I’ve been waiting for an article to accurately capture what I had considered to be the biggest scandals of all regarding the Wainstein report on UNC’s Paper Class scandal.

That biggest scandal, for me, was the question of how some of these kids even GOT into UNC.

The wait is over.

The Pope Center’s Jesse Saffron and Jenna A. Robinson have produced an article entitled, The Biggest Lesson from the UNC Academic Scandal Has Been Ignored.

The key point from the article is emphasized in the excerpt below. This is the point which is that I consider to be the biggest scandal in the whole affair:

“The scandal not only brought shame to the state’s flagship university, but it also forced the school chancellor, a head coach, several department heads, and others out of their jobs. In an 18-year span (1993–2011), more than 3,100 UNC-CH athletes and non-athletes took “no-show” classes and received good grades for shoddy—and often plagiarized—papers. Some faculty, administrators, and academic support specialists participated in the scam, which among other things allowed 329 athletes to keep their eligibility. Other officials were aware of this wrongdoing, but opted to remain silent.

Following such revelations, university leaders in Chapel Hill and the system pledged to right those wrongs and usher-in a new era of accountability and integrity. 

Unfortunately, it appears that no such “golden age” will materialize. A new report on the state’s intercollegiate athletics programs produced by the UNC system’s general administration shows that the hardest lesson from the largest academic scandal in NCAA history is being ignored. Athletes with weak academic skills continue to be admitted to universities where they have little chance of successfully completing rigorous coursework.”

How many of these student athletes were from right here in North Carolina?

This seems like a good question to ask Superintendent Atkinson about seeing as how she is running for reelection based on her achievement of ‘increasing’ graduation rates.

Read the rest of the article, which notes how scores on the SAT and other admission criteria have declined in the last four years. What the article doesn’t mention is that while most of these scores declined prior to the introduction of Common Core, the most recent fall within the implementation of the standards.

Either way, the question should be put to Atkinson.

The Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC) tasked with replacing Common Core wraps up this month. The final meeting is this Friday. They’ve done the due diligence to rectify the failings of Common Core that DPI, under Dr. Atkinson’s direction, apparently did not do — or at least definitely didn’t act on.

Atkinson and fellow Common Core supporters will be doing all they can to make sure they sink the ASRC’s findings and perpetuate what is clearly a failed track record for K-12 with clear ramifications for higher education.