The state’s teacher licensing agency is hitting the pause button on its investigation of Atlanta educators accused of cheating on standardized tests. This gives the district attorney time to look at additional evidence.

The new information comes from files put together by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. So the Georgia Professional Standards Commission will wait to consider the fate of more educators.

So far, the Commission has revoked 11 teaching licenses. Nearly 200 educators in half of Atlanta’s 100 schools face cheating allegations.

The Commission’s Kelly Hinson says the agency wants as much information as possible before meting out punishment:

“We may re-evaluate this based on timing, but at this point we’ve determined that the best action for us to take is to see if we can’t have access to the GBI files before we move forward.”

The disposition of all cases could extend into next spring.

Hinson says this action in Atlanta’s investigation has no bearing on the probe into Dougherty County’s test cheating allegations.

Tags: Atlanta, Georgia Professional Standards Commission, test cheating, Atlanta schools