Treatment Online

Teaching the Wrong Lesson
> 3/17/2006 12:05:35 PM

A news story out of Florida is sending some nasty shockwaves through the field of education. The AP is reporting on a growing scandal in the Miami-Dade County School District in which as many as 36 teachers have already resigned after having paid to get credit for classes that they never took. These credits were applied to their yearly requirements for continuing education and in many cases led to pay increases.

At the center of the scandal is now retired teacher William McCoggle, who is accused of orchestrating the exchange of transcripts for cash from teachers. He has agreed to serve two years in prison for his part in the overall crime. Hundreds of teachers are now under investigation, and the impact of the growing number of resignations has had far reaching effects. Long term substitutes are taking over classroom duties in the middle of the academic year, and students are getting a first hand lesson in cheating.

The latter of these two consequences will be the most damaging in the long run. Schools should be doing their best to teach kids that in the real world cheating shouldn't even be an option. But all that rhetoric will look like nothing but hot air, if the very teachers trying to impress the lesson on kids can't even hold themselves up to scrutiny. This is not a small problem, and when paired with real life situations like the on-going MLB steroid scandal or the book-cooking of major corporations like Enron and WorldCom, it is sending a very negative message to impressionable students. Florida needs a whole lot of transparency, and some swift action to send the message that this type of behavior is not tolerated. Otherwise, we'll be teaching some lessons that students really don't need to learn.

Comments
I am the Whistleblower in this growing story of illegal teacher certifications in Florida. Read my story on www.endteacherabuse.info and go to teacher stories or google me "bennett packman".I can be e-mailed at bennettpack0557@hotmail.com for datails and comments.

Posted by: Bennett Packman 3/24/2006 7:37:47 AM