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Former Atlanta Public Schools Educators Withdraw Appeals in Cheating Case

Theo

The five remaining defendants in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating trial reached a deal with the state this week under which they apologized for their wrongdoing and waived any remaining appeals to avoid prison time.

The resolution was approved by Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter, who presided over the nine-month trial that began in September 2014 and ended in April 2015. It was then the longest trial in the history of the state. Fani Willis, now the Fulton County district attorney, was the lead prosecutor in the case.

Defendants Diane Buckner-Webb, Sharon Davis-Williams, Theresia Copeland, Michael Pitts and Shani Robinson all waived their right to challenge the validity of their convictions and were required to apologize to Atlanta Public Schools children. In exchange, their prison sentences were waived and they were allowed to count the hours of community service they had served toward their sentences.

Then-Gov. Sonny Perdue ordered an investigation into APS after dismissing the district’s own investigation into suspicious testing wipes at 58 schools. The AJC first raised questions about some schools’ test scores.

ExploreAPS Cheating Investigation Reveals Unethical Behavior at All Levels

Baxter called some of the apologies made in open court “a little weak,” but said he was glad the case was finally over – although he said this settlement should have been reached 10 years ago , according to a video from Fox 5 Atlanta.

“I think (the resolution) should have happened 10 years ago,” Baxter said. “Ten years. All sorts of things happened in that time that needed to be dealt with, but here we are and I’m grateful it’s over.”

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