These are the latest stories in the APS cheating scandal:
The four -- Sharon Davis-Williams, Michael Pitts, Robin Hall and Tamara Cotman -- were implicated in the scandal. Davis did not say whether they will remain with the district. He replaced them with Donell Underdue Jr., principal of Brown Middle School; Danielle Battle, principal of King Middle School; Elizabeth Bockman, principal of Inman Middle School, and David White, principal of E. Rivers Elementary School. The staff moves were the first by Davis in response to a test-cheating scandal that has implicated 178 employees in 44 schools and could result in criminal charges.
"I just concluded in the end it just shouldn't be this hard to do the right things for kids," El said, his voice wavering with emotion as he fought back tears. "I failed to protect thousands of children who come from homes like mine. It remains to be seen, no matter how deep this thing goes, whether the soul of Atlanta has been stirred." El had been removed last month as school board chairman but retained his seat on the board. El has accepted a job as chief of staff for the Foundation for Newark's Future in Newark, N.J.
The organization that named former Atlanta Public Schools chief Beverly Hall "Superintendent of the Year" is considering whether to take the award back, Channel 2 Action News reports. Never before has the American Association of School Administrators considered rescinding an award, according to its executive director. The association named Hall its 2009 Superintendent of the Year in part because of her success in raising test scores in Atlanta. But now there are questions about those accomplishments.
DeSoto school trustees placed Superintendent Kathy Augustine on paid leave Monday following the report that found widespread cheating in Atlanta schools while she served as second-in-command to Superintendent Beverly Hall. Investigators said that Augustine, who oversaw daily classroom instruction, “either knew or should have known cheating and other misconduct was occurring." Augustine again denied any wrongdoing.
Several Atlanta teachers who claimed they have been falsely accused of altering answers in school test cheating investigation said they went to an outside agency to complain about harassment to boost test scores but no substantive action was taken to address their concerns. "No one listened to us. We tried to tell. We couldn't trust anyone in the system," said teacher Sharona Thomas-Wilson. Wilson showed Channel 2’s Tom Regan emails her co-workers sent nearly two years ago to the Georgia Association of Educators, an organization that represents public school teachers.
About the Author
