High stakes

First punishments to be handed down in APS cheating scandal
[ajc] A group of Atlanta educators implicated in a districtwide cheating scandal will find out Thursday whether the state will yank their teaching certificates. Those in charge will likely face the stiffest penalties.
The Professional Standards Commission will hand down the first formal punishments in one of the largest test-cheating cases in U.S. history. About 180 Atlanta Public Schools employees were implicated and test tampering was uncovered at 44 schools.
The commission, which certifies and polices Georgia educators, will decide the fate of about a dozen APS educators Thursday. It is expected to hear cases through January.

I would hate to have gone through all this trauma just for the PSC to serve a simple reprimand. If the Dirty Half-Dozen are not permanently removed from the school system, they will reinstitute the climate of fear and intimidation that has allowed them, not only to sabotage thousands of children's best shot at academic and lifetime success, but to profit by so doing.

Do the right thing, PSC. Do not offer them the possibility of returning to the school system contingent on the results of a criminal trial. Toss 'em out on their asses. Nothing less than full, lifetime revocation of their teaching credentials will demonstrate that you give a damn about the students they've shafted and the teachers they've blackmailed.