By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

ATLANTA – Thirty-five Atlanta educators were indicted Friday by a Fulton County grand jury for their alleged roles in the city’s public school cheating scandal.

Among them was Dr. Beverly Hall, former superintendent of Atlanta public schools.

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Hall, who retired in 2011, was charged with racketeering, theft, influencing witnesses, conspiracy and making false statements, according to a story published by the New York Times. She could face up to 45 years in prison for her alleged role in the cheating scandal, which involved teachers changing students’ state test scores to reflect more positively on the school district.

Hall and the 34 teachers, principals and administrators who were indicted “conspired to either cheat, conceal cheating or retaliate against whistle-blowers in an effort to bolster (state test) scores for the benefit of financial rewards associated with high test scores,” according to the indictment.

Ironically, Hall was widely praised for the increase in state test scores in the Atlanta district. She was named superintendent of the year in 2009 by the American Association of School Administrators. She was also hosted at the White House by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.