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Atlanta Educators Are Set to Be Jailed, but Chaos Interferes Divisions Form in Atlanta as Bail Is Set in Cheating Case
(about 3 hours later)
ATLANTA — Confusion, anger and charges of racism played out at the Fulton County Jail here on Tuesday as the players on both sides of the nation’s largest school-cheating scandal began the arduous process of jailing 35 educators. ATLANTA — Confusion, anger and charges of racism played out at the Fulton County Jail here on Tuesday as the process of booking 35 educators in the nation’s largest school-cheating scandal began.
A grand jury on Friday charged the group with essentially running a conspiracy in which standardized test scores were secretly increased as a way to get bonuses and ensure job security. The sharpest focus was on Beverly L. Hall, the former school superintendent who rose through the education ranks in Newark and New York City and who was named superintendent of the year during her 12 years with the Atlanta district.
As the day unfolded, however, it became clear that the judicial system was unprepared for the initial stages of the prosecution. A grand jury on Friday charged Dr. Hall and the other educators with essentially running a conspiracy in which standardized test scores were secretly raised as a way to get bonuses and ensure job security.
The teachers, principals and administrators, among them the former school superintendent, Beverly L. Hall, were told they had to report to jail by Tuesday, at which time they could argue to have bail amounts as high as $7.5 million reduced. An unusually large turnout of news crews showed up before dawn waiting for the first of the accused to arrive. As the day unfolded Tuesday, however, the judicial system appeared unprepared for the initial stages of the prosecution.
By midafternoon, only seven of the defendants had shown up. Their lawyers, saying they were baffled by what appeared to be a lack of coordination between District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr., the jail and the courts, were working to try to reduce the amount of bond set for teachers who had no criminal records and to keep them from spending more time in jail than they had to. The teachers, principals and administrators had been told that they had to report to jail by Tuesday, at which time they could argue to have bail amounts as high as $7.5 million reduced. As evening came, only 17 had been processed, but several had won a break in their bond requirements.
One of the earliest educators to arrive was Theresia Copeland, 56, who had been testing coordinator at a southeast Atlanta elementary school. She walked into the jail at about 7 a.m. and was booked on a $1 million bond on charges of racketeering, theft and making false statements. Most notably, Dr. Hall negotiated her $7.5 million bond — considered a largely punitive figure set by the grand jurors, some of whom argued for it to be $10 million — down to $200,000. She was allowed to use her signature to cover $150,000 of it, with the rest to be paid in cash, said David Bailey, one of her lawyers. She will pay only 10 percent of that, and most of it will be refunded, he said. Dr. Hall arrived at the jail to be processed around 7:30 p.m., surrounded by her lawyers. It was unclear how long she would be there.
“We’ve never had anything in education like this,” said Warren Fortson, an attorney for her and two other accused teachers. Mr. Fortson has been a lawyer for the Atlanta school district for 22 years in the 1970s and 1980s. Lawyers for the defendants, saying they were baffled by what appeared to be a lack of coordination between District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr., the jail and the courts, were working to try to reduce the amount of bond set for teachers who had no criminal records and to keep them from spending time in jail.
One of the first to arrive was Theresia Copeland, 56, who had been testing coordinator at a southeast Atlanta elementary school. She walked into the jail about 7 a.m. and was booked on a $1 million bond on charges of racketeering, theft and making false statements.
“We’ve never had anything in education like this,” said Warren Fortson, a lawyer for Ms. Copeland and two other teachers.
“Al Capone, I understand, didn’t have to post a $1 million bond,” he said. “I don’t think a Cobb County grandmother needs $1 million to secure her.”“Al Capone, I understand, didn’t have to post a $1 million bond,” he said. “I don’t think a Cobb County grandmother needs $1 million to secure her.”
Ms. Copeland and others face a total of 65 charges in a cheating scandal that first came to light in 2009. A team of state-appointed investigators spent 21 months looking into allegations that teachers and administrators at a handful of Atlanta schools changed test scores routinely or gave students correct answers. That report became the basis for the criminal charges issued Friday. Later, Ms. Copeland’s bail was reduced to $50,000. Others also secured reduced bonds. Only one educator was still under a $1 million bond by Tuesday evening, said a spokeswoman for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, Tracy Flanagan.
At the top of the indictment list was Dr. Hall, the former superintendent, who retired in 2011. She was charged with racketeering, theft, influencing witnesses, conspiracy and making false statements. All totaled, Ms. Copeland and the other educators face 65 charges in a cheating scandal that first came to light in 2009. A team of state-appointed investigators spent 21 months looking into allegations that teachers and administrators at a handful of Atlanta schools routinely changed test scores or gave students correct answers. That report became the basis for the criminal charges issued Friday.
The grand jury told prosecutors she should be held on a $7.5 million bond, Mr. Howard said. Dr. Hall, who retired in 2011, was charged with racketeering, theft, influencing witnesses, conspiracy and making false statements. As she has from the beginning of the investigation, she denied any knowledge of cheating.
But David Baily, one of her lawyers, said in an interview on Tuesday that his client had never seen paperwork to that effect. He and the rest of her legal team were spending the day scrambling to arrange a lesser bond amount, or possibly a signature bond, and did not know when she would be arriving to be processed. “We have faith in the justice system, and she has faith the courts will do what’s right,” Mr. Baily said. He noted that part of her bond reduction agreement included a promise not to speak publicly about the case until the court allowed her to do so.
To get a bond reduced, someone could strike a deal with the district attorney or ask a superior court judge for a bond modification hearing, said a spokeswoman for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, Tracy Flanagan.
The bond for at least one of the seven educators who had turned themselves in by early afternoon had been reduced to $50,000.
As she has from the beginning of the investigation in 2009, Dr. Hall denied any knowledge of cheating.
“We have faith in the justice system, and she has faith the courts will do what’s right,” Mr. Baily said.
If convicted, Dr. Hall could face up to 40 years in prison.If convicted, Dr. Hall could face up to 40 years in prison.
While defense lawyers worked to have their clients freed, a group of black clergy members and former educators spoke out, calling the charges and the bail extreme and an indication of a deeper, long-simmering racial divide in the city and the state.While defense lawyers worked to have their clients freed, a group of black clergy members and former educators spoke out, calling the charges and the bail extreme and an indication of a deeper, long-simmering racial divide in the city and the state.
The Rev. Timothy McDonald, a local pastor and spokesman for the group Concerned Black Clergy, noted that the investigators were white and the accused were largely black. The Rev. Timothy McDonald, a spokesman for the group Concerned Black Clergy, noted that the investigators were white and the accused were largely black.
“Look at the pictures of those 35. Show me a white face,” he said. “Let’s just be for real. You can call it racist, you can call it whatever you want, but this is overkill. We have seen people with much deeper crimes with much less bond set.” “Look at the pictures of those 35,” he said. “Show me a white face. Let’s just be for real. You can call it racist, you can call it whatever you want, but this is overkill. We have seen people with much deeper crimes with much less bond set.”
In a blog post, former Mayor Shirley Franklin of Atlanta on Tuesday called the fury surrounding the indictments “a public hanging” and called for fairness and justice as the case proceeds.
“Say a prayer for a fair trial for all those charged, say a prayer for every family and child who has been touched by the scandal and say a prayer to calm the public lynching mob mentality that has begun,” she wrote. “In times like these, reflection and soul-searching are powerful tools to ground our actions and decision-making.”