Current Events & Trends: Atlanta educators guilty of cheating
In early April 2015 a group of educators in Atlanta, Georgia, were found guilty in one of the largest cheating scandals in U.S. history.
“On their eighth day of deliberations, the jurors convicted 11 of the 12 defendants of racketeering, a felony that carries up to 20 years in prison. Many of the defendants—a mixture of Atlanta public school teachers, testing coordinators and administrators—were also convicted of other charges, such as making false statements, that could add years to their sentences”
(Alan Blinder, “Atlanta Educators Convicted in School Cheating Scandal,” The New York Times, April 1, 2015).
Education is a topic that tends to be political in nature. Is standardized testing a good measure of the quality of education? Is gym class necessary? Is art class worth the expenditure? Schooling in its various forms significantly affects the future of a nation. Generally, better education leads to a better society.
Of course, education is more than numbers and letters. Teachers and school administrators provide moral guidance whether or not they are trying to, as youth see the example they set and learn from it for good or ill. The example of cheating to get ahead is a terrible one. Hard work and perseverance with a good attitude are what the younger generation should see as an example for successful living.
On the flip side we can see that biblical principles are again validated—and parents should point out this valuable lesson to their children. Proverbs 10:9 states, “Honest people can always feel secure, but lying cheaters will be caught” (Easy-to-Read Version).
It’s very sad to see people educating the future generation fall to such lows for personal gain. (Source: The New York Times.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2015
Course Content
Rudolph Rangel III
Rudy Rangel attends the Cincinnati East, Ohio congregation along with his wife Judy and two children.
Tom Robinson
Tom is an elder in the United Church of God who works from his home near St. Louis, Missouri as managing editor and senior writer for Beyond Today magazine, church study guides and the UCG Bible Commentary. He is a visiting instructor at Ambassador Bible College. And he serves as chairman of the church's Prophecy Advisory Committee and a member of the Fundamental Beliefs Amendment Committee.
Tom began attending God's Church at the age of 16 in 1985 and was baptized a year later. He attended Ambassador College in both Texas and California and served for a year as a history teacher at the college's overseas project in Sri Lanka. He graduated from the Texas campus in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in theology along with minors in English and mass communications. Since 1994, he has been employed as an editor and writer for church publications and has served in local congregations through regular preaching of sermons.
Tom was ordained to the ministry in 2012 and attends the Columbia-Fulton, Missouri congregation with his wife Donna and their two teen children.
