Remaining defendants in Atlanta public schools cheating scandal withdraw appeals of convictions

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – The last teachers charged in a massive cheating scandal in Atlanta Public Schools withdrew their appeals of their convictions Tuesday.

Five defendants appeared before a Fulton County judge.

“It sincerely pains me that it has to end this way. Yes, I take responsibility for it,” one of the accused said on Tuesday.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Notorious Atlanta school cheating case persists a decade after initial indictments

The scandal centered on changing answers to a 2009 standardized test. In 2011, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found that educators at 44 Atlanta public schools had cheated.

If 178 teachers were implicated, 35 were formally indicted and accused of cheating. Twenty-three educators eventually confessed. Twelve of them were tried and 11 were ultimately found guilty after a trial that lasted eight months.

Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis, who was an assistant prosecutor at the time, prosecuted the case using the state’s RICO law.

During Tuesday’s hearing, the defendants spoke and apologized to the affected students.

“To the children of Atlanta, I am writing this letter to personally apologize to the students of Atlanta Public Schools and to take full responsibility for my actions in this matter,” one of the defendants said. “As a former teacher, it was my duty to uphold a high standard of ethics.”

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