The jury in the Atlanta Public Schools test cheating trial went home after a second day of deliberations Monday, when they asked several questions and returned no verdict.
Jurors sought a copy of a state exhibit showing schools by region; an exhibit related to test documents at Deerwood Academy, and test answer sheets from the same school (those weren’t in evidence).
Finally, at day’s end, they inquired about count 21 in the indictment, which accuses former Deerwood assistant principal Tabeeka Jordan of erasing test answers and correcting them. The count charges her with false statements and writings. The same charge used against other defendants was worded differently, using terms such as “conceal and cover up.”
Prosecutors wanted Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter to instruct the jurors that they could convict Jordan as a “party to a crime.” But defense lawyers argued that he should give them narrow instructions to follow the exact wording in the indictment, which is what Baxter ultimately did.
There are 12 defendants in the APS cheating trial, all of them former educators who are fighting charges that they engaged in a racketeering conspiracy to inflate scores on standardized tests. The jury-selection process began in August, opening statements began in late September, and a quick verdict is considered unlikely, as jurors must comb through roughly five months of testimony.
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