ATLANTA — A former first grade teacher shared her reaction to a judge’s decision to lighten her sentence in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal.
Shani Robinson said she’s been living with a dark cloud looming over her since a grand jury indicted her and 35 other APS teachers and administrators in 2013.
“I was facing 25 years in prison. A lot of my co-defendants were facing anywhere between 20 and 50 years in prison. So, it was definitely scary,” said Robinson.
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She was teaching at Dunbar Elementary School in 2009 when investigators said teachers across the district changed standardized test answers to improve state scores for APS for financial gain.
After the 2013 indictment, many defendants began making plea deals.
Twelve went to trial to prove their innocence. A jury found 11 of them guilty. Robinson said some served prison time and some made sentencing agreements. She was part of five who appealed.
After years in limbo, a judge said Tuesday that the five can avoid prison time if they apologize to students. They all agreed.
“I do believe that the students of Atlanta deserve an apology,” said Robinson. “I’ve been very outspoken about this case in the past, about public education, and I believe our public education was designed for them to fail in the first place.”
Attorney Gerald Griggs defended one of the two who served prison time. He said he is relieved the latest batch of five avoided that.
“I do feel some profound sadness for them in that they were not the main ones who were cheating, and those people went unpunished,” said Griggs.
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“It has wreaked havoc on my personal finances, my mental and emotional health,” said Robinson.
Clint Rucker was co-lead counsel for the district attorney’s office on the cases.
He told Channel 2 Action News in 2023 that the educators were robbing students and adversely impacting their futures.
“Because they are not achieving at the level these false scores are indicating.”
Rucker and former District Attorney Paul Howard did not have a comment for the latest sentencing.
Robinson said it includes at least three years on probation, community service and a fine.
“I have two children. So, the thought of being separated from them is really hard, and I’ve had to live with that for all these years. So, I’m just so grateful I was even given the opportunity to take the prison sentence off the table,” said Robinson.
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