In 2008, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke the first of what would be several stories highlighting suspect test scores in Atlanta Public Schools and other Georgia districts. In the years that followed, the newspaper continued to dig, eventually exposing widespread cheating in the 50,000-student APS district. Read highlights from that coverage here.

The reporting led the paper in 2012 to take on an unprecedented data investigation, which found high concentrations of suspect math or reading scores in 69,000 public school systems from coast to coast. Since the 2012 "Cheating Our Children" series, the newspaper has continued to report on the Atlanta case and test integrity nationwide. Read that series here.

The APS trial, which began Aug. 11, 2014, is the latest chapter in that coverage.

Keep Reading

Wade Roberts (center), a Decatur-area resident with children in three of the city's schools, speaks as Decatur parents met with Education Planners, a consulting firm, on Nov. 13, at Beacon Hill Middle School in Decatur to discuss the possibility of one of the district's five K-2 schools closing. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)

Credit: Daniel Varnado/For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Featured

Inventor Lonnie Johnson stands with his Super Soaker water guns at JTEC Energy on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. Johnson, a former NASA engineer, is currently working on a new energy technology through his company’s JTEC device that turns thermal heat into usable energy. (Natrice Miller/AJC)