<span id="midArticle_start"/><span id="midArticle_0"/> (Reuters) - Eleven former Atlanta public school educators were found guilty by a jury on Wednesday on charges of racketeering in one of the largest U.S. test-cheating scandals.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Prosecutors accused a dozen former teachers, principals and administrators of erasing incorrect answers or instructing students to change their answers to secure promotions and cash bonuses in 2009.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Eleven of the 12 defendants were found guilty of racketeering. Some were also convicted on lesser charges.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Only one educator was found not guilty on all counts.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>The educators were among 35 teachers, principals and administrators indicted in 2013 after a state investigation of 56 Atlanta public schools found cheating on standardized tests in 44 of them.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>The cheating was largely prompted by pressure to meet test targets, according to the state investigation.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>The 11 educators were led out of the courthouse in handcuffs and will be jailed until their sentencing next month. They face prison sentences of up to 20 years.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>The jury reached its verdict after hearing nearly six months of testimony in the case and deliberating for eight days.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>"I'm devastated," said defense attorney Bob Reuben, representing a former elementary school principal. "I don't believe she was guilty. Errors were made that can be raised on appeal."
<span id="midArticle_9"/>Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said: "Our entire effort in this case was to get our community to look at our educational system. We've been fighting for the children in our community."
<span id="midArticle_10"/>Defense attorneys, however, argued that there was no conspiracy to cheat and that prosecutors had pressured other educators to testify against their former colleagues.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>Former Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall, who was named National Superintendent of the Year during the period when the cheating occurred, was among those indicted.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>Hall's case was put on hold for medical reasons, and she died of breast cancer earlier this year.
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<span id="midArticle_14"/> (Reporting by David Beasley; Writing by Letitia Stein; Editing Eric Beech and Mohammad Zargham)
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<span id="midArticle_1"/>Prosecutors accused a dozen former teachers, principals and administrators of erasing incorrect answers or instructing students to change their answers to secure promotions and cash bonuses in 2009.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Eleven of the 12 defendants were found guilty of racketeering. Some were also convicted on lesser charges.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Only one educator was found not guilty on all counts.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>The educators were among 35 teachers, principals and administrators indicted in 2013 after a state investigation of 56 Atlanta public schools found cheating on standardized tests in 44 of them.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>The cheating was largely prompted by pressure to meet test targets, according to the state investigation.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>The 11 educators were led out of the courthouse in handcuffs and will be jailed until their sentencing next month. They face prison sentences of up to 20 years.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>The jury reached its verdict after hearing nearly six months of testimony in the case and deliberating for eight days.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>"I'm devastated," said defense attorney Bob Reuben, representing a former elementary school principal. "I don't believe she was guilty. Errors were made that can be raised on appeal."
<span id="midArticle_9"/>Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said: "Our entire effort in this case was to get our community to look at our educational system. We've been fighting for the children in our community."
<span id="midArticle_10"/>Defense attorneys, however, argued that there was no conspiracy to cheat and that prosecutors had pressured other educators to testify against their former colleagues.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>Former Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall, who was named National Superintendent of the Year during the period when the cheating occurred, was among those indicted.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>Hall's case was put on hold for medical reasons, and she died of breast cancer earlier this year.
<span id="midArticle_13"/>
<span id="midArticle_14"/> (Reporting by David Beasley; Writing by Letitia Stein; Editing Eric Beech and Mohammad Zargham)
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