Former APS Superintendent Beverly Hall dies

• Joeff Davis/CL File

Beverly Hall, the former Atlanta Public Schools superintendent who oversaw the school system during a test cheating scandal that attracted national headlines, has died following a lengthy battle with cancer. A member of her legal team confirmed her death to CL.

Hall, who resigned from office in late 2010 amid scrutiny about suspicious test scores, faced charges that included a violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, false statements and writings, false swearing, and theft by taking. Hall denied any wrongdoing.

The 68-year-old school system administrator's attorney said she had been unable to stand trial due to her fight against terminal breast cancer. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter had agreed multiple times to delay her trial. A number of other APS staffers, who did not agree to a plea deal, rested their defense last week in the massive trial that started last September.

Hall, who first came aboard with APS in 1999, played a crucial role in turning around test scores in a struggling public school system. In the process, she earned national acclaim and praise from local business and civic leaders. But those gains were found to be the result of edited test scores, pressure to improve school performance through cheating, and what state investigators called a "culture of fear" that discouraged school system employees from speaking out against the wrongdoing. Following an AJC investigation into the falsified test scores, state officials launched an investigation in early 2010 that eventually led to formal charges against her and 34 other APS employees in 2013.

UPDATE, 3:41 p.m. Hall's 8-member legal team released the following statement:

It is our sad duty to acknowledge that Dr. Beverly Hall has lost her long, difficult battle against breast cancer. Dr. Hall fought this disease with great courage and dignity. For the last year and a half, Dr. Hall's directions to her doctor have been simple: get me well enough to stand trial; and to her lawyers: see to it that I get a fair trial. She was never concerned about the outcome of such a trial, only that the process be fair. She never doubted that in a fair trial, with the jury hearing the state's contentions and her rebuttal, to include her own testimony, she would be acquitted. In the end, she was not strong enough to go to trial although that had been her earnest hope.

As the Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools, Dr. Hall fought, as she had throughout her career, for urban school children and their ability to learn. She believed to her death that all children, regardless of circumstance, could learn if provided with proper teachers, curricula and facilities. But we now know that there were some educators at APS who cheated in an effort to show improved learning. Dr. Hall long ago accepted responsibility, as the head of APS, for the unfortunate truth that some educators cheated on standardized tests. She was deeply sorry to learn that this cheating had occurred. At the same time, Dr. Hall continued to have deep faith in the thousands of dedicated APS educators and students who worked hard to achieve real learning and success. But one fact never wavered— to her dying breath she denied any role in directing, ordering, or participating in any cheating at APS. Even after millions of dollars, hundreds of witnesses and interviews, and a review of thousands upon thousands of emails, not a single witness has said, nor a single email demonstrated, that Dr. Hall ordered, directed, or participated in cheating. On the contrary, Dr. Hall's tireless efforts to raise standards of education at APS for every child under her care starkly contradict the notion that she somehow conspired to orchestrate widespread cheating. She rebuilt schools, prioritized literacy, improved teaching, developed leaders, and modernized support systems.

As we have in the past, we continue to maintain Dr. Hall's innocence of all charges brought against her. The lawyers of our firm and the other lawyers who worked to defend Dr. Hall donated thousands of hours of their time at no charge to Dr. Hall and her family because we believed in her. Our pro bono defense was intended to spare her and her family the crushing expense of her defense at a time when she was least able to afford it. We have been proud to serve as her counsel.

We express our heartfelt condolences to Dr. Hall's family and to her many friends and supporters.

UPDATE, 4:42 p.m. APS, in a statement pointing to Hall's achievements during her tenure as superintendent, sends along two statements. Says APS Superintendent Meria Carstarphen:

“We offer our condolences to the family of Dr. Hall. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends during this difficult time."

Adds Atlanta Board of Education Chair Courtney D. English:

“On behalf of the Atlanta Board of Education, we offer our deepest sympathy to the family of Dr. Beverly Hall and encourage all to respect her family’s privacy in their moment of grief.”