“These stories are incredible. These kids can’t read. It’s like the sickest thing that’s ever happened in this town.” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter.
Recently-convicted Atlanta educators who conspired for years to fraudulently boost the city’s scores on standardized tests were slapped with lengthy prison sentences of up to seven years Tuesday.
Sharon Davis-Williams, Michael Pitts, and Tamara Cotman were all regional directors with the Atlanta Public Schools throughout the cheating scandal, and were slapped with the toughest penalties by Baxter. All of them were sentenced to seven years in prison, to be followed by 13 years of probation and 2,000 hours of community service. They were also fined $25,000 apiece. Several other educators were slapped with shorter sentences that still sent them to prison for as long as two years.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter said this widespread cheating was far from a victimless crime, and warranted a tough response.
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