Idalina Couto's blemish-free teaching career with Atlanta Public Schools ended after 20 years Tuesday when a panel of educators upheld a decision to fire her for breaking testing procedure and failing to report cheating.
A decision to fire a second teacher, Vanessa Jackson, was also upheld, bringing to seven the number of educators terminated as a result of cheating allegations.
Couto, a third grade teacher at Jones Elementary, allegedly told GBI agents she prompted students to reread incorrect questions on 2009 state exams. Agent Eugene Howard testified Tuesday that Couto also admitted to rewording or explaining questions that students couldn't understand, both testing violations under APS and state guidelines.
Couto's attorneys said Howard was mistaken. Couto was a highly rated teacher who never broke testing rules and there was no other evidence to suggest she was helping students on exams, they said. There were no suspicious erasures to suggest she'd tampered with tests and students in Couto's class did better on the 2010 state exam than in 2009 when she administered the test.
"Does it make sense to you that someone who is not flagged, who doesn’t have excessive erasures, who is selected at random, comes in and spills the beans and says, ‘I did it?,'" attorney John Jones told the panel. "Or does it make more sense that you have an agent, who interviewed lots of teachers that day, who wrote his report later based upon his cheat-sheet, I think he miswrote?"
Couto's attorneys portrayed the case as a classic example of he said/she said. Howard, they said, misunderstood Couto. When she talked about assisting students on state exams, she was referring to previous years when she taught second graders and testing rules were different.
Howard didn't record the hour-long interview with Couto because his digital device malfunctioned. He destroyed his notes after dictating them in a recorder and handing them off to his secretary to type.
Howard countered that his report from the interview was accurate and that Couto knew he was there to investigate improprieties on 2009 state exams.
"She admitted to prompting and answering questions about particular questions," he said. "She admitted to clarifying if a student didn’t understand, she would clarify in a way the student would."
Couto was fired for willful neglect of duties, immorality and "other good and sufficient" cause. Attorneys for APS said the district had lost confidence in her and could not put her back in a classroom.
Couto was also accused of failing to report knowledge she had of cheating at the school. She says she didn't file a report because she believed the information to be second-hand rumor.
The school board must approve all tribunal decisions before they are final, including a separate decision Tuesday to uphold the firing of Jackson, a Slater Elementary testing coordinator.
APS said Jackson knew or should have known about cheating at Slater Elementary. Jackson testified at her tribunal earlier this month that she did what was required of her and is not responsible for the actions of individual teachers who admitted that they changed student answers on the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.
Where they stand now
About 80 employees -- teachers and administrators -- suspected of cheating remain on the Atlanta Public Schools payroll. They can make their case to keep their jobs before an APS tribunal. Once the hearings are held and terminations recommended, the decision goes to the school board. If the action is approved by the board, the employees are terminated immediately, regardless of their intent to appeal.
7
Number of educators terminated after a tribunal hearing
50
Number of letters sent to educators outlining charges and the school district's intent to terminate
32
Number of educators notified their contracts will not be renewed (some will have the option of a hearing)
39
Number of resignations/retirements effective mid-March and through May 30.
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