An Atlanta Public School tribunal upheld the firing of Theresia Copeland after hearing two days of testimony and Copeland's claim from the witness stand last Friday that she did not tamper with tests when she was a testing coordinator at Benteen Elementary School in 2009.
Copeland was the third testing coordinator -- whose job is to secure tests -- to appear before an APS tribunal, which is hearing appeals from educators facing firing for their involvement in the 2009 cheating scandal that rocked APS. About 180 APS educators were accused of cheating after a state investigation.
Witnesses said they saw Copeland rolling carts of the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests down the halls before and after school hours and taking them into her office at a time when the test were supposed to be secured in a locked closet "vault." One witness said she saw Copeland through her office window with a pencil and eraser marking on the tests.
Copeland said on the stand Friday she only took the test to her office to inventory them and make sure all the testing materials were in order. She said the four feet by eight feet storage closet was too cramped to work in.
