Panel: Suspend educators' licenses in cheating probe

ATLANTA --- A state ethics committee voted Wednesday to temporarily suspend the teaching licenses of two DeKalb County educators and investigate educators in three other districts as part of a cheating probe.

The educators are part of a state audit that alleges officials in four Georgia elementary schools changed students' answers on a fifth-grade standardized math test last summer to improve their scores and avoid federal sanctions. The Governor's Office of Student Achievement audit was released in June, leading to criminal charges against DeKalb County educators James Berry and Doretha Alexander.

"It came down to looking at the severity of the actions," said Kelly Henson, executive secretary of the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, which will vote on the ethics committee recommendations today. "This was reaching a higher level than simply not following directions or helping students with an answer."

The committee is recommending two years' suspension for Mr. Berry, who resigned as principal of DeKalb's Atherton Elementary amid the cheating allegations this summer, and one year's suspension for Ms. Alexander, who was the assistant principal.