US teachers in cheating scandal

Atlanta is the latest US city to be involved in a school test cheating scandal.

This time, however, it is not the students who are being accused, it is their teachers.

No less than 187 teachers and several principals at almost four dozen public schools are accused of turning incorrect answers to correct ones after their students had taken their tests.

Nathan Deal, the Georgia state governor, said:, "We determined that 187 teachers and principals in the Atlanta Public Schools cheated. Of the 187, 82 confessed to this misconduct."

Teachers cheated to create the illusion that their students were performing better on standardised tests than they actually were because teachers face pay cuts and possible job-loss if their students' test scores do not meet national standards.

Al Jazeera's Kimberly Halkett reports from Washington DC, USA.