Do you remember the huge cheating scandal by teachers in Atlanta Georgia?

It was called at the time the most enormous school cheating scandals in the country.

Well on April 1st of this year the Atlanta teachers were convicted of racketeering and other crimes.  They had cheated on state assessment test to inflate the test scores of their students in their struggling schools.

They inflated their scores for person gain, cheated out of pride, to earn bonuses, to improve their careers or to keep their jobs.

As being reported by CNN once convicted the judge had planned on sentencing them to prison but then gave them one last chance to admit their responsibility in what they did.

He allowed the prosecutors to offer the convicted teachers deals that would have allowed them to avoid going to prison if they admitted their responsibility.

They did not, and that is when the judge believed he had to do what he had to do.

The judge stated in open court "Everybody starts crying about these educators. This was not a victimless crime that occurred in this city! Search your soul”

He went on to say "Everybody knew cheating was going on and your client promoted it,"

Some of these convicted teachers were sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to perform 2,000 hours of community service and a $25,000 fine.

The Governor’s review found that some cheating had occurred in more than half the district's elementary and middle schools, with the teachers holding "cheating parties," in and out of classrooms where teachers were told to make changes to student answers on tests.

Apparently the cheating went all the way up to the top educator in the district.

Do you believe they deserved 7 years prison sentences?

Would you have be ok with the judge not giving them such, as some might believe, harsh sentences if they would have admitted responsibility?

Let’s discuss this today on my show The Live with Renk show, which airs Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to noon, to let me know your thoughts at (269) 441-9595.

Or please feel free to start a discussion and write your thoughts in the comment section.

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