ATLANTA — Years after a judge handed down sentences to a several Atlanta Public Schools teachers and administrators, some civic groups are asking the courts to go easy on the teachers involved in the district’s notorious cheating scandal.
At the time, that scandal was considered one of the biggest in America.
Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston asked the civic leaders why they think the teachers don’t deserve jail time.
Some 4,000 students were impacted by the scandal. Many of those students moved up to the next grade when some couldn’t do the work.
“The students weren’t getting a fair education to begin with,” said Richard Rose, president of the Atlanta NAACP.
Seven remaining Atlanta educators were found guilty in the 2009 cheating scandal.
Sarah Abdelaziz from the Abolitionist Teaching Network told Huddleston that prison time is too harsh.
“If you had a job and were accused of not doing your job, you’re fired, you’re not usually sent to prison. We also are not against resources being sent to the students,” Abdelaziz said.
In 2009, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found 4,000 students had their standardized test scores changed at 44 schools within the district.
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Then-superintendent Beverly Hall and 32 educators were indicted in the cheating scandal.
Twenty people took plea deals, 12 went to court and 11 were convicted of conspiracy and the RICO Act for racketeering.
“RICO is most well-known for taking down the U.S. mob,” Adbelaziz said.
One of the principals involved, Dr. Dana Evans, was supposed to be sentenced Monday after her appeal was dropped, but court was canceled because of paperwork from the Appeals Court.
Huddleston asked the staff at the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office about the civic groups calling for leniency.
Staff told him they will have no comment until after this sentencing hearing.
“We think that this is prosecutorial overreach, we think this is using community and state resources in the wrong way and that needs to stop,” Adbelaziz said.
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