From my perspective, the idea that APS, confronted of evidence that it has been contaminated by the worst test-cheating scandal in U.S. history, would do anything other than initiate an investigation and promise lots of transparency is unfathomable. Shut up and wait for the results, and then deal with them. But no, the geniuses downtown got together and tried to invent some nonsense alternative theories for the damning numbers.
It pisses me off when educators decide math and statistics--you know, science--should take a back seat to their own folksy homespun wisdom about what happened.
But I'll let you decide.
From: Rick Lockridge [mailto:rwlockridge@mindspring.com]
Sent: Sat 2/13/2010 11:38 AM
To: Bromery, Keith
Subject: From APS Parent Rick Lockridge
Keith:
So these are the two theses you're advancing to spin the cheating scandal into a non-scandal:
(1) APS teachers are uniquely diligent about exhorting the kids to go back and change answers if need be, resulting in a level of self-correction you think is honest but every testing expert consulted so far says is statistically impossible,
and
(2) these poor disadvantaged kids struggle so mightily, they often don't get things right the first time but through sheer tenacity they're able to somehow reach deep and find the answers inside them--the second time around, and before the clock expires.
Keith, I'm appalled and disgusted by your public statements on the cheating scandal. And I want you to remember one thing: after this is over, and the district has had to acknowledge the largest cheating scandal "in the history of standardized testing" (according to NYT article yesterday), I will remember your public spin over this outrage. I will remember how you felt your first duty was to protect Bev Hall instead of publicly proclaim your outrage over the mathematical certainty that cheating took place. I will remember how you tried to play the race card (subtly but firmly, with your "disadvantaged students" remark).
(As if the Atlanta metro area had the only "disadvantaged" kids in GA public schools. What a crock).
Seriously, can they really pay you enough to get you to advance such ridiculous, desperate arguments? Do you really think educated, intelligent parents in the APS community are going to overlook your conduct during this scandal?
Do you really think Bev Hall is going to be around to protect your job?
And if you have to go to a new system, do you really want to be known as the guy who wouldn't acknowledge the biggest cheating scandal in public school history?
THAT's a career-killer, I think.
I'm going to be a parent in the APS system for a long time to come. I have one second-grader and my wife is expecting another child. I'm going to be in this system for many years and if that is also your goal may I suggest you do an about-face and start projecting a more honest and accountable front for this administration.
Man up, Keith. I have no doubt you're better than you've been showing us.
Rick Lockridge
1024 Greenwood Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
On Feb 13, 2010, at 12:37 PM, Bromery, Keith wrote:
The "spin" was initially ventured by the Atlanta Journal Constitution in the first article they posted on their Web site simultaneous with the scheduled start of the Governor's Office of Student Achievement's presentation to the State Board of Education. The headline and the lead sentence of that article announced to the world that the schools in question regarding the test sheet erasure anomalies had been accused of test tampering and cheating by the state. When a State Board of Education member read that headline and lead sentence off of her laptop computer to the Governor's staff at the public hearing and asked if this was true, the response was no. The Governor's office painstakingly explained that these (erasure anomalies) were findings that needed to be further investigated, and we fully agree with that. Since the assumption had already been publicly made by the newspaper and other media outlets that picked up on the article that the findings could only be attributed to test tampering or cheating, my job was to offer another legitimate explanation for the erasure anomalies, which I did. For me to publicly acknowledge something (cheating/tampering) that was not evidence at this time would be irresponsible. My job was to offer another plausible explanation for the erasure anomalies, while acknowledging that the findings constituted legitimate cause for further investigation. The fact of the matter is erasure anomalies amount to circumstantial evidence. In my country, a person or organization is deemed innocent until proven guilty. In the court of public opinion, it doesn't always work that way, which is why I felt compelled to introduce other legitimate testimony into the discussion to counter the rush to judgement (sic) in the face of non-conclusive evidence.
Keith Bromery
Director of Media Relations
Atlanta Public Schools
From: Rick Lockridge
Subject: Re: From APS Parent Rick Lockridge
Date: February 13, 2010 2:08:58 PM EST
To: Keith Bromery
1. It's irrelevant whether the AJC or the Governor's OSA tried to publicly indict APS--the numbers do so all by themselves, and overwhelmingly. Any intelligent person would infer only one conclusion from the data.
2. A journalists' conclusion on a blog that the evidence is overwhelming is one thing, but a nationally recognized testing expert's conclusion (near-certain probability of massive cheating) is quite another. Don't set up the AJC or the OSA to be your straw men. The AJC and the NYT consulted actual experts.
3. If your job is indeed to introduce other "plausible" explanations, then do it. The two you've offered so far insult the intelligence of every APS parent and your playing of the race card is utterly disgraceful. If you've got nothing better, then how about being a person of character and saying "we will have no comment on this until the investigation is complete."
Instead, you have cast yourself in the role of defense attorney. That's not your role. Your role is to be intellectually honest with the taxpayer-stewards of the Atlanta Public School district.
4. You can call it "circumstantial" evidence, or you can call it what it really is: overwhelming circumstantial evidence that leads to only one plausible conclusion. That's what I mean by spin. Circumstantial evidence leads to convictions all the time, and it will lead to a housecleaning this time.
I'm going to be scrutinizing your every public pronouncement from this point on, but I wish you the best in dealing with a terrible, tragic situation--one that started out bad and is just going to get worse; a spokesman's worst nightmare. I just want you to remember who your real constituency is, and it's not the soon-to-be-ousted bureaucrats at 130 Trinity.
Good luck,
Rick
