Tomorrow at 9 a.m., the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP, the Southern Center for Human Rights, and the Abolitionist Teaching Netwotk will host a press conference at the Fulton County Courthouse. They will be asking the judge and district attorney not to send nonviolent educators to prison during the middle of a pandemic.
Shani Robinson contacted me this morning to ask if I would be willing to send a statement of support. I read Shani’s book None of the Above: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal, Corporate Greed, and the Criminalization of Educators and was convinced that Shani was unjustly prosecuted and convicted. Investigators pressured her and others to confess or to name others. She maintained her innocence. As a first grade teacher, she was not eligible for a bonus based on student scores. She was convicted by a racist judge who had the temerity to claim that the cheating scandal was “the sickest thing that’s ever happened to this town.” Not slavery. Not murder. Not Jim Crow.
I wrote the following letter. If you read the book and are as outraged as I am by the prosecution and conviction of Shani Robinson, please send a letter of support for Shani today. You may also contact elected officials on her behalf.
Here is my letter:
A Letter to the Judge and the District Attorney:
Honorable Officers of the Court and the Law in Fulton County:
I am a recently retired Professor at New York University and a historian of American education.
I am writing to urge you not to imprison Shani Robinson and other nonviolent educators.
I have read Shani’s book, which persuaded me that the state wrongly used RICO statutes to prosecute educators accused of changing student answers on standardized tests. Cheating of this kind has been documented in many school districts, and no other district has invoked a federal racketeering statute to prosecute teachers. The usual punishment is termination.
Shani taught first grade, where the tests have no stakes for students or teachers. She had no motive or reason to cheat.
I believe she was unjustly prosecuted by overzealous investigators. She could have pleaded guilty or accused others to avoid prosecution but she insisted on her innocence.
I believe her.
I believe her prosecutors wrongly pursued her, using tactics that were intended to coerce false convictions. Her conviction was unfair and racist.
I urge you not to send her to prison in the midst of a pandemic. Not now, and not ever.
I urge you to reopen and review her case.
I believe in Shani Robinson’s innocence.
Diane Ravitch, Ph.D.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
A travesty. And a template for our future legal system.
exactly
Bless you, Diane!
Every teacher forced into this scandal was trying to mitigate student trauma from draconian punishments imposed by an unjust law. It is outrageous that any teachers were charged with RICO violations. RICO was written to combat the Mafia and organized criminal enterprises, not to lock teachers in cages for years.
Plain and simple-the imposed testing system was racist and the teachers’ punishments were racist.
Anybody (besides Diane) have media connections? We need some re-examination of this whole fiasco.
I appreciate being able to at least sign the petition. Thank you.
Any statements of support for Shani from Stand for Children (Jonah Edelman), Children’s Defense Fund (Marion Wright Edelman), Gates’ guy in the Biden Administration (Josh Edelman) or, the Robin Hood Foundation Board (Roland Fryer and Marion Wright Edelman)?
This entire episode sickened me. Teachers ,especially in “right to work states,” have little recourse when confronted by oppressive districts or policy makers who exert malfeasance at their convenience. Many of the sins in public education have come from the top, whether that is at the district, state, or federal level. Teachers, and often principals, are always left holding the bag. The current CRT mess is another example where teachers are given no voice while the lies from above cascade down upon their heads and teachers get blamed for the wreckage.
Beautiful letter to try and clear the name of a beautiful person. Shani is innocent. All one has to know is that she was a 1st grade teacher. Case closed. But when powerful people want to land grab and scapegoat others for their monetary goals, it is amazing how injustice grows. Same song, second verse in the El Paso fake “cheating scandal.”
Thank you, John. Glad to have your affirmation. If you read her book, you can see that she had no reason to cheat. If she had confessed or accused someone else, she could have walked free. She would not lie, so she’s facing prison.