Atlanta Cheating Case Educators Urged to Accept Sentencing Deals

All but one of 10 given jail time in case judge calls ‘the sickest thing that’s ever happened in this town’

By Cameron McWhirter in the Wall Street Journal

ATLANTA—A judge gave 10 Atlanta public school educators a final chance Monday to negotiate sentencing deals with prosecutors after their convictions earlier this month of participating in a broad conspiracy to cheat on student standardized tests.

“The best thing for our community in this whole sordid mess is for [Fulton County District Attorney] Paul Howard to talk with each of you, and we enter pleas, and we’ll all go about our business and pray for these kids that got cheated,” said Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter.

The educators had been scheduled to be sentenced Monday, but the judge postponed the hearing until Tuesday morning after he heard pleas for leniency from defendants and their supporters. An 11th convicted educator just gave birth and will be sentenced later.

In all, 35 people were indicted in March 2013 in one of the largest school cheating scandals in U.S. history. The group included Beverly Hall, the district’s nationally praised superintendent.

Since the indictments, 21 of those charged settled with plea agreements and two defendants died of cancer, including Ms. Hall, who died on March 2. Before her death, Ms. Hall repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Eleven of the remaining 12 educators were convicted on April 1 under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Several also were convicted on other felonies related to the cheating case. One was acquitted.

On Monday, Judge Baxter said he wouldn’t give any of the defendants maximum penalties, adding that he was reluctant to impose prison time.

“The only reason that I would send you to jail is for retribution,” he said.

Mr. Howard said he would be willing to discuss pleas further, but any agreement would require the defendants to admit wrongdoing. With many of the defendants, “the thing that is missing is the acceptance of some responsibility,” he said.

During the trial, which lasted more than five months, the prosecution argued that Ms. Hall oversaw a wide-ranging scheme to fix incorrect answers on the state’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, falsely inflating the reputation of the urban school system.

The cheating scandal first came to light in 2009, when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution raised questions about changed answers on standardized tests at many Atlanta public schools.

A 2011 report from special investigators appointed by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue found that cheating on the tests was rife among teachers and administrators in the schools. The educators were responding to pressure from the administration of Ms. Hall to show marked improvement in students’ scores or face discipline or less pay, the report found.

During Monday’s hearing, defendants, family members and supporters urged Judge Baxter to be lenient. Dana Evans, the former principal of Dobbs Elementary School, said she accepted the jury’s verdict but couldn’t admit she had committed a crime.

“I know you want to hear an admission of guilt, but I can’t do that because it’s not the truth,” she said. “But I am willing to say I am sorry for the turmoil that it has caused our community, for the distrust that the public now has in public education.”

Judge Baxter expressed sympathy for Ms. Evans but said the jury had worked hard to come to a fair verdict.

“You’re a wonderful educator,” he told Ms. Evans. “That’s what makes it so sad. You were under so much pressure.”