Why not subpoena everyone in D.C. cheating scandal — Rhee included?

Why not subpoena everyone in D.C. cheating scandal — Rhee included?:

Why not subpoena everyone in D.C. cheating scandal — Rhee included?

Posted by Valerie Strauss on April 12, 2013 at 12:14 pm

Several investigations into suspicions of widespread cheating by educators in D.C. schools on student standardized tests during Michelle Rhee’s tenure as chancellor turned up precious little, but a newly released memo (see below) by a data analyst raises questions that warrant a  new probe — this time by investigators with subpoena powers.

The concerns arise from Rhee’s 2008-2010 tenure in the District, a time when she instituted a new educator evaluation system that turned student standardized tests into high-stakes exams by linking the scores to how much teachers and principals were paid and whether they were able to keep their jobs. There have been confirmed cases of cheating in several dozen cities, most prominently in Atlanta, where the former superintendent and 34 other educators were recently indicted.

The memo was just released by independent journalist John Merrow — who  chronicled Rhee’s D.C. tenure in a “Frontline” segment for PBS earlier this year — as part of a post on his Taking Note blog titled “Michelle Rhee’s Reign of Error.” It starts with this note:

With the indictment of former Atlanta School Superintendent Beverly A. Hall and 34 

Memo could revive allegations of cheating in D.C. public schools

by Emma Brown

A consultant for D.C. public schools warned in 2009 that the school system might have had widespread cheating on standardized tests the previous year, according to a memo obtained by journalist John Merrow and published on Merrow’s blog.
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