Michael B. Jordan will star in a movie about the test cheating scandal that resulted in criminal convictions for 11 former Atlanta educators and Brad Pitt will be one of the producers, Deadline Hollywood reports.
The movie will focus on Parks Middle School, one of dozens of Atlanta schools where educators cheated on the state tests Georgia students take each year in an effort to meet ever-increasing performance targets set by then-Superintendent Beverly Hall.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported on highly improbable improvements in student test scores in 2008, and in a series of articles uncovered the extent of a cheating conspiracy that included dozens of schools. State investigators eventually found cheating in 44 of the 56 schools examined and implicated about 200 educators in the cheating and cover up.
Parks Middle School was among the most egregious cases and its former principal, Christopher Waller, became the self-described "poster child" for the Atlanta school cheating scandal.
In the movie, titled Wrong Answer, Jordan will play Damany Lewis, a former Parks teacher profiled in a 2014 New Yorker story. Ryan Coogler will direct and Ta-Nehisi Coates will write the script, Deadline Hollywood reports.
About the Author
