In this study I used autoethnography to analyze fifty years of African-American educational history in Georgia. The impetus for the study was the Atlanta cheating scandal, widely interpreted as a character problem for individual teachers and administrators. As a lifelong resident of Georgia, a student, a public school teacher, and a parent, it occurred to me that deeper issues created the atmosphere and policies within which the cheating occurred. I have provided a historic description of standardized testing and government policy which help to explain why test scores did not rise in the required amounts before the cheating scandal. I have outlined learning theory which has been disregarded in the schools. And I have used autoethnography to describe the discriminatory atmosphere for African-American children both before and after the Brown v Board of Education decision. I have divided these ethnographic descriptions into sections which include my own education, my experiences as a teacher, and my experiences as a parent. I concluded with an alternative interpretation of the underlying issues in Georgia Public Schools education based on both the historic and theoretical documents and my autoethnography. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]