A judge made the decision to reduce the sentences for three former Atlanta public school educators who received the most severe prison terms in the trial stemming from the city’s standardized test cheating scandal. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter reduced sentences on Thursday for Tamara Cotman, Sharon Davis-Williams and Michael Pitts. Each was given three years behind bars and seven on probation. Previously, each was sentenced to seven years in prison and thirteen on probation. The three former district regional directors were the highest-ranking of the eleven former educators involved in the racketeering scandal. Their original sentences were more than double what prosecutors had proposed. All three were commanded to pay a $10,000 fine, compared with the original sentence of $25,000. They also must perform 2,000 hours community service. The results of a state investigation found that (as far back as 2005) educators from the 50,000-student Atlanta school system fed answers to students or expunged and changed answers on tests after they were submitted. Evidence of cheating was uncovered in forty-four schools with nearly 180 educators involved, and teachers who tried to report it were threatened with retaliation. Back in 2013, thirty-five educators were indicted on charges of making false statements, racketeering and theft. Many pleaded guilty, and some testified during the months-long trial. On April 1, the jury acquitted one of the twelve former educators who went to trial and convicted the other eleven of racketeering. Ten were sentenced on April 14. The 11th recently gave birth and is to be sentenced sometime later on this year.
