A state educator ethics committee voted this morning to yank the certification of 11 Atlanta teachers and administrators implicated in the state’s cheating investigation.
Of the 11, which were considered the some of the most severe cases, eight were teachers who received a two-year suspension, and three were administrators who had their certification permanently revoked.
The educators were not identified.
The committee will later today send their recommendations to the Professional Standards Commission, which certifies Georgia educators, for final approval. Once accepted, the educators will be notified and have the chance to appeal.
This is the first formal punishment handed down in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating case. About 180 Atlanta Public Schools employees were implicated and test tampering was uncovered at 44 schools.
The commission expects to hear cases through January. The range of punishments involving certification can range from a warning to a certificate revocation. That punishment is separate from APS’ efforts to fire the educators linked to cheating or possible criminal charges.
A revocation severely damages an educator’s public school career, as the sanction would show up in a national database searchable by other states.
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