ATLANTA, July 12 (UPI) -- Four high-ranking Atlanta educators are being replaced in the wake of a report of widespread cheating in dozens of city schools, Atlanta's school chief said.
Interim Superintendent Erroll Davis announced the removal of four area superintendents at a school board meeting Monday night, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
It was the first opportunity staff and parents had to address board members publicly about a scandal that has implicated 178 employees in 44 schools and could result in criminal charges.
The standing-room-only crowd attending the meeting heard former school board chairman Khaatim Sherrer El announce he was leaving the board for a job at a foundation in Newark, N.J.
"I failed to protect thousands of children who come from homes like mine," El said. "It remains to be seen, no matter how deep this thing goes, whether the soul of Atlanta has been stirred."
The 400-page state report released last week castigated Atlanta Public Schools and former Superintendent Beverly Hall for a culture of cheating, cover-ups and obstruction.
