NEA defers proposal to protect educators from RICO

The nation’s largest teacher’s union has deferred a proposal to prevent educators accused of cheating from being prosecuted under laws usually associated with Mafia cases.

During the National Education Association’s annual membership meeting earlier this month, a proposal to craft model legislation to amend state Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, laws was referred to the union’s legislative committee.

The model legislation would be used to lobby for changing the laws so they couldn’t be used to prosecute educators.

The committee will consider the proposal over the course of the coming year, NEA spokeswoman Staci Maiers said.

RICO laws are often associated with prosecutions of accused mob figures and other gangsters. But Fulton County prosecutors used RICO to prosecute 12 former Atlanta Public Schools educators accused of changing students' answers on state tests—and covering up the cheating. Eleven of the 12 educators on trial were found guilty.

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