7 educators from Atlanta, Fulton banned for up to a year in test cheating scandal

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By Kristina Torres

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The state banned seven Atlanta and Fulton County educators Thursday from its public schools for as much as a year in the wake of a statewide test cheating scandal first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution a year ago.

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Bita Honarvar

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The Georgia Professional Standards Commission, which polices state teaching credentials, suspended former Fulton principal Lee Adams, Fulton assistant principal Vicki Bulluck, Atlanta principal Lisa Smith and former Atlanta assistant principal Tabeeka Jordan for a year each. Atlanta educators Lavonia Ferrell, Margaret Merkerson and Valjean Williams were banned for 90 days each, a lesser sanction because the educators were not properly trained by their superiors.

Punishment for all seven represents the last of the cases brought by the state against individuals it believes changed students' answers last summer to increase their scores. They are prohibited from working in Georgia public schools during the suspensions.

All have 30 days to appeal, a move that for some seems likely. Warren Fortson, an attorney for Smith, Jordan, Ferrell and Bulluck, called the commission's action "a travesty" that found "four scapegoats in my clients." All four, Fortson said, "vehemently deny any knowledge of or any participation in cheating." Atlanta's Smith, he said, was not even on campus during the testing period because she was on vacation. Adams did not return a message seeking comment. Merkerson and Williams could not be reached.

The testing scandal started last summer after an audit by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement found evidence that four schools turned in questionable results for state tests taken in summer 2008.

Those results were from fifth-grade math retests on the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, taken by students from DeKalb's Atherton Elementary, Fulton's Parklane Elementary, Glynn County's Burroughs-Molette Elementary and Atlanta's Deerwood Academy.

The audit found evidence of an abnormal number of erasures at those schools on those retests, in which the wrong answer often was replaced by the right one. The state investigation came after an analysis last December by the AJC showed improbable gains at some schools on tests taken first in spring and then in summer.

Earlier this year the commission banned four Glynn County educators and a former DeKalb County assistant principal for a year as punishment in the scandal. It also suspended former DeKalb principal James Berry for two years and indicated he received a harsher sanction because he confessed. Sanctions can range from a reprimand to loss of license.

Both Adams and Bulluck still work in Fulton, but at different jobs. They will retain those jobs in the interim, a system spokeswoman said. Fulton's own investigation into the state's findings was inconclusive.

Atlanta's Smith is still Deerwood's principal and will remain so in the interim, according to a system spokesman. Jordan is on paid leave pending the final outcome of this case. Ferrell, Merkerson and Williams either retired or were substitute teachers who are no longer used by the system. A report released by the system in August that said Deerwood officials broke rules, were lazy and could not keep track of records but did not deliberately attempt to manipulate students' answers.

AJC Results

A December 2008 analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found some schools reported improbable improvements on a state test. That prompted a state audit, which found evidence four schools turned in questionable results. The scandal has led to state sanctions against 13 educators, banning them from public schools for between 90 days and two years. Those sanctioned Thursday have 30 days to appeal.