By Greg Land, From Daily Report

Saying he was not comfortable with the heavy sentences he had handed three former Atlanta Public Schools officials convicted in the test cheating scandal earlier this month, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter on Thursday sliced their prison terms from seven years to three, and cut their probation time from 13 years to seven.

During a short hearing, Baxter re-sentenced former APS resource team executive directors Sharon Davis Williams, Tamara Cotman and Michael Pitts to 10-year sentences, with three to serve and the balance on probation. Each must also pay a $10,000 fine and perform 2,000 hours of community service.

On April 14, each had been sentenced to 20 years, with seven to serve behind bars.

“I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on my sentences,” said Baxter as he opened the hearing, allowing that he was “not comfortable” with them.

“When the judge gets home and keeps thinking over and over, ‘something’s wrong,’ something’s usually wrong,” he said.

Saying he planned to “put myself out to pasture” in the not-too-distant future, the 65-year-old Baxter said he wanted to be able to live with the sentences he had imposed on the educators.

Williams, Cotman and Pitts were among 11 defendants found guilty of racketeering and other crimes related to widespread cheating on standardized tests.

After their convictions, two of the defendants accepted an offer from District Attorney Paul Howard to accept relatively mild sentences in exchange for admissions of guilt and waiving of any appeals. One who took the deal was former Usher-Collier Heights Elementary School testing coordinator Donald Bullock, who was sentenced to spend weekends in jail for six months, five years of probation, 1,500 hours of community service and to pay a $5,000 fine. The other was former Dunbar Elementary teacher Pamela Cleveland, who was sentenced to one year of home curfew of 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., five years of probation, 1,000 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine.

The rest received sentences of one or two years in prison, two to three years of probation, fines of $1,000 or $5,000 and community service for 1,000 or 1,500 hours.

Sentencing for one defendant, former Dunbar Elementary teacher Shani Robinson, was postponed because she was pregnant when the convictions were announced. Another defendant, former Dobbs Elementary special education teacher Dessa Curb, was found not guilty.

At the close of the trial, Howard announced that he had enlisted the Rev. Bernice King, daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and the Rev. Gerald Durley to establish a “redemption academy” where the educators could put their teaching skills to use and retire their community service obligations by educating struggling students.

On Thursday, Baxter urged the educators not to wait until any appeals they may file were heard, but to begin their service at the academy.

“I’m not Oliver Wendell Holmes,” he said, “But I do have a feel for trials and cases, and my feeling is that this case is going to be confirmed [on appeal].”

Baxter said he was weary after presiding over two years of proceedings, and lamented the circumstances surrounding the trial.

“There’s a lot more to this tragedy than the cheating,” he said, citing “the poverty, the hopelessness” of many areas served by APS. Even the finest teachers, he said, would not suffice to solve those problems without community support.

Cotman’s attorney, Benjamin Davis, asked whether the judge was saying the educators could have some of their sentence suspended if they taught at the academy, but Baxter cut him off.

“I just said I believe the case is going to be affirmed,” he said. “If they start their community service now, their load is not going to be as great.”

“I’ve reduced your client’s sentence … I’m ready to move on,” said Baxter, rising to leave. “So anyway, adios.”

IMAGE: APRIL 30, 2015 ATLANTA Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter holds a re-sentencing hearing in Fulton County Superior Court, Thursday, April 30, 2015. Former regional directors Tamara Cotman, Sharon Davis-Williams and Michael Pitts were given the heftiest punishment — 20 years, seven years to be served in prison and 13 years on probation following their convictions racketeering and other charges in the Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating trial. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter resentenced the trio to 3 years in prison, 7 years probation, $10,000 fine and 2000 hours of community service. KENT D. JOHNSON / AJC

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