April 14--REPORTING FROM ATLANTA -- Two of 10 Atlanta educators accepted sentencing deals Tuesday, but the judge handed down stiff punishments to the others over one of the nation's worst education scandals, in which adults cheated to increase scores on standardized tests given to students.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter had delayed sentencing by a day and encouraged all to negotiate a sentencing deal with prosecutors. He had warned that he would deal sentencing harshly, saying in court Tuesday that the pervasive cheating was not a victimless crime and that the education of hundreds of thousands of students had been harmed.
"It's like the sickest thing that's ever happened in this town," the judge said.
The judge stuck to the prosecution's recommendations for the most part. Yet he issued stronger punishment for the three senior figures than the prosecutors recommended. And he issued more lenient punishment for one defendant, Dana Evans.
The eight who rejected a deal received sentences ranging from one to seven years in jail. For the two educators who accepted a deal, Baxter followed the state's recommendations and gave one former teacher one year of home confinement and a former testing coordinator six months of weekends spent in jail.
Some of the convicted teachers refused to accept responsibility for the cheating and some wanted to continue fighting their convictions on appeal, lawyers said afterward.
"It wasn't a very hard decision," said Robert Rubin, attorney for Evans, one of the teachers who spurned the deal. "She couldn't say something that wasn't true."
"We consider there were considerable errors and we are going to pursue very vigorously," Rubin said.
"I think the conviction will be overturned," said Gerald Griggs, attorney for Angela Williamson, another educator who rejected a deal.
The teachers were to be released Tuesday and will have 30 days to file an appeal.
Outside the courtroom, lawyer Rubin informed his client's husband, Brian Evans, 46, he could expect his wife to be released this evening.
"I've been praying," Evans said. "The God that I serve has given us favor."
The testing scandal was the worst in the nation's history as teachers tried to increase students' scores on the tests. A state investigation found that as early as 2005, educators gave answers to students or erased and changed answers on tests after they were turned in. Evidence of cheating was found in 44 schools, with nearly 180 educators involved. Teachers who tried to report it were threatened with retaliation.
In 2013, 35 educators were indicted on charges including racketeering, making false statements and theft. Many pleaded guilty before the trial, and some testified at the months-long trial. The jury acquitted one of the 12 former educators who went to trial and convicted the other 11 on a racketeering charge.
Former testing coordinator Donald Bullock was the first to be sentenced and took a deal. He received five years' probation, six months of weekends spent in jail, a $5,000 fine, and 1,500 hours of community service.
Prosecutors had urged sentences of between one and three years behind bars for three former regional directors with Atlanta Public Schools. All were sentenced to serve seven years in prison, as well as probation, fines and community service.
"It's an unjust and unfair sentence," said George Lawson, attorney for Michael Pitts.
"I think there were hundreds and thousands of kids who were lost in the schools," the judge retorted. "That's what gets lost. Everyone's crying, but this is not a victimless crime that occurred in this city."
On Monday, Baxter had taken the unusual step of allowing prosecutors to offer each convicted educator a compromise that would exclude harsh prison terms -- offering either one year or six months of weekends in jail or a year of home confinement -- in exchange for taking responsibility for their actions and apologizing to the community.
The judge urged defendants to take the deals, warning they would result in lighter sentences than he planned to hand down. Yet 10 attorneys for the educators declined to agree to prosecutors' compromise, which also required their clients waive their right to appeal.
The six-month Atlanta trial has raised national questions about high-stakes testing in low-performing inner city schools. It has also provoked considerable discussion about fair punishment.
Two weeks ago, jurors convicted 11 of 12 defendants of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by conspiring to change students' answers on tests. Some were also convicted of lesser felonies, such as influencing a witness, theft by taking, false swearing or making a false statement or writing.
One defendant was acquitted. Another, who gave birth to a son on Saturday, is expected to be sentenced in August.
The Atlanta case was the largest in a string of recent school district cheating scandals across the nation, and the first to result in criminal racketeering convictions for elementary school teachers.
Pastors, family members and civil rights activists -- including Andrew Young, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations -- packed the courthouse Monday to appeal for mercy for the educators, all African Americans who had worked in low-income neighborhoods.
Many vouched for the defendants' good character. Some argued the case was unfairly prosecuted, and questioned the state's use of a racketeering statute popularly associated with mobsters and gangsters.
In 2013, about three dozen educators were indicted. The alleged ringleader -- former Supt. Beverly L. Hall -- died March 2, and 21 others pleaded guilty to lesser charges before the trial began.
Jarvie reported from Atlanta and Muskal reported from Los Angeles.
nation@latimes.com
UPDATE
12:15 p.m.: This article has added detail on sentencing.
11:15 a.m.: This article has been updated throughout.
This article was originally published at 9:30 a.m.
