The First Coast is a diverse community with a storied history. As a result, St. Augustine and Metro Jacksonville can be particularly dynamic places to live and work, on both the Florida and Georgia sides of the border. If you are a First Coast teacher, you understand both the unique joys and challenges that often arise when shaping the lives of the community’s students and navigating its ever-evolving educational politics. You also – almost certainly – regularly experience the triumphs and frustrations, and even fear that teaching in this area tends to inspire. You may also be experiencing outright fear and/or fury that the teaching license you’ve worked so hard to earn could soon be compromised as a result of a mistake or a misunderstanding. If this is the case, you’re not alone.
Every year, a significant percentage of teachers in the U.S. are impacted by concerns that could lead to professional disciplinary action, potentially including the suspension or revocation of their licenses. If your Florida teaching license or Georgia teaching license is at risk due to personal or professional concerns, know that crafting a strong defense strategy now can help to better ensure a favorable outcome to your circumstances. Connect with the Professional License Defense Team at the LLF National Law Firm today by calling 888-535-3686 or by contacting us online to learn more about how we can help.
Common Issues that Inspire Scrutiny of Teachers’ Licenses
Teachers, like all professionals, are human. As a result, they inevitably make mistakes from time to time. Possibly due to the challenges of their profession, their personal lives, the state of the world, or some combination of all three, they may also struggle to cope with stress. As a result of these realities, teachers may find themselves forced to answer to the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Professional Practices Services (PPS) or the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) if the licensing agency based in the state where they teach has questions about their ethical conduct, integrity, and/or ability to teach safely.
Additionally, teachers may face allegations of misconduct due to misunderstandings or malicious action on the part of others. Unfortunately, even teachers who are wholly innocent may find themselves forced to defend their reputations and their careers in the face of inaccurate allegations.
License Scrutiny in Georgia
On the Georgia side of the Georgia-Florida border extending up to Jekyll Island, teaching licenses are most often scrutinized by the GaPSC in the event that an educator is alleged to be in violation of the state’s Code of Ethics for Educators. This code outlines 10 specific standards that – if allegedly violated – may lead to an investigation by the Commission, and disciplinary action if it is determined that allegations of wrongdoing are well-founded.
· Legal Compliance: A failure to answer Personal Affirmation Questions accurately when applying for or renewing a license can be grounds for discipline, as can failing to report drug-related crimes, felonies, and misdemeanors involving moral turpitude to the GaPSC within strict time limits.
- Conduct with Students: Interactions with students that are either too aggressive or too friendly or “familiar” can land teachers in hot water.
- Alcohol or Drugs: Bringing alcohol onto school premises, consuming alcohol or taking drugs prior to arriving at school (or prior to/while taking part in school-sponsored activities), and giving drugs or alcohol to students are all actionable offenses.
- Honesty: Actions that demonstrate a lack of integrity, such as falsifying student documentation or taking sick leave when not sick, can be grounds for scrutiny by the GaPSC.
- Public Funds and Property: Stealing, misusing school property or funds for personal benefit, utilizing school email for inappropriate purposes, and other acts that fail to respect school funds and property may lead to professional consequences.
- Remunerative Conduct: Tutoring, coaching, etc., without permission and earning additional unauthorized compensation during school hours can lead to professional discipline.
- Confidential Information: Sharing confidential information, either inappropriately or via inappropriate platforms when otherwise authorized, is prohibited.
- Required Reports: Both failing to disclose one’s past criminal history and any new violations within strict time limits is potentially actionable conduct. Additionally, failing to honor mandatory reporter requirements concerning the abuse or suspected abuse of a minor, dependent adult, or other protected person is generally unacceptable.
- Professional Conduct: Inadequate supervision of students, endangering the health and well-being of students, and certain kinds of contract breaches are all examples of potentially concerning professional conduct.
- Testing: Administering tests fairly is necessary. Prompting or changing a student’s answers, cheating, and otherwise erroneous administration are answerable offenses.
Additionally, a teaching license may be endangered if an educator is alleged to have committed a cause for disciplinary action as defined by the Professional Licensing Boards Division of the Secretary of State. These concerns apply to all licensees in the state, including lawyers, physicians, accountants, and teachers. Essentially, if a teacher allegedly behaves in a way that endangers the public (or is “of a nature likely to endanger the public” even if no harm occurs), fails to pay court-ordered child support, commits fraud, or otherwise displays an unfitness to practice their profession, the GaPSC may intervene. This is why, for example, a teacher who drives while drunk on the weekend may be subject to license-related discipline even though students were in no way directly impacted by their circumstances.
License Scrutiny in Florida
The authority of the PPS extends only to the issues strictly governed by the state’s education statutes, its own administrative rules, and a set of standards known as the Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida. This means that if a teacher’s conduct isn’t in violation of a state statute, the administrative rules of the PPS, or the state’s Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession, it cannot serve as grounds for discipline of that teacher.
With that said, it is important to understand that Florida’s Principles of Professional Conduct standards are among the most extensive in the U.S. In addition to all of the concerns that may inspire license scrutiny in Georgia, a state that employs a relatively standard approach when compared with the majority of states nationwide, Florida holds its teachers to certain moral and ethical standards that most states do not. Many of these standards are broadly worded and can be interpreted in a variety of ways. For example, this document states that a teacher “Shall make reasonable effort to protect (students) from conditions harmful to learning and/or to (their) mental and/or physical health and/or safety.” A teacher who observes a religious tradition strictly may read this provision differently from one whose approach is wholly secular. As a result, teachers may find themselves facing allegations of wrongdoing when they have been doing their utmost to honor this standard to the best of their personal understanding.
Other times, teachers may interpret some principles to be in conflict with one another. For example, a teacher may be concerned that if they fail to acknowledge or otherwise honor a student’s gender identity in a specific way – teaching their class about the dynamic nature of gender after a non-binary student has been targeted by bullies, for example – could be a failure to protect that student from conditions harmful to learning and/or to (their) mental and/or physical health and/or safety. Yet, the principles also restrict teachers from providing classroom instruction to students about sexual orientation or gender identity except when subject to narrow statutory requirements. As a result of this reality, Florida teachers may be forced to defend their choices before the PPS when the principles seemingly conflict or contradict one another in practice.
Crafting a Strong Defense Strategy Is Important
Whether you teach in one of the bustling Duval County Public Schools, the quieter Camden County Schools, or you teach further south in the Putnam County School District, you will need to treat any allegations that could impact your license seriously. While you may have excellent relationships with your local administrators, it will be the processes and perceptions of either the PPS or the GaPSC that will dictate how your situation unfolds. Both bodies are empowered to revoke or suspend the licenses of professionals whose alleged actions compromise their ability to teach safely and fairly or potentially compromise the integrity of the teaching profession in the state. They are also empowered to otherwise discipline teachers in ways that are less extreme, but remain consequential nonetheless. Adverse consequences of an unfavorable investigation may – in addition to or instead of suspension or revocation of a license – include:
- Fines
- Professional probation
- Administrative leave
- Restriction of a professional’s permitted duties
- Formal reprimand
- Administrative sanctions
- Referral to a substance abuse treatment or anger management program
With so much at stake, it is necessary to craft a strong defense strategy as soon as a teacher is made aware that a complaint has been filed against them over which the PPS or GaPSC has jurisdiction. There is a host of strategic options that may serve a teacher who has been accused of professional or personal misconduct well. Yet, because each state licensing agency employs a strict timeline concerning disciplinary matters, it is important to act immediately. Otherwise, there may not be time to build a defense strategy that is as strong as it might otherwise be.
What to Expect
Every license scrutiny scenario is unique and should be approached with client-focused, nuanced care and concern. Yet, the processes employed by each state licensing agency are universally applied to the teachers in each jurisdiction. Therefore, it is possible to anticipate that your situation will unfold in certain ways, depending on where you teach.
For example, in Florida, you and your school district will both be notified in the event that a potentially actionable complaint has been filed against you. You will be empowered to inspect and copy the evidence that has been submitted against you after an initial investigation has taken place. Once your circumstances have been investigated, the PPS may determine that there is no cause for disciplinary action. Alternatively, it may file a formal complaint that will be adjudicated by an administrative judge. That judge will then send recommendations back for formal review before the licensing agency renders a formal order. Having strong legal support and guidance at every stage of this process can help ensure a favorable outcome.
In Georgia, the process is similarly structured in that a preliminary investigation may end in either a determination that no further action is warranted or a referral to an administrative judge. It is only after sanctions are proposed that a teacher accused of wrongdoing is formally empowered to present their side of the story. A teacher must request a hearing within thirty (30) calendar days after receiving notice of the Commission’s proposed disciplinary sanction. This doesn’t mean that teachers should wait to seek legal guidance and support until that time, however. Crafting a strong defense strategy should be an immediate priority as soon as a complaint is filed, as there may be ways to influence the process for the better long before a sanction is proposed.
Legal Assistance Is Available
Whether your conduct is being investigated as a result of a mistake, a misunderstanding, a malicious targeting effort, or a substance abuse concern, know that the respected Professional License Defense Team at the LLF National Law Firm can help. Our team practices nationwide, which has allowed us to “see it all” and learn how to advocate for our clients as efficiently and effectively as possible as a result.
You have worked hard to earn your teaching license and a stable career path. No matter what the particulars of your situation are, we respect that hard work and will do our utmost to protect your reputation and your professional opportunities. Talk to us about your situation today by calling 888-535-3686 or by contacting us online. We look forward to working with you.