One highlight of Week 11 in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating trial came at the start, when Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter cautioned jurors that the trial could stretch well into 2015. Another highlight came at the end, when the massive undertaking adjourned for the holidays, with testimony scheduled to resume in two weeks on Jan. 5.
Other highlights:
MONDAY, DEC.15
Two former Dobbs Elementary School students testified that their fourth-grade teacher, Angela Williamson, gave them and other students answers to questions on state tests. Their testimony echoed earlier accounts from other student witnesses.
TUESDAY, DEC. 16
A top-ranked Atlanta high school student testified that her fourth-grade teacher at Dobbs Elementary School, Angela Williamson, and another teacher prepped students by showing them copies of tests in advance and that Williamson gave students answers during testing.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 17
Former Dobbs Elementary School principal Dana Evans asked fourth-grade teachers about allegations that their students’ strong performance was because they had cheated using copies of state tests, former Dobbs fourth-grade teacher Derrick Broadwater testified. Although they had used test copies so in the past, Broadwater and his colleagues told her no, he said. Evans went on to praise the fourth-grade team to other teachers.
THURSDAY, DEC. 18
After former Dunbar Elementary School librarian Oreta Hinamon Taylor left the witness stand Thursday, she was approached in the hallway by Angela Johnson, lawyer for former Dunbar teacher Pamela Cleveland, who is accused of cheating. Johnson told Taylor in a low voice that she should contact a lawyer or a union representative, prosecutor Fani Willis complained to the judge. Willis feared that kind of warning would “chill” later witnesses for the prosecution. Johnson said she was only trying to help but didn’t explain why she felt Taylor needed any. Judge Jerry Baxter was visibly upset. “It’s sort of a little stinky,” he told Johnson. “It’s got a little stink on that, and I don’t appreciate it.”
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“I’m asking you not to become impatient, although that’s maybe a Herculean task.”
— Judge Baxter to the jury on Monday after telling them that the trial might last seven months.
“There’s just no way those children could have made those scores. … Their reading was not … They can’t have done it.”
— Former Dunbar Elementary School librarian Oreta Hinamon Taylor on Thursday, explaining why she suspected cheating at Dunbar Elementary.
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