The attorney for James Anderson, the assistant superintendent of high schools, said Anderson is the victim of a witch hunt and retaliation for speaking out about the cheating scandal.

The administration alleged grounds for termination included information provided to them that Anderson was aware of the manipulation of test scores at Bowie High School under former Superintendent Lorenzo Garcia and failed to take action to correct problems at Bowie, and failed to implement changes under the Corrective Action Plan.

"They claim he failed to implement the changes at Bowie, but yet we haven't heard one single description of what it is he failed to do at Bowie," said attorney Lynn Coyle. "If he was allowed to be heard, we could have walked the board through all the steps that he took and where they could find the documents to support the action that he took."

The district said information based on the Weaver Report Anderson misrepresented facts, violated the ethics code and deemed his behavior to be "inappropriate."

Those who worked closely with Anderson spoke favorably of the work he did in the district.

While the district said Anderson failed to report problems, Coyle said he did report the problems at Bowie to the Texas Education Agency multiple times. Anderson first contacted the TEA about the problem at Bowie in June of 2010. The Weaver report confirms that.

Coyle said Anderson also to asked campus police to lunch a criminal investigation into the actions of Bowie Principal Jesus Chavez.

Coyle said there is plenty of evidence to show Anderson's diligence and repeated attempts to alert others to the problems occurring at Bowie.

"He screamed it to the agency that is responsible for making sure our district is run properly. Those early reports in June of 2010 went all the way up to the top of TEA, they went to the Commissioner, I think that is screaming pretty loud," said Coyle.

However, Coyle believes Anderson is being targeted for telling the truth. Anderson told the El Paso Times everything he knew about the scandal, when he knew it and who he told about it.

Just days after those articles came out Anderson was notified about his proposed termination.

"I think he embarrassed TEA and he embarrassed the board and now they are retaliating against him," a person close to the investigation told KFOX14.

Three days after the articles were published, TEA conservator Dr. Judy Castleberry indicated in her monthly report that she discussed personal matters with board President Isela Castanon Williams, after which Anderson's termination was placed on the next meeting's agenda.

"It is a witch hunt and its retaliatory,"said Coyle.

Coyle asked that a public meeting be held Wednesday and that Anderson be allowed to speak.

He was denied the opportunity to speak at the meeting.

Williams said she didn't think it was appropriate form because Anderson will have upcoming public hearings in which to plead his case.