Defendant Donald Bullock, left, sits with his attorney, Hurl Taylor, as he listens to the state’s opening statement in a case against 12 former Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators in Atlanta on Monday in Fulton County Superior Court.ATLANTA – Prosecutors said Monday that 12 former Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators cheated, lied and stole as part of a widespread but cleverly disguised conspiracy to inflate state test scores that affected thousands of students. Defense attorneys countered in their opening statements that their clients were committed educators but made enemies of former colleagues who now are lying about their involvement in cheating.
A dozen former administrators, principals, testing coordinators and teachers face racketeering charges more than a year after prosecutors indicted 35 staffers in a cheating scandal that shocked the nation’s educators and parents.
Prosecutor Fani Willis told jurors in Fulton County Superior Court that in the coming weeks, they will hear from current and former APS students, teachers, parents and administrators, describing a high-pressure culture created by former Superintendent Beverly Hall’s focus on test results and the steps school district employees took to meet those targets. Willis said the result was a criminal enterprise within the school district, aiming to raise test scores to get bonuses and other perks for staff at all levels.
After opening statements finished, court adjourned; testimony is set to begin today.
Hall is not among those included in this trial. A judge delayed her time in court after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She long has denied any knowledge of cheating.