A defense attorney on Monday questioned whether a private investigator actually met with then-Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall and other top APS officials in 2006 and told them about test-cheating at Parks Middle School.
“I understand you are contending you met with Dr. Hall,” attorney George Lawson told investigator Reginal Dukes during an aggressive cross-examination in the APS test-cheating trial.
Lawson represents former APS regional supervisor Michael Pitts, one of 12 former educators and administrators on trial for allegedly conspiring to inflate scores on state-mandated standardized tests. Through his cross-examination of Dukes, Lawson made it clear that he will argue to jurors that the May 10, 2006, meeting never occurred.
Earlier Monday, Dukes testified that the school system hired him in 2006 to look into testing irregularities at Parks Middle School and other misconduct by the school’s principal, Christopher Waller. Dukes said he learned cheating occurred on an eighth-grade standardized writing test and said he also was given information that Waller had persuaded teachers to cheat on the 2006 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.
Dukes said he presented his findings at a May 10, 2006, meeting with Hall, Pitts and other top APS officials.
Hall’s only question was “Do you have any more evidence?” Dukes testified. Pitts stood up for Waller, the investigator added.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Dukes said of the response. “I thought it was some serious allegations. I just anticipated more from them.”
But Lawson presented a visitor’s log from the APS central office for the day of the alleged meeting. It showed Dukes came to the central office that day and signed in at 11:25 a.m. But the log indicated Dukes was signed at 11:47 a.m. During his testimony, Dukes said his meeting with Hall lasted the better part of an hour or longer than an hour.
Dukes said he had no explanation about the apparent discrepancy on the visitor’s log and suggested someone else signed him out that day, putting in the incorrect time.
Later, when questioned again by Fulton County prosecutor Clint Rucker, Dukes said he was “100 percent certain” his meeting with Hall, Pitts and other top APS officials occurred.
Waller was one of those indicted in the test-cheating scandal. He has pleaded guilty and acknowledged that rampant test-cheating occurred at Parks Middle School. He is expected to be a prosecution witness in the coming weeks.
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