Fulton County Judge Jerry Baxter urged defendants to accept sentencing deals on Monday or face significantly more time behind bars . 11 former teachers , testing coordinators and other administrators were convicted earlier this month of racketeering after a five-year investigation . TL;DR A judge sentenced 10 educators in Georgia for their role in the cheating scandal that rocked Atlanta's public schools last year.
Fulton County Judge Jerry Baxter urged defendants to accept sentencing deals on Monday or face significantly more time behind bars . 11 former teachers , testing coordinators and other administrators were convicted earlier this month of racketeering after a five-year investigation . If former administrators accept deals , they would get punishments from one year of weekend jail time and a $ 10,000 fine . If former teachers and testing coordinators accept deals , they would be given one year of home confinement and a $ 1,000 fine . Evidence of cheating was found in 44 schools across the Atlanta school system , with nearly 180 educators involved . Superintendent Beverly Hall , the alleged ringleader who received up to $ 500,000 in payouts , died of breast cancer as the scandal went to trial .