Teachers Caught Cheating Lose Their Licenses
A dozen Mississippi teachers have been stripped of their licenses for allegedly cheating on competency tests by paying up to $1,000 to exam supervisors for extra time and help with answers.
The 12 were among 52 teachers from Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas who investigators say took part in the cheating scheme in 1998 at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. The college has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Three of the Mississippi teachers pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal charges ranging from lying to a grand jury to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Eight teachers surrendered their licenses last week and four others who contested the charges had their licenses suspended or revoked, said Doris Smith, chairwoman of the state Commission on Teacher and Administrative Education.
“Something like this damages the image of the profession,” Smith said Friday. “We must show some kind of quality control.”
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