APS trial: Jury will return for fifth day of deliberations

Jurors in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating trial will come back for a fifth day of deliberations on Thursday.

The six men and six women sent out notes Wednesday asking for evidence and were brought into the courtroom once for Judge Jerry Baxter to answer their queries. Otherwise, they remained sequestered in a room just off a first-floor courtroom in Fulton County Superior Court.

By the time they quit for the day, the jury had deliberated a total of 26 hours over four days. They have thousands of pieces of evidence to review, as well as the testimony from 164 witnesses to consider.

Twelve former teachers and administrators are charged with racketeering and other felonies in an alleged scheme to inflate scores on standardized tests. Among the accusations is that teachers supplied answers to students during the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, and that wrong answers were erased and corrected by teachers after the exam was given.

Prosecutors say the goal was to ensure struggling schools that served mostly poor students would show improvements and meet federal benchmarks. Prosecutors also say school staff were rewarded with bonuses and pay increases if test scores improved.

Former APS Superintendent Beverly Hall was the alleged ringleader but her case was severed from the 12 now on trial because she was being treated for Stage IV breast cancer when jury selection began last August. Hall died earlier this month.