Resignations or terminations: APS applies pressure to suspected cheaters today
Many of you have expressed frustration with the $600,00 being paid monthly to APS educators implicated in the cheating scandal. A state investigation found cheating on the CRCT occurred at 44 Atlanta schools and involved about 180 educators. The investigation came after multiple articles in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution raised questions about the validity of APS test score improvements.
Since July, Atlanta Public Schools has spent $6.2 million to pay the salaries of educators placed on administrative leave. The district can’t fire them because of state employment laws and a lack of access to critical evidence. That may be ending soon. Atlanta Public Schools is meeting today and Friday with educators to tell them they have to resign or be fired.
The AJC’s Jaime Sarrio spoke with attorney Mel Goldstein, who represents 20 to 35 educators. The attorney said teachers attending meetings today have until the end of Friday to decide whether to quit.
If they decline, they will receive a “charge letter” from the school district, which lays out the reason the teacher is being fired. The teacher will then be able to request a hearing to dispute the charges.
Goldstein, interviewed outside APS headquarters, said several of his clients have indicated they intend to fight the charges. Many dispute statements in the 400-plus page state cheating investigation, released in July.
About 180 educators were implicated in the state investigation; so far about 60 have resigned or retired. The rest are on administrative leave and are still being paid.Earlier this week, the district sent an e-mail summoning them to a “mandatory meeting” at district headquarters to discuss “employment status” with APS representatives.
Not attending the meeting could be deemed an act of insubordination and could result in termination, the letter said.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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77 comments Add your comment
bootney farnsworth
February 23rd, 2012
3:39 pm
here’s how the system works. got first hand experience here. sadly.
they move unilaterally. regardless of law, ethics, codes of conduct.
you, joe six pack, sue.
they bring up their in house legal team and set about stalling you until you can no longer afford to continue the suit.
for the lucky ones, once you’ve lost everything they might offer you
a small pittance to go away quietly.
bootney farnsworth
February 23rd, 2012
3:42 pm
@ MM,
even if you keep your certificate, who’ll touch you?
its not like this isn’t international news.
only incentive to resign is if the $$ are right.
bootney farnsworth
February 23rd, 2012
3:45 pm
more I think of it, this seems like an APS ploy to try to get the suspected to do the APS dirty work for them
chillywilly
February 23rd, 2012
3:49 pm
I wonder if Superintendent Davis is going to ask some of those overpaid managers in Finance to “resign or be fired”? If funds are tight, I will be happy to donate an orange prison jumpsuit and a pair of runover sandals for one of those managers.
Dr. Craig Spinks/Georgians for Educational Excellence
February 23rd, 2012
3:55 pm
KUDOS to Chancellor Davis for having the courage to make a decision in this difficult matter. As a teacher with over forty years experience in publicly-funded education, I’m unaccustomed to an educational administrator who’ll take a courageous stand. Chancellor Davis’ stance is quite refreshing and bodes well for the future of the APS, specifically, and of public education in The Peach State, generally.
Hillbilly D
February 23rd, 2012
3:55 pm
even if you keep your certificate, who’ll touch you?
I don’t know, everytime a county administrator or school superintendent, etc, gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar, they always seem to have another job, somewhere far off, in a matter of months. I even knew of one county manager who went through about 4 or 5 different counties, (each adjacent to the other) before they finally figured him out.
Reinvent_ED
February 23rd, 2012
4:25 pm
This is really a tough one for me. Part of me feels the teachers were forced to change the grades, and they would have lost their jobs had they disobeyed their superiors. This is also a “teachable moment” for our children, and about the idea of “second chances.” I feel the administrators are far more to blame than the teachers on this one.
School_Administrator_NorthGA
February 23rd, 2012
5:10 pm
First and foremost, this entire situation is tragic for the students and innocent educators. Public school parents place their trust in the system to educate and care for their children in loco parentis. I take this responsibility very seriously.
I know my staff well, and if I had ever asked any staff member to cheat on a standardized test, they are familiar enough with the Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators to know that I would be in violation. In addition, I would expect someone on my staff to report the incident to my superiors and the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. My initial pre-planning sessions contain training on the Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators and my staff is trained to report any and all violations promptly.
With that stated, there would most likely be innocent educators who are being held responsible for ethics violations that they didn’t commit in APS. However, if the facts in the report reveal that a teacher willingly cheated on standardized testing, they should be held accountable. Any administrator who participated and/or coerced others into cheating should also be held accountable. I know that teachers fear for their own jobs, however, there are safeguards in place that allow for reporting of egregious behavior through the proper channels. If there is fear of a large-scale cover-up in a district, my suggestion would be to contact the Georgia Profesional Standards Commission and document each conversation and contact. There are many ethical administrators in public education that value profesionalism and would never dream of committing such an act. However, there are those that have no regard for ethical behavior either.
It looks as though APS is trying to pressure teachers into resignation to avoid the legalities of Fair Dimissal hearings. Each resignation is one less hearing they have to prepare for, pay for, and schedule the time for. Every tenured educator has a right to a hearing, but there is a negative flip side. If a teacher declines to resign and is terminated (or their contract non-renewed), they are forced to list their termination on all future job applications. Nearly every teaching application that I have seen asks if you have ever been terminated or resigned in lieu of termination. Due to the large applicant pool for most teaching jobs, administrators typically do not give these applications a second look. This places the teacher, who has been terminated, at a major disadvantage for finding a new job elsewhere. I would recommend anyone who is in this postion to weigh the circumstances of their case—there is no “once & done” blanket suggestion to resign or not to resign. Remember, those who give you advice will not pay the consequences of the final action, you will. That is why it must be your educated decision as to fight the charges or resign.
crankee_yankee
February 23rd, 2012
7:31 pm
@bootney f
You do not know me, you have never been in my classroom, yet you spew out a blanket invective deriding my & my colleagues’ ethics & morals. I’m glad someone has all the answers you self-righteous blowhard.
The APS cheaters must be dealt with, no doubt. The guilty ones’ careers are, and should be, over.
Sad but true, it is likely some innocents will also be tainted because of mindsets demonstrated by people like you. Sleep well.
To Bootney
February 23rd, 2012
8:00 pm
“last time I looked in a history book, Anne Frank ended up dead.”
Of course. She and her whole family perished except her father…you’re missing the point, of course, because you don’t want to accept the fact that honest people with integrity will risk their very lives to do the right thing.
You and others claim that teachers had no choice but to cheat. Certainly not true. They had lots of options and what was the very worst thing taht could happen to them? They might lose their job. So what?
Anne Frank’s heros risked and LOST their lives doing the right thing. A gun was held to their head and they still did the right thing. Teachers CHOSE to cheat.
When someone CHOOSES to LIE, CHEAT and STEAL, they also CHOOSE THE CONSEQUENCES.
I have zero sympathy for all the cheaters. I hope they lose their teaching license and are never employed by any organization who needs a trustworthy individual to work for them.
Honest, hard-working law-abiding citizens lost their jobs and remain unemployed through no fault of their own and we have liars, cheaters and thieves on the payroll collecting their salaries while they are being “investigated.”
Now THAT is a crime in itself.
If you cannot do the time, don’t do the crime.
Good riddance,
Good Mother
Enroller politican davis
February 23rd, 2012
8:02 pm
I want the teachers falsely accused to fire themselves so I won’t have to prove they did nothing at all,, then explain how I sent a large number of teachers and admin on paid leave costing the state millions……
Gwinnettian
February 23rd, 2012
8:18 pm
It costs school districts a lot of money to hold a non-renewal hearing to fire and the teachers’ lawyers know that. I hope Errol Davis will not offer $ settlements in exchange for the resignations. If he does, all the others will expect more of the same. Teachers who have not received a pay raise for going on 4 years are the ones paying for this atrocity. Makes me sick…
That being said, I think Erroll Davis is a breath of fresh air across all of Georgia. Mr. Davis rocks!
Ron F.
February 23rd, 2012
9:59 pm
bootney: if you’re a member of PAGE or GAE, they advise you not to resign. You let them fire you and the use your legal coverage as part of the organization to fight it. If it were me, and I seriously thought I was innocent, I’d fight every step of the way. I’ve seen PAGE lawyers do it, and they stay on for quite a while and nitpick every due process step.
Sharon Pitts must Go
February 24th, 2012
12:19 am
So who is going to lead the APS legal process…Sharon Pitts former Hall and current lead attorney???LOL LOL LOL
Erroll Davis is playing the public
February 24th, 2012
6:51 am
Wake up people! This is a political move to save face for Erroll Davis. Having the teachers report to Central office to ask them to resign was unwarranted. There is no benefit to resign. This is the second time he has pulled this stunt. Just send out the ‘charge’ letters and be done…he should have sent them out ten days after he placed them on leave. Although this makes for good media….pressure hasn’t been placed on the teachers…they have been waiting for the letters since August. Erroll Davis put his foot in his mouth when he placed the teachers on leave. This move is purely political…he is hoping that most don’t check their emails and miss their apointments so that they can terminate based upon that or he can bully a few naive teachers into resigning….the hearings for one teacher can last 3 days or more….he might finish some of the hearings but not all 120… Don’t believe the hype! @Maureen…you should stop trying to sensationalize this story….the teachers have wanted this for months…Erroll is trying to save face and appear as a strong arm…lol
Erroll Davis is playing the public
February 24th, 2012
7:00 am
@school administrator-north ga…I don’t think the educators care about another teaching job at this point….being fired is no worse than answering the license question on the application…if you answer yes, my license has been suspended, I have been investigated or revoked…no one will hire you still…so, how would a termination trump that?
Justice seeker
February 24th, 2012
7:57 am
I encourage anyone who has not yet done so to read the report on APS by the special panel. It is one of the worst written “professional” documents I have ever read. Though there are many bad actors and there is some evidence presented, much of the strategy seems to have been to get teachers in a room and brow beat them into a confession. There are many educators implicated merely by the testimony of other teachers. Given what was presented, it would be hard to convict many of those implicated in a normal court.
However, we are not dealing with a normal court. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission is comprised primarily of individuals in the education field. They clearly have little experience in adjudicating law or undrstanding and interpreting rules. Take some popcorn and go watch the Educator Ethics subcommittee some time. It is a kangaroo court on steroids. The process is unbelievably unfair – no discovery, the accused is not privy to any of the alleged evidence against them, there is no provision for any rebuttal, the GPSC can “interpret” an offense even if there is no complaint, etc. You get yahoos appointed by the governor who are not competent to clean my cat’s litter box and yet they make decisions that have life altering ramifications.
I know someone who was appointed to the commission several years ago (she knew somebody who knew somebody) and she was given a one day overview and thrown in. What an effing joke.
Lots of bad actors in APS, but the process is broken and the more light that shines on the GPSC, the worse it gets for the prosecution.
Ima Teacher
February 24th, 2012
9:24 am
While I don’t condone cheating, the cheating could not have taken place without the knowledge and consent of the Principals and Assistant Principals (who typically are the testing coordinators and the ones who check the tests in and out to the teachers). Did they all get fired? I would advise the teachers to decline to resign, because if they resign the county will indicate on their records that they “resigned under threat of termination” which is essentially the same as being fired when you try to get another job. Also they wouldn’t be eligible for unemployment benefits. NEVER RESIGN!
School_Administrator North_GA
February 24th, 2012
9:36 am
@Erroll Davis is Playing the Public – How do you support a blanket statement reading “I don’t think the educators care about another teaching job at this point.” Really?? The GA Teachers’ Retirement System is one of the best retirement benefit packages around and if I were a teacher with 26 years (4 years from retirement), I can assure you that I would be looking for another job in education so I would receive my full retirement benefit. In reference to your “trump” question, there are systems in the state that will provide a neutral reference for those that wish to resign for “personal reasons.” At that point, the educator would be clear to apply for other positions without having to mark any of the “stigma” boxes on the application form for their next job. There would not be a formal PSC investigation unless the educator allegedly violated the GA Code of Ethics for Educators prior to resignation, and even then, some systems will not pursure formal PSC charges if the educator willingly resigns. Will APS offer a neurtral reference to those who will resign? Who knows…that would be left up the individual system.
Erroll Davis is playing the public
February 24th, 2012
10:18 am
@school-administrator North-ga: I know many of the accused and 100 percent of the ones I have spoken to and know are ALL under 40 and have already decided to pursue other career avenues after their names are cleared. All of the educators in this case have already been referred to the GAPSC back in October by the GBI…so…the implicated are dealing with three separate cases..the GAPSC…APS…and he DA….they have been told that each can make their own decisions….so, you are not correct in this one..of course the educators with more than 12 years of experience with try to work in education but most of the younger Gen Xers and Gen Yers are moving on after this…
Finally!
February 24th, 2012
12:34 pm
Pretty much, whether teachers resign or are fired, they will stop getting paid. Teachers are effectively terminated, and can appeal the termination, but are not paid during the appeals process. Way to go, APS! Finally doing something right! As a teacher, I’m ready to see people accept the consequences of their actions.
Jill
February 24th, 2012
5:53 pm
I remember reading that APS had to give these teachers a hearing within 10 days. John Trotter has written on this several times. Is this another law that APS is ignoring?
Scooby
February 25th, 2012
12:34 am
Anybody know how much Mike Bowers and the former DeKalb County DA get paid? This witch hunt will prove to be a very expensive endeavor. I will continue to focus on the $$$$$ and motivation for the investigation.
Ezekiel
February 26th, 2012
3:17 pm
Lori, “Every employer has a whistle-blower line.” APS doesn’t, and never has. Whistleblowing has never been rewarded at APS. To whom would an honest teacher report unethical conduct? Her principal? That’s who’s telling her to cheat. The principal’s boss, the SRT Director? That’s who’s telling the principal that HER job depends on her school having good CRCT numbers “by any means necessary”. Superintendent Hall? Please. Either she didn’t know it was going on (as she claims, which makes her pretty darned stupid) or she did know (which makes her complicit). Either way, she’s no help. The Board of Education? They’ve got their own problems.
Former APS Teacher, that’s exactly what I’m thinking. All these “protections” that so many crooked “educators” are hiding behind? Why didn’t they protect honest teachers from corrupt administrators? What good are they, really?
@Ezekiel
February 27th, 2012
4:47 am
Ezekiel asks a fair question ” To whom would an honest teacher report unethical conduct”You call the ethics hotline. Save evidence. Wear a wire — and call the media. If you get prroof someone is trying to get you to cheat you will be a hero, not a goat.
Good Mother
APSTeacher56
February 27th, 2012
4:07 pm
Please investigate the culture of retaliation in APS at the high school level. Several teachers spoke out at the superintendent’s meeting at Douglass High School about the unethical hiring practices and hostile/extremely dangerous school climate, including the rampant gang problem. It’s Monday and these teachers were observed consistently all day and called to the office over the loud speaker. The Mafia School System is still at it!!! Douglass High School is the center of it all.
Change Agent
February 27th, 2012
4:17 pm
Mr. Davis,
Thank you for being a Leader and not a Pleaser. APS has a toxic culture as a result of the leadership under Dr. Hall and her cronies. People must be held accountable for robbing our children. This is criminal.