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A state investigation in 2011 found that 38 principals and
140 teachers in the Atlanta school district were involved in
cheating on 2009 standardized tests, in a revelation that shook
the city.
The cheating, which included erasing wrong answers, was prompted
by pressure to meet test-goal targets and a desire to secure
promotions and cash bonuses, prosecutors have said.
Bernice King, daughter of the late civil rights leader Martin
Luther King Jr., last week urged the judge in the case to spare
the 11 convicted educators from prison, one of whom is pregnant
and due to be sentenced in August.
"It is my hope, instead, that their sentences allow for the 'APS
11' to be of benefit to society, while, at the same time,
reconciling themselves with their offenses and enhancing their
character," King said in a statement.
It is unusual for teachers and principals to end up behind bars
for cheating on student tests, said Bob Schaeffer, education
director for the nonprofit group FairTest, which seeks to limit
the use of standardized testing.
A Georgia grand jury in 2013 indicted 35 Atlanta educators,
including former school superintendent Beverly Hall, on
conspiracy and other charges.
Of the 12 indicted educators who stood trial on the charges, 11
were found guilty.
Hall, who was named national superintendent of the year by the
American Association of School Administrators the same year
prosecutors say widespread cheating took place, died earlier
this year of breast cancer.
The 10 convicted former educators due for sentencing on Monday
have remained jailed since being found guilty on April 1.
(Editing by Jonathan Kaminsky and Lisa Shumaker)
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