ATLANTA, April 30 (UPI) -- Three of the educators who received the stiffest sentences in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal will spend less time in prison.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter on Thursday reduced the sentences of former regional directors Tamara Cotman, Michael Pitts and Sharon Davis-Williams. The three were convicted earlier this month of racketeering for their roles in widespread cheating on standardized tests.
Baxter initially sentenced the three to seven years in prison and 13 years probation each. He reduced those sentences to three years in prison and seven years probation each.
He said that upon reflection, he was "not comfortable" with the initial sentences.
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"When a judge goes home and he keeps thinking over and over that something's wrong, something is usually wrong," Baxter said. "I want to modify the sentence so I can live with it. I"m going to put myself out to pasture in the not too distant future, and I want to be out the pasture without regrets. The punishments are in line but I want them to be something I consider fair and I can deal with."
Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore, a retired chief judge with the court and friend of Baxter's, told WTVM-TV in Atlanta she wouldn't be surprised if people in the community tried to persuade Baxter to reduce the sentences.
"There were so many people alarmed when they saw those handcuffs go on teachers," she said.
The scandal was uncovered in an investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, which found suspicious math and reading test scores in nearly 200 school districts in the United States.
In all, 34 educators were indicted for being involved in the cheating scandal, though 21 pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were sentenced to probation.
Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall, who won national awards and received bonuses due to the district's success on tests, resigned during the investigation. She was also charged but didn't stand trial because she underwent treatment for breast cancer as jury selection began. Hall died earlier this month.
