Dive Summary:
- As Atlanta's recent cheating scandal continues to fester, NPR looks at Lorenzo Garcia, a former superintendent in El Paso, Texas, who is currently in federal prison.
- Though Garcia was found guilty of manipulating scores in unethical ways, his crimes left blame to spare among those working underneath him.
- Federal investigations are ongoing, and the state is trying to crack down on cheating, but students who were coerced into dropping out under Garcia remain a lingering problem.
From the article:
"... Garcia's plan was to inflate test scores at Bowie High School by not testing the poorest performing 10th graders, changing failing grades to passing grades and forcing struggling students to drop out of school altogether. It worked. Bowie's rating quickly went from 'failing' to 'academically acceptable.' ..."