The jury deciding the Atlanta Public Schools cheating case will return for a sixth day of deliberations on Monday.
By the time the jury of six men and six women went home Thursday for a long weekend, they had spent 33 hours deliberating over five days.
The jury is sticking to its regular schedule of taking off Fridays.
Questions they delivered to the judge in notes on Thursday suggested they were discussing defendants from Dobbs Elementary School — former principal Dana Evans and former teachers Dessa Curb and Angela Williamson. All three questions concerned evidence the jurors wanted to review that was not sent back with them.
Prosecutors say the 12 defendants — former administrators and teachers — conspired to cheat on the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test so the higher scores would help the district meet federal benchmarks and those set by former Superintendent Beverly Hall. In some instances, teachers prompted students as they took the standardized test, according to the charges. Other times, educators allegedly sat down, pencil in hand, and corrected wrong answers.
Consequently, there were inexplicable jumps in test scores for students who could barely read, write or do basic math.
Hall, accused of being the ringleader of the alleged conspiracy, was to have been tried at a later date, as she was being treated for Stage IV breast cancer when jury selection began in August. But Hall died on March 2, six days after the trial’s final witness testified.
Twenty-one former teachers and administrators pleaded guilty to lesser charges before the trial began, and many of them later testified as witnesses for the prosecution.
If any of the defendants are convicted of racketeering, they could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. The other felony charges — false writing and statements, theft by taking, false statements and influencing witnesses — carry maximum prison sentences of five and 10 years.
About the Author
