Jury sides with Atlanta schools in teacher whistle-blower suit

ajc.com

Credit: Bob Andres

Credit: Bob Andres

A Fulton County jury sided with Atlanta Public Schools in a lawsuit filed against the district by a teacher who alleged she was fired after she blew the whistle on the districtwide cheating scandal.

On Tuesday, "the jury found the non-renewal" of Imogene Redwine's contract "was due to the employee's performance and not retaliation," APS said in a statement released hours after the verdict. Redwine sued the school district in 2015, and alleged she was harassed and wrongfully terminated during the 2013-2014 school year after she reported cheating at Brown Middle School.

“As our legal defense team demonstrated, the plaintiff in this case was never retaliated against by the district for any role she may have played in response to the CRCT cheating scandal. The focus of the district remains on improving educational outcomes for students through high-quality teaching,” said an APS statement released Tuesday by spokesman Ian Smith.

The cheating scandal, in which educators corrected student answers on standardized tests, resulted in the 2015 racketeering convictions of 11 APS teachers and administrators.

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