If Atlanta teachers got charged with racketeering for altering student test scores, why isn't the Obama Administration arrested for altering economic statistics?

(NaturalNews) Nearly a dozen Atlanta teachers were convicted recently for cheating the federal government (and by default, taxpayers) out of millions of dollars by inflating students' test scores, even as Obama Administration officials intentionally skew the country's economic figures with impunity.

As reported by the Daily Mail, the incident in Atlanta marks one of the biggest cheating scandals of its kind in U.S. history. The educators -- 11 of them -- face federal racketeering charges for their role in skewing students' test scores on standardized exams in order to collect bonus money or stay employed.

The Daily Mail further reported:

The defendants - including teachers, a principal and other administrators - were accused of falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs in the 50,000-student Atlanta school system.

The educators fed answers to students or erased and changed the answers on tests after they were turned in to secure promotions or up to $5,000 each in bonuses, the court was told.

One educator benefited the most from the conspiracy: Superintendent Beverly Hall, whom authorities believe received up to a half-million taxpayer dollars in bonus payouts. She, however, died of breast cancer during the trial. A 12th teacher was acquitted of all charges.

Is it any wonder American primary education isn't improving?

The remaining 11, however, were sentenced April 8; some face up to 20 years in prison on federal racketeering charges. Specifically, all were found guilty under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, usually reserved for mobsters and members and bosses of organized crime.

"This is a huge story and absolutely the biggest development in American education law since forever," University of Georgia law professor Ron Carlson told Mail Online.

"It has to send a message to educators here and broadly across the nation. Playing with student test scores is very, very dangerous business," said.

The convictions stem from an investigation which was undertaken in 2011; federal authorities unearthed evidence that the teachers and their administrators were providing answers to students or changed them on tests after they were turned in. In all, investigators found evidence of cheating in 44 schools; nearly 180 educators were involved. Investigators also found that teachers who attempted to report the wrongdoing were met with retaliation.

Mail Online further reported:

A grand jury indicted 35 educators in March 2013 on charges including racketeering, false statements and theft.

Many reached plea agreements, serve between 250 and 1,000 hours of community service, repay between $500 and $5,000 in bonus money and complete up to two years of probation.

It's no wonder that many U.S. school districts continue to churn out graduates in name and certificate only.

Now, this kind of behavior is prosecuted when it occurs in the private sector; it is rewarded when it happens in government.

Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Donald Trump pointed this out in 2014 following a recently released employment report by the White House -- one that purported to show a major drop in unemployment.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump explained that the Obama Administration counted Americans who had dropped out of the workforce as "employed."

"The unemployment numbers in this country are so false. Everybody knows it. Everybody laughs about it," he said, as reported by WND.com. "But the president gets away with it; and other politicians get away with it."

How government gets away with skewing numbers

He noted that the real unemployment figure was probably around 18 percent, but "it could even be higher than that."

What about inflation figures? The government skews those too.

For instance, over the past several quarters the regime has claimed that inflation is either very low or non-existent. But here is how those numbers are manipulated to convince Americans who are spending more to buy less that things really aren't that bad, especially at the grocery store:

-- the government's official inflation rate excludes food and fuel costs;

-- government economists measure the cost of less expensive goods when prices go up;

-- the Feds "dumb down" prices of luxury items; and

-- in averaging the price of different commodities, it uses a geometric -- not arithmetic -- mean.

But no one is brought up on charges, and of course, no one goes to jail -- even though they collect taxpayer-supported salaries.

Isn't that the same thing as cheating taxpayers out of money?

Sources:

http://www.shtfplan.com

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

http://www.wnd.com

http://www.frontpagemag.com