Three Atlanta educators implicated in a widespread cheating scandal were notified of the district's plans to fire them, according to letters sent Friday and Monday.
That brings to 19 the number of educators the district has taken steps to terminate after months of delay and millions spent in payroll and legal expenses. APS is paying about $1 million a month to some 110 educators accused of cheating who remain on leave, but the system is trying to resolve the cases by the end of the school year.
The three educators from Parkside and Usher Collier Heights elementary schools were sent "charge letters," outlining the reasons why the district plans to fire them.
Donald Bullock, who worked at Usher Collier Heights, is accused of making test available to teachers so they could change answers. Selena Wyatt and Terance Shipman of Parkside Elementary are accused of cheating by verbally prompting students to change incorrect answers on state exams.
Employment hearings will be held in April and May for educators who receive charge letters and want to fight for their jobs. Earlier this week, five educators received letters, including Cedric Carwise and Sabrina Luckie from Fain Elementary, Derrick Broadwater, Arlette Crump and Angela Williamson from Dobbs Elementary.
The educators could not be reached or declined to comment. Attorney Gerald A. Griggs, who represents Angela Williamson, said she denies the charges APS made in the letter. She will fight the charges and present evidence to refute them, he said.
In previous cases most have chosen to quit rather than challenge the charges against them. Of the 11 educators sent charge letters earlier this month, 10 have resigned or retired. One attended a hearing, but lost.
A state investigation released in July uncovered evidence of cheating at 44 schools on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, a standardized test that's a pivotal measure of a school's achievement. About 180 educators were implicated in the report; about 70 have left the district.
The district placed the teachers implicated on paid leave in July but has been unable to fire them because of complicated state employment laws and a lack of access to critical evidence.
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