Verdict Handed Down In Atlanta School Cheating Scandal
Numerous Atlanta school teachers were discovered to be guilty by prosecutors following their role in a public school cheating scandal, reports NY Times. The scandal has gone on for almost half a decade, ruining the reputation of a major school district and raising questions across the entire country as to what educators were doing to improve test scores from their students.
On the eighth day of court, jurors convicted 11 of the 12 defendants for racketeering, a felony charge that will see those found guilty sentenced to prison for decades. Numerous defendants – most of which were teachers, coordinators, and administrators – were also convicted of multiple other charges, albeit lesser ones.
Judge Berry W. Baxter of Fulton County Superior Court ordered the majority of the defendants to be taken into custody almost as soon as the jury came back with a guilty decision. Judge Baxter, who has sat in on the trial for the past six months, will begin sentencing next week.
The educators were indicted in March 2013 after years of being questioned as to how Atlanta students had improved their test scores so highly. Articles in the media helped spur an investigation into the matter.
