UPDATE ON IMOGENE REDWINE: December 15, 2018
Imogene Redwine, courageous whistleblower in the APS cheating scandal, is set to go to trial this January 22nd, 2018. Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Gail Tusan is presiding.
Ms. Redwine first began her whistleblower activity in 2007-2008 when she reported CRCT cheating at her school. She continued over the years, including by testifying for the grand jury in 2013. Throughout her last year of employment in 2014, she continued to work with the District Attorney in the face of immense retaliatory pressure. Nevertheless, as a special education teacher, Ms. Redwine was determined to stand up for the children in our community, particularly aware that her students stood to lose their special education resources as a result of fraudulent, inflated test scores.
Unfortunately, because of APS’ retaliation against Ms. Redwine for blowing the whistle about the APS cheating scandal, she continues to suffer to this very day. She lost her job, and while she found a new one, she lost substantial income and worse, her pension benefits. Now as she approaches retirement age, she is praying for justice and a fair-minded jury.
Ms. Redwine is a true inspiration amongst Georgia educators by standing up for what is right and showing true, ethical leadership.
A Fulton County Superior Court ruled that GAE member Ms. Imogene Redwine, an exemplary, veteran educator, alleged facts and evidence to present a triable issue of fact as to whether her 2014 non-renewal was pretext for retaliation after she disclosed cheating on standardized tests. Ms. Redwine first began her whistleblower activity in 2007-2008 and continued through the grand jury (2013) and her last year at Brown Middle School (2014) while working with the District Attorney in preparation for the criminal trial. In response, Atlanta Public Schools retaliated against Ms. Redwine leading to the loss of her job.
We all should be proud of Ms. Redwine, a true hero of your profession. A courageous whistleblower, she stood for what was right by disclosing unethical conduct that robbed children out of their education, and then faced enormous pressure from the school district through bad evaluations, non-sensical professional improvement plans, and moving her out of her field of certification in an effort to silence her voice.
Ms. Redwine did not remain silent. She contacted GAE legal services and we’re glad she did. In examining the facts in the light most favorable to Ms. Redwine, evidence showed that she made repeated complaints about cheating starting during the 2007-2008 school year; that she testified in the APS cheating scandal grand jury and was shortly informed after doing so that she would be non-renewed; that close temporal proximity existed between her meeting in February 3, 2014 with administration when she disclosed violations of the law she believed were occurring at Brown Middle and being notified of non-renewal on March 3, 2014; and that APS administrators attempted to prevent Ms. Redwine from meeting with the District Attorney's Office. Looking at all of the evidence, the Court found a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the school system’s stated reasons for not renewing Ms. Redwine’s contract were merely pretexts for retaliating against her.