Six years after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported on suspect test scores in Atlanta and other Georgia districts, a dozen former Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators are heading to trial. They're charged in a racketeering indictment that accuses them of conspiring to change scores on state standardized tests.
Opening statements in the case are scheduled for this morning.
What to expect today
The prosecution is expected to lay out its case during an hours-long opening statement. Some of the 12 defense lawyers are expected to make opening statements; some may reserve theirs until after the prosecution presents its case.
Where’s Beverly Hall?
Former Atlanta superintendent Beverly Hall will not stand trial with these defendants. Hall has Stage IV breast cancer and is too ill to stand trial, her lawyers have said. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter ruled in July that the trial of her co-defendants would continue without her. Hall could face trial at a later date if her health improves.
Who’s on the jury?
After more than six weeks, a jury of six men and six women was selected for the months-long trial. The 12 jurors were seated with 11 alternates who will fill in for any jurors who cannot make it through the entire trial. The jurors include: one Asian-American woman, one Hispanic woman, four white men, one white women, three black women and two black men.
How did we get here?
In 2008, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote the first of what would be several stories highlighting suspect test scores in Atlanta and other Georgia districts. In the years that followed, the newspaper continued to dig, eventually exposing widespread cheating in the Atlanta schools.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard appointed special prosecutors to a criminal probe of Atlanta schools in 2010.
The following year, state investigators cited a range of cheating violations and organized and systemic misconduct in the district.
In March 2013, 35 former Atlanta Public Schools employees were indicted in connection with the cheating scandal. Twenty-one have since pleaded guilty to greatly reduced charges and agreed to be witnesses for the prosecution.
About the Author
