Good article about the Atlanta teacher scandal.  Lots of great quotes from the judge.  Such as this one:




"This is not a victimless crime that occurred," Baxter said. "These kids were passed on and passed on. The only chance that they had was the school. There are victims in the jail, kids who I have sentenced."




(And some pretty pathetic comments from the readers actually feeling sorry for the teachers, but, then, it was published in an education weekly, so that gives you some idea what a jury of their "peers" might think. And apparently they are full of the typical excuses for these slimeballs.)








http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2015/04/judge_hands_down_sentences_in_.html






It's not like he didn't warn them, though.  He gave them a chance to come clean and admit guilt like so many other teachers did or else be tried under RICO (racketeering) laws. 




They gambled and lost...  And now they get to teach behind bars for a while.




"I said to everybody, 'This is the time to search your soul,'" Baxter said. "Nobody has taken any responsibility that I can see. I was trying to give everybody one more chance. All I want from these people is for somebody to take responsibility."


Well, it looks like they're taking it now.  Probably not the way they wanted it, though...


Baxter sentenced:

• Former school reform team executive directors Tamara Cotman, Sharon Davis-Williams, and Michael Pitts to 20 years in prison, serving seven of them behind bars and 13 years on probation. Cotman, Davis-Williams, and Pitts also must pay $25,000 fines and perform 2,000 hours of community service, to be spent tutoring inmates and students.
• Former principal Dana Evans to five years in prison, serving one behind bars and four years on probation plus 1,000 hours of community service, to be spent tutoring inmates and students.
• Former teacher Angela Williamson to five years in prison, serving two behind bars and three years on probation plus a $5,000 fine and 1,500 hours of community service, to be spent tutoring inmates and students.
• Former assistant principal Tabeeka Jordan to five years in prison, to serve two behind bars and three years on probation plus a $5,000 fine and 1,500 hours of community service, to be spent tutoring inmates and students.
• Former teacher Diane Buckner-Webb to five years in prison, to serve one behind bars and four years on probation plus a $1,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service to be spent tutoring inmates and students.
• Former testing coordinator Theresia Copeland to five years in prison, to serve one behind bars and four years on probation plus a $1,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service to be spent tutoring inmates and students.