Former Atlanta educators in test-cheating scandal sentenced
Xinhua, April 15, 2015 Adjust font size:
Nine of 10 former Atlanta educators were given long-term prison terms on Tuesday by a Fulton County judge, with three sentenced to seven years for their roles in one of the country's largest public school cheating scandals.
The sentencing came about two weeks after a jury convicted 11 of 12 former Atlanta educators of racketeering and was delayed by one day as Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter encouraged all the convicted to negotiate sentencing deals with prosecutors.
The conviction of racketeering, which is a federal felony, carries possible punishment of up to 20 years in prison.
Two of the 10 agreed to the deals, with one former teacher sentenced to one year of home confinement and a former testing coordinator six months of weekends spent in jail. Both also agreed to waive rights to appeal and apologize to students and parents.
For the remaining eight who declined to strike a plea deal with prosecutors, sentences were harsher, ranging from serving one to seven years in prison.
The sentencing of the 11th convicted teacher is put off till August, due to her giving birth over the weekend.
According to court rules, those eight convicted former educators can appeal within 30 days and will be free on bail while the appeal is pending.
During sentencing procedures, Judge Baxter depicted the cheating as "pervasive" and said the case was "the sickest thing that's ever happened in this town."
A state inquiry found in 2011 that dating back to 2005, state educators from the 50,000-student Atlanta school system had been involved in wrongdoing aimed at inflating test scores across Atlanta public schools, with nearly 180 employees in the Atlanta education system, including 38 principals, involved.
Investigators said the cheating practices, including feeding answers to students and erasing and changing answers on test papers after being turned in, allowed employees involved to protect their jobs, secure promotions and cash bonuses.
In 2013, 35 educators were charged with racketeering, making false statements and theft, the majority of them pleaded guilty before the trial. Endite