Former Atlanta educators sentenced to up to seven years in prison

ATLANTA, (Reuters) – Eight former Atlanta public school educators were ordered yesterday to serve between one and seven years in prison, a stiff punishment for their convictions on racketeering charges in one of the nation’s largest test-cheating scandals.

Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter gave three of the 11 educators found guilty by a jury this month 20-year sentences, ordering that seven years must be served in prison and the rest on probation.

Five more educators received five-year sentences, with two ordered to serve two years in prison and three to serve one year.

“There were thousands of children that were harmed in this thing,” Baxter said during the hearing, when he repeatedly got into heated exchanges with attorneys for the defendants.

“It’s like the sickest thing that’s ever happened to this town,” he later said of the scandal that raised national alarm about high-stakes testing.

Two convicted educators avoided potentially harsher punishments by making sentencing agreements with prosecutors. One was ordered to serve six months of weekends in jail and five years of probation.

The final educator to be sentenced also cooperated with prosecutors and apologized in court. She was sentenced to five years probation, with one year of an evening home curfew, and received no jail time.