Former M.A. Jones Elementary School teacher Corliss Love has become the fourth Atlanta Public Schools educator to prevail in a tribunal after being accused of cheating in a state investigation. She will be reinstated as an employee in the district, but not as a teacher, the Atlanta School Board decided.
During her tribunal hearings in November and December, APS claimed Love had confessed to cheating when she was interviewed by a GBI agent, and that she had prompted students to change wrong answers to right answers on the tests when she told the class to “check your work.”
Love admitted she instructed one student to change an answer when she noticed the student put two answers on one line. But that is acceptable under testing guidelines, Georgia Department of Education expert Anthony Eitel testified.
Also, by playing the recording of her interview with GBI agent Eugene Howard, Love’s attorney, Bill Amideo, established that she didn’t confess, and that Howard’s written summary of the interview was misleading and inaccurate.
Only three other APS educators have won their cases in the 31 tribunals held since March: F.L. Stanton Elementary School teacher Theresa Bell, Woodson Elementary School teacher Debra Dixon and Dobbs Elementary School teacher Angela Williamson. But Williamson was called before a second tribunal in December after APS produced more evidence, and she lost that tribunal. She is appealing her case in Fulton County Superior Court.
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