Free Republic

Prosecutors are using a law originally enacted to go after mobsters to accuse former principals, teachers, and administrators of trying to boost their bonuses by conspiring to artificially raise kids' test scores. While only 12 ex-educators are on trial in Atlanta, dozens of teachers and administrators were initially charged and many have since pleaded guilty in exchange for their cooperation. The dozen on trial could get up to 20 years in prison, and they might never have been prosecuted if it weren't for a pair of ambitious reporters at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). Back in 2008, Heather Vogell, now a...

CASTLE ROCK – A candidate for Douglas County School Board is under fire for protecting a union teacher convicted of assaulting a student after the same teacher assaulted another student four years later When Bill Hodges was the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for Douglas County Schools in 2002, teacher Todd Bennethum at Mountain Vista High School was arrested for child abuse and eventually convicted of assault after he struck a student softball player. Four years later, after being transferred to a different school, Bennethum struck a student in his class at ThunderRidge High School and was again charged with...