The Georgia Professional Standards Commission has voted to yank the teaching licenses of eight teachers and three school administrators in the Atlanta district, imposing the first punishments in the nation’s largest-ever school cheating scandal.
The commission ruled last week on the first set of cases from a state probe that revealed widespread cheating in nearly half the district’s 100 schools dating as far back as 2001. The commission is expected to take up the rest of nearly 180 Atlanta cases by the end of the year, though appeals could mean some cases won’t be settled for years.
The penalized teachers can reapply for their licenses in two years, while the administrators’ revocations are permanent. All rulings can be appealed up through state administrative and Fulton County Superior Courts.