APS to teachers in scandal: Resign or be fired

By Kristina Torres

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Public Schools interim Superintendent Erroll Davis sent letters home to all 178 employees implicated in an ongoing cheating scandal with a short, pointed message: Resign next week or face termination.

The letter follows several high-profile staffing changes by Davis this week in the wake of a searing state report, which detailed widespread test cheating in 44 APS schools and said ex-schools chief Beverly Hall presided over a culture of cover-ups and obstruction during her 12-year tenure.

Davis on Monday accepted the resignation of APS human resources chief Millicent Few, who the report said "illegally ordered" the destruction or alteration of documents and made false statements. Davis also replaced four area superintendents and two principals -- and promised more to come.

In the letter, which began arriving in mailboxes Friday, Davis said the district will accept resignations Monday through Wednesday during normal office hours. APS spokesman Keith Bromery said it was sent to all 178 employees, including teachers and principals, named in the report who either confessed to cheating or who were implicated by investigators.

Bromery said the district will start termination proceedings afterward against those who decide to stay on and fight for their jobs.

The firing process, presuming at least some employees refuse to step down, will take several months, something Davis has already acknowledged. But he has also promised that the educators found to have cheated "are not going to be put in front of children again."

Employees have contractual and legal rights to due process. According to state law, when a district moves to suspend or fire a teacher, principal or other district employee, the employee is entitled to a hearing to defend himself or herself. The employee can also appeal to the state.

Some are already fighting for their jobs.

Last week, three Finch Elementary School teachers issued a statement through their attorney denouncing the report's assertion that they changed test answers, and they vowed to fight to "clear our names." Separately, Atlanta defense attorney Bruce Harvey, who represents six APS educators, has criticized investigators for disclosing the names of those who exercised their Fifth Amendment rights.