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The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) held its monthly meeting on July 10, 2014. A variety of ethics issues were discussed with the following cases being of particular note:
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Standard 11: Testing
Definitive language from members of the PSC indicates that Student Learning Objective tests (SLO) - which are part of the TKES evaluation system - will NOT be considered state-mandated assessments for purposes of Standard 11.
The PSC found no probable cause to issue a sanction against an educator for an alleged testing violation during the administration of the most recent CRCT. In issuing no probable cause, the PSC noted that the assessment was not invalidated and that the district's reprimand of the educator was a sufficient form of discipline.
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Standard 7: Confidential Information
We may be seeing a change in the PSC's perspective regarding violations of student confidentiality. Federal law - the Family and Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) - mandates that any information an educator learns about a child in the course of professional practice is that child's confidential information and cannot be distributed to anyone unless that person has a right or need to know. Per Standard 7, a FERPA violation by a Georgia educator is unethical conduct. In the past, the PSC has consistently issued a 90-day suspension for FERPA violations; however, at its June meeting, the PSC issued a certificate revocation. Another revocation was issued during the July meeting.
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Standard 3: Drugs and Alcohol
Once again, the PSC issued a one-year suspension to an educator who was under the influence of alcohol while at school. There was some discussion about turning this into a two-year suspension; however, members of the Commission reiterated their belief that any educator whose license is suspended for alcohol issues should utilize the one-year suspension period to enter into a rehabilitation program.
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Standard 2: Conduct with Students
An educator who wrote love poems to a high school student received a two-year suspension of her certificate. There was no evidence of any inappropriate physical contact; otherwise the PSC made it clear that revocation would have been the sanction. Members of the Commission reiterated their long-standing position that evidence of any inappropriate physical/sexual contact between an educator and a student will result in a revocation.
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Standard 9: Required Reporting
When confronted with reporting issues, most educators are generally concerned with reporting child abuse. A second component to Standard 9, however, requires educators to report to the PSC knowledge of unethical conduct by anyone holding a certificate. In revoking the certificate of an educator who was convicted of aggravated assault (a felony, unethical under Standard 1), the PSC instructed its staff to look into why no one from the school system reported the conduct to the PSC. The PSC only learned about the matter when the educator applied for a license in another state. That state's licensing agency ran the educator's criminal record and informed the PSC of the conviction. Under Standard 9, the Commission may now investigate anyone in the school system who knew about the aggravated assault conviction and failed to report it to the PSC.
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Standard 4: Honesty
The PSC expects all certified educators to be honest in their submission of paperwork to their employer, including the submission of paperwork regarding sick leave.The PSC issued a 10-day certificate suspension against an educator who falsely called in sick and then submitted to her employer a forged doctor's note. Of particular note in this case, members of the PSC seemed to be satisfied with the action that the school system took against the educator for the conduct. Conversation among members of the PSC indicated that had the system not taken appropriate action, the sanction issued by the PSC would have been more severe.
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Certification Issues
As the House Study Committee on Professional Learning has recommended changes to the structure of professional learning, the PSC is now in the process of making changes. A task force has made recommended changes, but the work of the task force is not complete. Going forward, it appears that the PSC envisions professional learning as job-embedded and tied to performance. The PSC will revisit this issue again at its October meeting. The task force is also looking at changing leadership certification into a two-tiered preparation system. It appears that all current leadership certificates will be grandfathered in when the new preparation system is implemented (around Summer 2016).
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