Fulton County DA Reacts to Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Trial Verdicts

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Eleven of the twelve remaining defendants in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating case were convicted of racketeering by a Fulton County jury on Wednesday.

According to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, eight of the 11 defendants were also convicted of charges including making false statements and writings, false swearing and influencing witnesses for their roles in the deliberate altering of standardized test scores at nearly 60 schools in the Atlanta Public School System.

“When we indicted this case our goal was not to make a spectacle of the Atlanta Public School system,” Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said in a statement released after the verdicts were announced. “It was our attempt to encourage the people in our community to stop and take an honest look at what was happening in our schools and how changing test scores was ultimately harming our children.”

We stand here today proud of our efforts, proud that we embarked upon a journey of truth, regardless of how long or arduous the task. We are certain today that our work has not been in vain.”

The district attorney’s office assembled a task force to expand upon an investigation carried out in 2011 by the office of Gov. Nathan Deal into allegations testing irregularities and cheating at APS schools on the 2008 and 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT). According to the district attorney’s office, their two-year-long probe discovered over 250,000 wrong-to-write erasures from tests taken at 58 of the 73 schools included in the investigation.

In 2013, 35 APS employees, including Superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall, were indicted in connection to the case. 21 of the defendants pleaded guilty before trial. One defendant died prior to trial. Hall, who had been battling advanced stage breast cancer, was unable to participate in the trial and died last month.

The highest-ranked APS officials to stand trial were former School Reform Team Executive Directors Tamara Cotman, Sharon Davis-Williams, and Michael Pitts, all of whom were convicted of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Pitts was also found guilty of influencing witnesses, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Other convicted officials included:

• Dana Evans - Former Principal, Dobbs Elementary; Found guilty of violating the RICO Act and on count of making false statements or writings
• Tabeeka Jordan - Former Assistant Principal, Deerwood Academy; Found guilty of violating the RICO Act
• Donald Bullock - Former Testing Coordinator at B.E. Usher and Collier Heights Elementary; Found guilty of violating the RICO Act , two counts of making false statements or writings, and one count of false swearing
• Theresia Copeland - Former Testing Coordinator at Benteen Elementary; Found guilty of violating the RICO Act and one count of making false statements or writings
• Diane Buckner-Webb - Former teacher at Dunbar Elementary; Found guilty of violating the RICO Act and two counts of making false statements and writings
• Pamela Cleveland - Former teacher at Dunbar Elementary; Found guilty of violating the RICO Act and two counts of making false statements and writings
• Shani Robinson - Former teacher at Dunbar Elementary; Found guilty of violating the RICO Act and one count of making false statements and writings
• Angela Williamson - Former teacher at Dobbs Elementary; Found guilty of violating the RICO Act and four counts of making false statements and writings.

Defendant Deesa Curb, a former teacher at Dunbar Elementary school, was acquitted of violating the RICO Act and on two counts of making false statements.

In a surprise move, Fulton County Judge Jerry Baxter ordered 10 of the 11 convicted defendants to be taken into custody immediately after their convictions; only Robinson was allowed to stay out of jail in order to deliver her baby. The defendants will be sentenced next week, according to WSB-TV.