Three high-ranking Atlanta Public Schools administrators accused of aiding and abetting cheating are suing the school district, seeking at least $6 million in damages.
APS Executive Directors Sharon Davis Williams, Michael Pitts and Tamara Cotman say the district violated state employment laws and breached job contracts after the July release of a 400-plus page state cheating investigation. In the lawsuit, they claim APS ruined their reputations and their ability to secure gainful employment.
APS placed the educators on paid leave in July, shortly after the state investigation concluded they knew or should have known cheating was taking place at schools they supervised. Keith Bromery, APS spokesman, said he could not comment further on the case because of the pending litigation.
The investigation portrays the three as key players in Atlanta’s cheating scheme. Davis Williams is accused of instructing educators to cover up cheating and punishing a whistle-blower. Pitts allegedly knew about cheating at Parks Middle and discouraged teachers from making complaints against the principal. Cotman is accused of telling principals to send "go to hell" memos to state investigators.
Soon after the report’s release, the district took steps to fire the three educators, issuing “charge letters” that detailed the reasons they were being fired. Tribunal hearings were scheduled so the educators could contest the decision, in accordance with the state’s job protection laws.
The district twice rescheduled those hearings, and APS has not yet allowed the educators a chance to defend themselves in front of a tribunal, according to the lawsuit. This is a violation of their due process rights, according to the suit.
“I want to know why Atlanta Public Schools doesn't want to give us our hearing. What are they fearing?” Cotman told Channel 2 Action News.
The investigation found cheating at 44 schools and implicated about 180 educators. APS is in the process of holding hearings for other educators named in the investigation, and has fired at least four.
Hearings were delayed for months because the district did not have access to critical evidence needed to build a case against the educators. Eventually, the Fulton County district attorney agreed to let the district access the evidence and move forward with select cases.
Now, the district is trying a different approach to getting educators off the payroll. Several educators, including Cotman, Pitts and Davis Williams, were notified their contracts would not be renewed next school year. When a contract is “nonrenewed” an administrator isn’t entitled to the same job protection rights as one whose contract is terminated while in progress.
But Cotman, Pitts and Davis Williams, who each earn six-figure salaries, want a court to order the hearing promised to them by law. They also want APS to pay no less than $6 million for damaging their names and reputations.
“I’ve been judged and slandered without any credible evidence,” Davis Williams told Channel 2.
Attorney Michael King, who is a member of the Clayton County school board and represents one Atlanta teacher named in the investigation, said the executive directors don’t have a case under Georgia fair dismissal law. Administrators generally aren’t entitled to due process rights if their contract is not renewed, he said.
“The nonrenewal will supersede any attempt to terminate a contract,” he said. “Administrators serve at the pleasure of the superintendent.”
Taxpayer advocacy groups have voiced concern over the mounting costs of the cheating scandal. Barbara Payne, executive director of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation -- which she said has 11,000 members -- is upset APS may have made itself vulnerable to these types of cases.
"What a train wreck," Payne said. " These three could have been involved in the cheating scandal, and now they have the opportunity to sue APS for something that sounds valid. It's like a burglar who breaks into your house, injures himself and he can sue you for damages."
Named in report
Three former APS executive directors are now suing the school district.
Tamara Cotman
Report: lied about "go to hell" memo.
Salary: $141,827
Michael Pitts
Report: "aided and abetted" cheating.
Salary: $143,842
Sharon Davis Williams
Report: punished whistle-blower.
Salary: $143,842
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