School cheating bill proposed

Teachers who cheat in helping their students score higher on standardized tests would have to pay back financial bonuses linked to the scores under legislation proposed Monday.

Rep. Billy Mitchell, D-Stone Mountain, filed House Bill 692.

The state launched investigations into test-cheating in Atlanta Public Schools after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published analyses in 2008 and 2009 that found suspiciously high gains on the state Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.

In July, Georgia special investigators issued a report describing an enterprise where unethical behavior pierced every level of the bureaucracy. The report named 178 educators, including 38 principals, as participants in cheating. More than 80 reportedly confessed. The investigators said they confirmed cheating in 44 of 56 schools they examined.

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