Leah Cauley came to Atlanta Public Schools as an idealistic new teacher, hoping to help make a difference in the lives of first-graders suffering from poverty and, in some cases, physical abuse.
It didn’t her take long to conclude, though, that the district’s vaunted reputation for achievement with downtrodden kids was a “myth.” Cauley testified Wednesday that she witnessed cheating during the administering of a standardized state test and was fired because of it. The district sent her a letter that said investigators had determined she had filed a false report.
“I had a really hard time reading it beginning to end because I was so shocked by the findings,” said Cauley, who taught at C.W. Hill Elementary School during the 2004-05 school year.
The teacher was among three witnesses in the third day of testimony about a test-cheating conspiracy that allegedly involved the dozen former Atlanta educators on trial.
But before testimony began, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter excused a juror — one of the alternates — from service because she had not shown up on time. Earlier this week, the judge had released another juror, and the new dismissal leaves the court with 12 jurors and nine backups.
Wednesday’s testimony started with testing expert Gregory Cizek, a University of North Carolina professor who said statistics showing high rates of test erasures and unlikely performance increases can suggest cheating but not prove it. He was followed by Tony Overstreet, who lost his job as principal under former Superintendent Beverly Hall.
Overstreet testified that he was “very proud” of his leadership at Carver High, which was the lowest-achieving school in Georgia when he took over as principal. Over the next two years, his students made 12 percent gains in test performance. The school also made Adequate Yearly Progress for the first time in 2005, which turned out to be Overstreet’s last year as principal.
He went to Hall, begging for his job, and asked what he’d done wrong.
Hall’s response: “You did nothing wrong,” Overstreet testified. “You did everything I asked you to do.”
Then, he said, she told him this: “I don’t have time for incremental gains.”
Prosecutors called Overstreet to support allegations that Hall demanded substantial — not moderate — gains in test scores. The implication: She set targets that no educator could meet without cheating.
When Hall convened the private meeting with Overstreet, she told him he could take an assistant principal job, Overstreet told jurors. But Overstreet, who is white, said he declined the “demotion” and later filed a federal lawsuit, alleging race discrimination. The school system settled the case in October 2007.
Hall, who has pleaded not guilty, is not on trial now because she has been receiving treatment for Stage IV breast cancer. Yet at least three of her lawyers have been in court this week keeping track of the proceedings.
At the end of Wednesday’s testimony, Baxter told one of those lawyers, David Bailey, to approach the bench and then asked how Hall was doing.
Hall is at home, Bailey said, adding that he believes she is still not competent to stand trial. Baxter then asked for progress reports on Hall’s health and agreed that her lawyers needed to be in court because so much testimony has involved the former superintendent.
Through a number of witnesses, prosecutors have sought to establish that a culture of cheating flourished under Hall’s leadership.
Cauley, the teacher at C.W. Hill, said she suffered under that culture. She testified that she witnessed an educator helping students answer questions on a state test by “filling in the logic” for them. After disclosing this to other educators, she got hate letters in her school mailbox, near the principal’s office.
“The only way to make it right is to admit that you lied about the whole situation and maybe you won’t have to watch your back,” said one. The letters, laced with foul language, referred to her race — she is white — and accused her of believing that black children couldn’t achieve.
“That would be the last thing I would want someone to think,” she testified, nearly coming to tears.
She admitted under cross-examination that she didn’t immediately report what she saw during the testing, and even lied about it the first time her principal asked her about it. She admitted she didn’t want to accuse a teacher she respected. Days later, though, she changed her mind and filed a formal report.
Investigators faulted her for waiting, and Hall fired her.
An APS investigation of Cauley’s complaint did find that a C.W. Hill teacher cheated while giving a standardized test. Lead prosecutor Fani Willis noted that this teacher was suspended for 20 days and not fired.
During cross-examination, defense attorneys for many of the 12 defendants repeatedly noted that none of their clients had anything to do with what happened to Cauley.
At one point, Gerald Griggs — who represents former Dobbs Elementary teacher Angela Williamson — asked Cauley to stand up from her seat in the witness box. “Do you see Dr. Hall in this room?” he asked.
“No,” Cauley answered.
Willis then approached Cauley and handed her a copy of the indictment, which lists Hall as the lead defendant.
“Who was your superintendent?” Willis asked.
“Beverly Hall,” Cauley said.
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