Teacher discipline investigations in Georgia saw big jump last year. What we know

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The Georgia Professional Standards Commission has opened more ethics investigations against K-12 teachers in fiscal year 2024 than it has in the past nine fiscal years, according to recent data.

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While lawmakers and public school leaders in the Peach State are working to resolve teacher shortages, recent data from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission suggests unethical behavior among educators is an issue on the rise.

The state Professional Standards Commission, responsible for making and enforcing rules and standards for the prep, certification and conduct of Georgia’s teachers, opened more ethics investigations against K-12 teachers in fiscal year 2024 than it has in any of the past nine fiscal years.

In FY 2024, the commission opened over 1,850 ethics cases on Georgia educators. Officials believe the numbers will keep rising.

During the 2024 academic year alone, there were 2,337 ethics cases opened on Georgia educators, according to a recent state standards commission presentation. That was a 29% increase from 2023.

Laurin Vonada, the commission’s ethics division director, said while there has been an increase in cases over fiscal year 2023, the number of current cases is comparable to pre-COVID numbers, just slightly higher.

“During COVID, in-person schooling halted, and the number of ethics cases decreased, which have now rebounded,” Vonada said in an email.

Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Joseph Barrow in December as the commission’s new executive secretary after Matt Arthur resigned. Despite leadership change, the commission told The Telegraph that it still believes cases are preventable. The group focuses on avoiding ethical missteps which can greatly damage school districts’ stakeholders.

At the commission’s first meeting of 2025, Barrow said he has been settling into his role and refining a 90-day plan to identify internal and external areas of improvement for the group as it relates to “maximizing its efficiency and contributing to the educator pipeline.”

“We know that the heartbeat of the educational system starts with the people who serve our children, and we really want to be able to focus on that,” Barrow added at the meeting.

What’s causing rise in GA teacher ethics issues?

The recent surge in ethics referrals concerning educators can be attributed to various factors, including a growing awareness around school safety and greater access to electronic media that may lead to inappropriate social media usage, Vonada said in an email .

One specific area reflecting a significant increase in opened cases against teachers is drawn from background questions that educators answer on their certificate applications, she added.

“Application cases stem from initial applicants applying for certification or certified educators seeking renewal or an upgrade,” Vonada said. “When educators apply for certification, they are required to answer nine Personal Affirmation Questions (PAQs). The questions relate to educators’ past criminal history, employment, and military service.

“The law mandates the questions to ask and that any question with a ‘yes’ answer must be automatically investigated.”

Between fiscal years 2021 and 2024, the number of open application cases doubled, accounting for the bulk of total cases opened by the commission. Other cases would stem from a complaint that prompts an investigation.

Complaint cases are cases that school systems or citizens file against certified educators.

“In addition, GaPSC has placed an increased focus on prevention, which may result in more complaints submitted due to an increased awareness of not only the Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators (COE), but also the reporting requirement,” Vonada added.

Vonada further explained the rise in referrals can be attributed to the increasing number of certified educators in Georgia, highlighting that the teacher population has expanded by almost 10,000 over the last six years.

What violations are most common in Georgia?

Each month the commission sanctions, suspends or revokes educators’ certificates for violations of its 10 code of ethics, or standards, which also apply to classroom aides, paraprofessionals and substitute teachers.

The Telegraph reviewed over 5,000 alleged conduct violations, obtained via the Georgia Open Records Act, from January 2019 to May 2024 to uncover the most common reasons why the commission imposed disciplinary actions against Georgia teachers’ licenses.

Violations of professional conduct, legal compliance, honesty and improper conduct with students were the top four reasons why educators faced imposed sanctions from the commission.

About 30% of the commission’s ethics cases were classified as Professional Conduct Standard 9 violations each year between 2019 and 2024.

Vonada described Standard 9 as the commission’s “catch-all provision,” because its violations are considered any conduct that is detrimental to the health, welfare, discipline or morals of a student.

For complaint cases on certified educators, the commission consistently sees a high number of breached contract cases, which fall under Standard 9, Vonada said. It’s common for teachers to leave without proper notice, which violates Standard 9 and often automatically results in a 90-day certificate suspension, she added.

Other specific types of Standard 9 violations include disrespecting students or colleagues or failure to supervise students.

Legal compliance violations fall under Georgia’s “Standard 1,” and they include engaging in criminal activity while certified, not reporting drug convictions within 10 days or not disclosing minor charges on personal affirmation questions.

About 75% of honesty violations, which fall under Standard 4, are centered on not completing applications honestly, according to provided commission data. A common example of this is falsifying Individualized Education Plan documents.

Common violations of Standard 2, also known as the conduct with students code of ethics, range from corporal punishment to inappropriate teacher-student relationships fortified by private messages on social media.

What’s being done? 

On behalf of Barrow, Vonada said fostering safe and ethical learning environments is a top priority for every commission member.

“The standard operating procedures for addressing case referrals will be consistent because the rule of law dictates what is not acceptable,” she said. “We will continue to address all official, formal complaints that are filed regardless of their numbers.”

Through the commission, safe school environments are enforced through the communication of clear standards for how educators are expected to conduct themselves in and out of the classroom, Vonada added.

Vonada said the commission places a great emphasis on violation prevention by, in part, providing local school districts and educator preparation providers with professional learning and instructional materials.

She listed informative video series on each of the commission’s code of ethics standards and said the commission ethics staff hosts multiple in-person and virtual trainings throughout the state.

“We cannot completely control the actions of individuals,” Vonada said in an email including Barrow. “However, as the lead education regulatory agency, we work with our educational partners to ensure our classrooms, schools, and school districts are staffed by the very best trained and qualified professionals possible.”

Ratio of violations to GA teachers is ‘small’

At least 1,830 Georgia educators’ certificates were suspended, revoked or voluntarily surrendered between January 2019 and May 2024, according to Georgia PSC data obtained through an open records request. The data doesn’t include other educators who were warned, punished, or subjected to other measures imposed by the commission, Vonada said.

And while Georgia’s number of certified teachers grew from 116,500 to 126,000 over the past six years, Vonada noted that the opened cases against the thousands of teachers constitute only a small part of the state’s educator workforce.

“I know it seems like a big number, but in the scheme of things, it is such a small number of those working individuals, thankfully,” she said.

The state’s small ratio also reflects nationwide data, according to Jimmy Adams, executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification.

Adams said about 6,000 educators every year have adverse actions taken against their licenses based on the statutes and regulations within their state, according to data from the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification.

“But when you look at about 6,000 or 6,100 (cases), and you compare it to about 3.5 million public school educators nationwide, you’re looking at seventeen hundredths of one percent of all licensed educators in public schools,” Adams said.

While some cases may go under-reported or fail to move forward at an administrative hearing due to lack of evidence, Adams said he still believes it’s still a very small number.

But it does not sway entities like the Georgia commission and the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification from promoting preventable measures against egregious, unprofessional behaviors.

“Work on training your teachers and your staff — even the bus drivers — because they are still considered educators,” Adams said. “We really believe that ethical behavior training will do so much to keep people in line.”

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Macon Telegraph.