11 Atlanta educators lose licenses in cheating scandal

Eight teachers and three administrators implicated in Georgia’s investigation of widespread cheating in the Atlanta Public Schools had their teaching licenses revoked Thursday, the first punishments handed down in the scandal.

The action was taken by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. The commission conducted an investigation that uncovered cheating and test tampering at 44 of the district’s 100 schools as far back as 2001.

In a July report, the state detailed the misconduct, including the erasing of test answers, teachers seating lower-performing students next to higher-performing students to facilitate cheating and the reading of answers aloud during testing.

The commission is still reviewing 170 cases of alleged cheating involving teachers and administrators, said Kelly Hanson, the commission’s executive secretary, in an interview. The agency is expected to vote on those cases through February.

The eight teachers can reapply for their licenses in two years, but the administrators had their licenses permanently revoked. All 11 can appeal the decision.

None of the educators were publicly identified.

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-- Stephen Ceasar

Photo: Georgia Professional Standards Commission members Meredith Hodges, right, and Bill Haskin take part in a vote Thursday to revoke the teaching licenses of eight teachers and three school administrators accused in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal. Credit: David Goldman / Associated Press