The Georgia Professional Standards Commission recommended Thursday that 19 Atlanta educators caught up in the nation's largest test cheating scandal be barred from the classroom.
The commission, which licenses and polices Georgia educators, voted to yank the certificates of the educators, who were implicated in a state cheating investigation report released last year. Ten educators in leadership positions had their certificates revoked; nine teachers had their certificates suspended for two years.
Thursday's action brings to 134 the number of Atlanta Public Schools employees sanctioned by the standards commission as a result of the investigation. Forty-eight cases have yet to be decided, including those of former Superintendent Beverly Hall and other top leaders who worked at APS.
The educators can appeal the commission's decision to an administrative law judge and then the Georgia Court of Appeals. The state attorney general's office is trying to negotiate reduced penalties for educators who cooperated with the commission's investigation, Rebecca Mick, a senior assistant attorney general, said at the commission meeting.
Mick said educators who cooperated may get reduced suspensions of 40 to 90 days. The commission will have to vote on the changes, which may happen as early as September.
Names of the educators who received sanctions were not released, per the commission's policy. A state investigation released in July accused about 180 Atlanta educators of cheating or knowing about cheating. In general, the commission has been handing down two-year suspensions for teachers and revoking the certificates of those in leadership positions.
The harshest discipline an educator can face is to have his or her teaching certificate revoked, since without a certificate they cannot teach in Georgia. Revocations are considered permanent, though after three years educators can appeal to the commission to regain their teaching certificates.
Paul Shaw, the commission's director of educator ethics, said the commission will be dealing with fewer cases each month as investigators wait to see what evidence is being collected by the Fulton County district attorney as part of a criminal investigation.
"If we have a lack of evidence, we want to wait and see if there is additional evidence out there rather than saying we should have done something different," he said.
Where they are now
182 cases submitted to the commission
134 cases decided by the commission
48 cases still under investigation
How it works
Educators accused in the cheating scandal face three avenues of punishment. They can have their certificates sanctioned by the Professional Standards Commission, be fired by Atlanta Public Schools or be charged criminally by a Fulton County grand jury. About 50 teachers named in the investigation are still employed by the district. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard has declined to comment on the progress of the criminal investigation.
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