Georgia Professional Standards Commission
Code of Ethics Presentation
First District RESA
Gary Walker
2
New and Improved Gary Walker
3
Probable Cause Results
Year
FY 2001
FY 2002
FY 2003
FY 2004
FY 2005
FY 2006
FY 2007
FY 2008
FY 2009
FY 2010
FY 2011
Denied
15
20
31
26
25
42
23
33
25
13
18
Revoked
58
44
62
57
93
72
76
54
71
67
58
Voluntary
Surrender
14
16
21
20
22
17
26
16
27
28
20
Total
87
80
114
103
140
131
125
103
123
108
96
Sanctions-Feb. 2011-March
2012
Legal compliance-26
 Conduct with Students-90
 Alcohol and Drugs-39
 Honesty-45
 Public Funds and Property-33
 Remunerative Conduct-2
 Confidential Information-2

5
Sanctions
Abandonment of Contract-7
 Required Reports-15
 Professional Conduct-47
 Testing-92
 Total-398

6
Most Frequent Violations in
2011
Testing-87 sanctions
 Inappropriate Relations with Students-85
sanctions
 Honesty-44 sanctions
 Professional Conduct-42 sanctions

7
Sanction

Should a certificate be revoked, it is the
responsibility of the Superintendent that
the Educator not be allowed on a school
campus or work with students for the
duration of the sanction.
8
Testing
PSC has not endorsed any testing
guidelines
 GADOE establishes guidelines and sets
parameters
 PSC reviews complaints and issues
sanctions based on the evidence and
individual set of circumstances

9
APS
182 cases have been submitted to PSC
 83 cases in which sanctions have been
issued to the Educator’s certificate
 67 sanctions were administered at April 12
meeting of the Commission
 99 cases awaiting investigation and review
by the Commission

10
Special Investigators
Bowers, Wilson, and Hyde
Organized and systematic wrong doing
 Culture of fear and conspiracy of silence
 Pattern of interference by top APS
leadership in attempt to gather evidence

11
WTR Erasures-Standard
Deviations
3 standard deviations-1 in 370
 4 standard deviations-1 in 15,788
 5 standard deviations-1 in 1,774,278
 6 standard deviations-1 in 560,800,000
 7 standard deviations-1 in
390,600,000,000
 Many individual classes had Standard
Deviations ranging from the 20’s to the
50’s

12
All Georgia Schools Grouped
into Four Categories
Clear of Concern-80% of all schools
 Minimal Concern-10% of all schools
 Moderate Concern-6% of all schools
 Severe Concern-4% of all schools
 APS- 51% of middle and elementary
schools were in the severe concern

13
Probability
Virtually impossible for so many WTR
erasures to occur without human
intervention
 It is more likely that the Ga. Dome is filled
to capacity with all over seven feet tall
 or if you flip two coins simultaneously and
they land on edge, perfectly balanced, one
on top of the other three times in a row.
 Amazingly, in some classrooms, these
odds occurred not in one subject but in
English/LA, Math, and Reading

14
Verification of the Erasure
Analysis
Retained expert to review analysis
 Inspected CTB McGraw-Hill facility and
interviewed staff
 Observed answer document scanning
process
 Compared results of erasure analysis to
reanalysis of selected and random test
documents
 Manually reviewed thousands of answer
sheets and compared to original analysis

15
PSC requirements
Not a criminal law court
 Our duty-preponderance of evidence-is it
more likely it happened than didn’t
happen?
 Look for something that links the Educator
to the cheating

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Major Testing Violations
Breach of Test Security
 Fail to provide or attend training
 Fail to follow directions specified in the
manual
 Coach, prompt, alter or provide answers
to students during the test
 Interpret, explain, or paraphrase test
items
 Copy or take notes on test items

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Standard #11-Testing Cases
Educator administered 2011 CRCT-16 out
of 20 students indicated the teacher
verbally or physically assisted them with
answering questions
 Educator admits she falsified student work
and assisted in staging pictures for the
GAA portfolio
 Educator (principal) did not properly
supervise the test coordinator. The test
coordinator allowed extra time to
complete portions of the CRCT

18
TESTING

Educator administered the EOCT to her
ESOL math class students and the
students reported that others talked,
played music, and called out answers
during the test.
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Superintendent’s Role
Superintendent has ultimate responsibility
and accountability for all testing activities
within the local school system
 Develops local policies and procedures
based on Georgia Department of
Education guidelines and test publisher’s
direction to maintain test security
 Supervises and monitors Principals to
ensure they fulfill their specific roles and
responsibilities for the administration of
tests

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Superintendent’s Role
Ensures all personnel involved with testing
receive training on appropriate test
administration, policies, and procedures
including accommodations for each
assessment given
 Informs the local BOE, state coordinator,
and the Professional Standards
Commission of any breach of security by
employees of the system

21
Principal’s Role
Principal is ultimately responsible and
accountable for all testing activities in the
school
 Ensures test security within the building
 Ensures distribution of test materials
occurs immediately prior to testing
 Supervises all testing activities
 Ensures all school personnel have been
appropriately trained on test
administration, procedures, and policies

22
Principal’s Role
Ensures that documented
accommodations (IEP, IAP, TPC) have
been given to only those students who
appropriately need them
 Implements system and school testing
policies and procedures to ensure all
students are tested fairly and
appropriately
 Reports immediately any breach of
security to the Superintendent

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Board’s Role
Provides resources to employees that
enhance student learning
 Asks about training provided to teacher’s
regarding state testing
 Strives for steady improvement
 Studies data and the information it
provides
 Looks for unreasonable student gains
 Looks for logical explanations for
increased or decreased test scores

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Teacher’s Role
Attend training
 Be familiar with examiner’s manual
 Follow directions
 Arrange seats to promote individual work
 Circulate about the classroom to prevent
cheating and other violations
 Be familiar with allowable student
accommodations
 Account for all testing materials

25
Gary Walker
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I Can’t Sing So……
Professional Relationship Boundary
Sexual
Misconduct
Sexual Abuse of
Students
The Unforgivable Boundary
Violation
Sexual Abuse is defined as
ANY sex act with a student!
Sexual Abuse
of Students
Standard #2-Cases involving
Conduct with Students
The Educator admitted kissing a student on two
separate occasions but denied having sex. A
review of cellular phone records indicated the
student and educator exchanged 4043 text
messages in 82 days. The Educator resigned.
 An 18 year old student reported the educator
initiated sex with him in her home. She
admitted the inappropriate relationship. Law
enforcement dropped charges when they
realized student was 18.

31
Conduct With Students

The Educator removed a disruptive
student from another teacher’s classroom.
A videotape of the incident revealed that
the Educator forcefully threw the student
down to the floor. The student sustained
a chipped tooth and several loosened
teeth.
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Student Relationship Guidelines
Be Friendly,
Not a Friend.
Student Relationship Guidelines
Choose
Appropriate
Settings
Student Relationship Guidelines
Social Networking
Don’t accept students as friends
and decline any student initiated
social network friend requests.
Don’t post anything on a website
that you would not post on the
front door of the school.
Standard #4-Cases involving
Honesty
The Educator admits to having signed or
initialed the names of other teachers and
a parent’s name to the IEP. The Educator
admitted a formal IEP meeting was never
held.
 The Educator admitted to falsifying a
letter of reference from a previous
administrator and submitting it as part of
an employment application

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Standard #10-Cases involving
Professional Conduct

Witnesses confirmed the fact that the
Educator brought a stun gun to class to
show to a teacher who had recently been
robbed. He acknowledged that he
discharged the gun in a kindergarten
classroom.
37
Professional Conduct

The Educator admitted taking a photo of a
kindergarten student in class engaging in
behavior that appeared to be
masturbation to show to a counselor since
the student’s older sister had exhibited the
same behavior last school year. The
Educator showed the picture to his
assistant, a special education teacher, and
the nurse-but never to the counselor. He
carried the photo on his phone for 5
weeks until ordered to remove by HRO
38
Standard#5 -Public Funds
Misusing school-related funds
 Co-mingling funds
 Using school property without approval of
local board or authorized designee
 Using school property for personal gain

39
Public Funds-Areas of Concern

Booster Clubs using School System Tax ID
versus separate Tax ID
– Camps
– Who files tax returns
– Copy of tax returns on file
– Public records

School systems control Booster Clubs;
Booster Clubs do not control School
Systems
40
Cases involving Public Funds
The Educator, a coach, ordered items for
the team when there was not enough
money in the booster club account and
without authorization or a purchase order.
When confronted, the Educator denied
authorizing the purchase of the items
 The Educator, a middle school band
director, pawned a French horn belonging
to the school system. Also, he provided
false information during the course of the
school system’s investigation

41
Cases involving Public Funds
The Educator admitted to opening and
managing two booster club accounts. The
Educator deposited booster club funds into
a personal account.
 Educators should not have access to
Booster Club accounts

42
Standard #3 - Alcohol or Drugs
An educator shall
refrain from the use of
alcohol or illegal or
unauthorized drugs
during the course of
professional practice.
Standard 3: Alcohol or Drugs
Possession
=
Possession of a CONTAINER of
alcoholic beverage
(not in the blood stream).
Bottles, Cans, Etc.
Fortification
The educator admits consuming two
glasses of wine prior to attending a
school talent show. Three teachers
witnessed the educator's
manifestations of intoxication. The
educator had glassy red eyes, slightly
slurred speech, generally giddy
behavior and the odor of an alcoholic
beverage on her person.
Suspended
Alcohol or Drugs
A teacher had concerns about the
educator’s “peculiar” behavior and
suspected he was under the influence.
The teacher did not report the concern
until the end of the day when the
educator had left to begin a 3-day
weekend. The next week the educator
claimed he had taken some OTC medicine
for pain.
46
Gary Walker
47
Quote

The only reason some people are still alive
is it is against the law to shoot them
48
Standard #9 - Required Reports
An educator shall file
reports of a breach of one or
more of the standards in the
Code of Ethics for
Educators, child abuse, or
any other required report.
Mandated Reporting
Child Abuse-24 hours to DFACS
 Student having weapon on school grounds
or at a school function
 Student involved with a controlled
substance
 PSC-Up to 90 days for most violations but
encouraged to file as soon as possible

50
Joe Paterno
51
Required Reports
The Educator admitted to being informed
by both a student and by the
paraprofessional with whom the student
was involved that they were having sexual
encounters. The educator did not disclose
this information to anyone until there was
a law enforcement investigation.
Revoked
(criminal charges are pending against the
educator)
52
Standard #10 - Professional Conduct
An educator shall
demonstrate conduct that
follows generally recognized
professional standards and
preserves the dignity and
integrity of the teaching
profession.
Professional Conduct Cases
• Organized a betting pool with students
• Called a student a “heifer” and her mother
“stupid”
• Gave extra credit to students who
contributed to a fundraiser
• Left class without permission via a window
• Had two loaded guns in desk drawer
• Sexually harassed a colleague
• Restrained a teacher and tried to kiss her
against her will
• Sexual interaction with colleague on
school grounds
Abandonment of Contract
Guidelines

No Probable Cause
– When educator submits a letter of resignation
prior to June 1 for the upcoming school year
or
-The educator submits a letter of resignation
with at least two weeks notice after June 1 for
the following reasons
1) Documented personal or family health
problem
2) Documented spousal transfer and relocation
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3) Documented promotion within the field
Note

The PSC will not impose a certification
sanction, but it does not preclude a school
system from seeking other remedies, civil
or professional
56
Disclaimer
These are strictly guidelines.
 The PSC has the authority to investigate
any complaint and issue a sanction based
on the facts of an individual case.
 Decisions will be made based on the facts
and circumstances presented

57
90 Day Suspension
The Educator makes no effort to fulfill the
duties of his contract and leaves without
and effort to assist with a smooth
transition
 System (BOE) terminates the educator or
does not accept the resignation and
documents notification (once a resignation
is accepted the contract has been
dissolved)
 Educator does not have a valid reason

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PSC
Educators are expected to honor
contracts.
 School Systems are expected to make a
reasonable effort to release educators
from their contracts whenever possible.
 The PSC is concerned with how either
party’s conduct affects the students and
will act in the best interest of the students

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ADVICE
Take testing seriously
 Be friendly to the students—you are not
their friend but their supervisor and role
model
 Honesty and Integrity are important
 Educators are held to higher standards
 Educators are mandated reporters if they
are aware of violations of Code of Ethics

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