELECTED NOT  to run for a fourth term.

Got a card from an old friend. Said he was jealous because he knew I had radial prostrate seeding in 2005. Kills all cancer forever and also kills the ability to have an "erection". Said his brother would be turning over in his grave to have 3 strippers as Buedel fantasized to make me look bad to readers of the JS who believe everything in print that they already made up their mind to believe. No, I don't know of any strippers 55 and the 18 year old had the wrong build. The only time I ever hear 'Journal' call 'urinal' was here in Peoria.

Anyway, I've hung around Peoria far longer than I ever expected. Have to ask my "alky" wife why.. A legal separation by me is underway. Divorce was considered by me for years. She said she wouldn't give me one. The major story missed was why she was hospitalized.

To the JS hmmmmm. "Stepped down" from the board in the fall to make it look like I was forced out. No, I announced 2 1/2 years before my third term ended that I would NOT seek a fourth term. Sorry, staunch liberal Democrat ,Buedel, you are a liar. I hear that if I was gay, you and Chris wouldn't have tried to kill me. You still  might have that on your conscious if some one does but it won't be me that the hateful JS kills as they have done to at least one other notable figure some years past..

And I don't plan to ever live in Headington Oaks, an over priced mansion that strangely sits apparently completed but empty, Built for Medicaid folks with an Alzheimer wing and $80,000 or more a year for a few private pay. No, I didn't vote for the $53 million or more County Home for an overwhelming majority of poor folks. See my blogs on BelWood over the past years.

Hmmm again.

Peoria's Ailing Newpaper, the Journal Star, Continues to Block My SensibleComments on Thier Comment Site

What a hateful loser, the Journal Star. Hopefully, GateWay, the newspapers owner, will be successful in  their efforts to sell this predjudiced rag. Oh, for the days of Chuck Dancey.

Let Middle East Leaders Lead Against Syria - The U.S.A. is Broke

From the Washington Beacon Post. I agree.  Merle

BY: Bill Gertz
August 30, 2013 6:02 pm

The U.S. military, struggling after defense cuts of tens of billions of dollars, will be unable to pay for attacks on Syria from current operating funds and must seek additional money from Congress, according to congressional aides.

President Barack Obama, meanwhile, said on Friday he has not made a final decision on a military strike against Syria. He sought to play down both the scope and duration of the anticipated punitive missile and bombing campaign.

“As you’ve seen, today we’ve released our unclassified assessment detailing with high confidence that the Syrian regime carried out a chemical weapons attack that killed well over a thousand people, including hundreds of children,” Obama said.

The president said the use of the deadly weapons had violated international “norms” and that action was needed to prevent the further use of the arms.

A future military operation would not involve troops on the ground as part of a long-term campaign, Obama said. “But we are looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act that would help make sure that not only Syria but others around the world understands that the international community cares about maintaining this chemical weapons ban and norm,” he said.

The White House on Friday released an intelligence assessment that concluded with “high confidence” the Bashar al-Assad regime conducted a deadly poison gas attack using a nerve agent. It stated, “Our high confidence assessment is the strongest position that the U.S. intelligence community can take short of confirmation.”

The costs of planned Syria strikes using cruise missile ships currently deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean were not disclosed by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Adm. James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and several other high-ranking administration officials during a telephone briefing Thursday night for congressional leaders.

However, estimates of the limited-duration strike are expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

“The secretary indicated that the administration would consult with Congress on the cost of exercising a potential military option, but specific dollar amounts weren’t discussed,” a senior defense official when asked about the funding shortfalls.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated in a July 19 letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee, that larger-scale military operations would cost hundreds of millions or billions, depending on the number of forces and the duration of the operations.

For example, training and assisting Syrian opposition forces would cost $500 million annually and “limited” standoff missile and air strikes would cost in the “billions.” Operating a no-fly zone would cost about $1 billion per month, and the cost of using special operations forces to control chemical weapons would be “over” $1 billion monthly.

A congressional aide familiar with the congressional leaders’ briefing said Hagel and Winnefeld made clear the Pentagon would need to “work” with Congress to obtain supplemental funding for Syria attacks.

“Good luck with that,” the aide said, reflecting widespread concern among congressional Republicans with the Obama administration’s defense cuts.

The Pentagon leaders said unlike the 2011 military operations against Libya, there are not enough operating funds to conduct the attack on Syria.

The administration during the first term cut $487 billion from defense spending and another $55 billion under congressional sequestration legislation. An additional $55 billion is slated to be cut next year.

Last April, under questioning from Rep. Mike Conaway (R., Texas) at a House Armed Services Committee hearing April 11, Hagel said that if U.S. military action is taking in Syria “it’s pretty clear that a supplemental would be required.” Dempsey said during the same hearing that “It would take a supplemental” funding for a Syria operation.

Several Republican leaders expressed skepticism that the briefing failed to outline key military options and objectives.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R., Calif.), asked the administration officials to specify target sets and objectives and the officials did not do so.

At one point in the 90-minute briefing, Secretary of State John Kerry said the main objective of a military strike was to “deter” the further use of chemical weapons.

A senior Republican aide said Obama is a “fire and forget” commander-in-chief who did not provide information to the American people on the surge in Afghanistan and ordered operations in Libya that “turned North Africa into a safe haven for terrorists.”

Kerry, meanwhile, made an impassioned appeal for taking retaliatory action against Syria for the use of chemical arms.

“Our concern with the cause of the defenseless people of Syria is about choices that will directly affect our role in the world and our interests in the world,” he said during a speech at the State Department.

Kerry said “thousands” of sources provided evidence linking the Assad regime to the Aug. 21 attack.

Kerry said the intelligence shows the regime sought to attack opposition rebels in the Damascus suburbs and that three days before the attack “chemical weapons personnel were on the ground, in the area, making preparations.”

“And we know that the Syrian regime elements were told to prepare for the attack by putting on gas masks and taking precautions associated with chemical weapons,” he said. “We know that these were specific instructions.”

Also, the location and time of launch of chemical rockets and where they landed is known and that they were fired from regime controlled areas and were fired only in “opposition-controlled or contested neighborhoods.”

The chemical arms attacks also were widely discussed on social media within 90 minutes of the early morning strikes on 11 sites in the Damascus suburbs.

The reports included images of people choking or dying, he said.

A total of 1,429 people were killed including 426 children, Kerry said.

“This is the indiscriminate, inconceivable horror of chemical weapons. This is what Assad did to his own people,” he said.

Additional evidence obtained by U.S. intelligence includes details after the attack that a senior Syrian government knew about the attack and “confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime” and discussed the impact and expressed fears the use of the arms would be discovered.

Kerry said Syrian military forces fired artillery shells into the affected area to “destroy evidence” by heavy bombardment at four times normal rates of fire than in the previous 10 days.

United Nations inspectors’ access also was impeded and controlled, he said.

“Our intelligence community has carefully reviewed and re-reviewed information regarding this attack,” Kerry said. “And I will tell you it has done so more than mindful of the Iraq experience. We will not repeat that moment.”

The intelligence report stated that it was based on human, electronic, and imagery sources that reveal chemical rocket attacks were carried out Aug. 21 against regime opponents in the Damascus suburbs.

“The body of information used to make this assessment includes intelligence pertaining to the regime’s preparations for this attack and its means of delivery, multiple streams of intelligence about the attack itself and its effect, our post-attack observations, and the differences between the capabilities of the regime and the opposition,” the report said. It concluded that Syrian rebels did not carry out the attack.

The nerve agent used was not identified, but the report said Syria stockpiles the blistering agent mustard and nerve agents sarin and VX.

Regime “frustration” with the military’s failure to suppress several Damascus suburbs of opposition forces was the reason the chemical attack was carried out, the report said.

Three days before the attack, there were indications of the likely use of the chemical arms, it stated. Preparations included Syrian military personnel mixing chemical weapons from Aug. 18, including sarin.

“We have a body of information, including past Syrian practice, that leads us to conclude that regime officials were witting of and directed the attack on August 21,” the report said. “We intercepted communications involving a senior official intimately familiar with the offensive who confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime on August 21 and was concerned with the U.N. inspectors obtaining evidence.”

By the afternoon of Aug. 21, Syrian chemical weapons troops were ordered to cease operations, and the regime stepped up artillery attacks on the neighborhoods where the weapons were used. The stepped up shelling continued until Aug. 26.

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