Dozens of teachers resign amid cheating scandal

[guiseppewv]

Florida checks claims of credits from nonexistent classes

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- A growing scandal over teachers who paid to get credit for courses they never took has cost nearly three dozen educators their jobs, and hundreds of others are being investigated.

The Miami-Dade County School Board in Florida voted 5-4 on Wednesday to fire six teachers and accept the resignations of 26 others.

The punishments stem from a scam run by former high school teacher William McCoggle, who claimed to offer continuing-education classes through a private company. McCoggle pleaded guilty to fraud in November, admitting he did little more than sell transcripts, requiring no tests, homework or other academic work.

On Wednesday, dozens of students and parents defended the teachers who lost their jobs, saying that removing them in the middle of the school year would be too disruptive.

Board member Evelyn Greer, who voted against the firings, agreed. "It baffles me, just baffles me, to have disruptions at the class level," Greer said.

Florida law requires teachers in public schools to take the equivalent of six education credits every five years to maintain their licenses. The credits can also get teachers raises and let them teach other courses.

McCoggle, who had taught in Miami-Dade County schools since 1983 before retiring last summer, agreed to serve two years in prison in a deal with prosecutors and must pay up to $100,000 in restitution.

Hundreds of teachers who never took classes are being investigated for buying continuing education transcripts.

Last fall, Ohio's Otterbein College, which has about 3,000 students, revoked nearly 10,000 credits given to 657 teachers. It was one of five schools that prosecutors say provided the course credits through McCoggle's company, Move On Toward Education and Training.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/03/16/teachers.credentials.ap/index.html

Wow. That is really dissapointing what these educators did and what that idiot, McCoggle, did. :disa:

[clutchy]

6 credits over 5 years, what a joke... this is preposterous. My kids are going to catholic school, and i'm not catholic.

[Yossarian]

why, most private school don't require teachers to keep with classes. most of the classes that those teachers have to take(which in PA i might add, is 3 credits every 2 years, so a class everyother year) are about how to use changing technology or new methods or social problems, ect in the ever changing class room

[nickel]

:2far:

the easy way out was really the way out... of a job this time.

[OC]

Shame on them.

[clutchy]

why, most private school don't require teachers to keep with classes. most of the classes that those teachers have to take(which in PA i might add, is 3 credits every 2 years, so a class everyother year) are about how to use changing technology or new methods or social problems, ect in the ever changing class room


because private schools are BETTER.

[welfareloser]

because private schools are BETTER.

:heh: somebody has a lot to learn :P want horror stories to the contrary? i, and probably a couple of hundred other people here, can provide them.

[guiseppewv]

I have to agree with Clutchy. As a product of a private high school and having attended public K-8 schools, the private schools were better. One of my sisters attended public school and the rest of my siblings and I were head and shoulders more prepared for college.

FYI: The public HS and K-8 school in our district were one of the top ranked ones in the state a decade or so ago when we were in HS/K-8

[clutchy]

:heh: somebody has a lot to learn :P want horror stories to the contrary? i, and probably a couple of hundred other people here, can provide them.


I'd love to hear some, but you're not going to dissuade me, i have personal experience with private schools.

Although my experience was opposite of Guiseppewv's experience. I went to private school 2-8 then public highchool 9-12 and felt I was very well prepared for college. My district was top 10 in the state.

[gwilks98]

I have to agree with Clutchy. As a product of a private high school and having attended public K-8 schools, the private schools were better. One of my sisters attended public school and the rest of my siblings and I were head and shoulders more prepared for college.

FYI: The public HS and K-8 school in our district were one of the top ranked ones in the state a decade or so ago when we were in HS/K-8

:stupid:
My parents sacrificed a lot to get me into my HS and it was worth every penny. It wasn't just the education, the politics and environment were totally different. Just keep in mind that not every private school is a great one. Just like public schools, there's a hierarchy of which ones are top academic schools.


Curious question: For those that went to private HS, did you end up going to state or private universities? I wonder if my experience was so positive because I went from Private Catholic HS to Private Catholic University. Would I have felt different if I went to Mizzou?

[welfareloser]

i'm just sayin... every private school isn't better than every public school. not by a longshot. if you're going to approach choosing a school with that as some sort of rock-solid law, you're doomed.

kids from my "failing" public high school regularly tested out of a year's worth of college courses - for example, several of us tested out of 1-3 semesters of calculus, a semester or 2 of english, two semesters of calculus-based physics, two semesters of chemistry, a semester or 3 of biology, 1-4 semesters of foreign languages - at a big10 university. kids from our highly regarded catholic high school regularly had to remediate basic courses at JuCos... some of my closest friends/cousins who i know are geniuses couldn't handle basic calculus, physics, etc. :shrug: what matters most is the individual teachers, so it's a good idea to check out all your options instead of closing your eyes and pointing at the big shiny expensive one.

[clutchy]

Curious question: For those that went to private HS, did you end up going to state or private universities? I wonder if my experience was so positive because I went from Private Catholic HS to Private Catholic University. Would I have felt different if I went to Mizzou?


I went to public highschool then a public university UT, didn't like it at all. Living at home commuting there... sucked. Anyways i ended up flunking out.

Next year i went to a private school up in napa valley. Had a great time, learned alot, met my wife, made a lot of good friends. Great experience.

I'm back at a public university again, Calstate, and i'm actually really enjoying it.

[guiseppewv]

I went to a private HS and a public University. I was way ahead of my peers when I got to college.

[LegendKiller]

Attributing everything to whether people go to a private or public school is like attributing everything to a good environment.

People who have crappy attitudes and crappy genes won't do well compared to others.

There are so many more variables than public vs private.

[Jeffbx]

:stupid:

Some are good, some are crap. I know someone who taught in a private school, and she was fired for suggesting to a couple of parents that their kids should be held back a year. The parents agreed, but the school thought it was detremental to their image to 'fail' any student. (She sued & won, BTW).

There are also public disctricts where I would never, ever even consider sending my kids (Detroit, for example). I'd go into debt to get them into private school just to avoid the issues in Detroit.

So yeah, private does not automatically mean good or bad - it all depends on who's teaching & how the place is run.

[nickel]

:stupid:

Some are good, some are crap. I know someone who taught in a private school, and she was fired for suggesting to a couple of parents that their kids should be held back a year. The parents agreed, but the school thought it was detremental to their image to 'fail' any student. (She sued & won, BTW).

There are also public disctricts where I would never, ever even consider sending my kids (Detroit, for example). I'd go into debt to get them into private school just to avoid the issues in Detroit.

So yeah, private does not automatically mean good or bad - it all depends on who's teaching & how the place is run.
you are right - private does not automatically mean good or bad, BUT i have to agree that private means good automatically moreso than public.
i went to private until 9th grade and when i switched to public for my freshmen year it was a joke. i was so far ahead of my peers that i felt like i was repeating a grade.

[LegendKiller]

you are right - private does not automatically mean good or bad, BUT i have to agree that private means good automatically moreso than public.
i went to private until 9th grade and when i switched to public for my freshmen year it was a joke. i was so far ahead of my peers that i felt like i was repeating a grade.


Sometimes people aren't placed correctly.

If I had to take a look at what I did in HS and my early years of college, I'd say I was a lazy idiot. Did that have anything to do with me being in a public school system? No.

Obviously I have done something right and it isn't directly attributable to a public vs private environment.

[guiseppewv]

you are right - private does not automatically mean good or bad, BUT i have to agree that private means good automatically moreso than public.
i went to private until 9th grade and when i switched to public for my freshmen year it was a joke. i was so far ahead of my peers that i felt like i was repeating a grade.

One of my sisters had the exact opposite experience. When she was in public school she was at the top of her class, was taking advanced classes, etc... then when she switched to private school it took her a year to "catch up" and get back towards the top of her class. She def thought she was behind her peers when she started private school.

[nickel]

One of my sisters had the exact opposite experience. When she was in public school she was at the top of her class, was taking advanced classes, etc... then when she switched to private school it took her a year to "catch up" and get back towards the top of her class. She def thought she was behind her peers when she started private school.
gotcha, opposite experience, but same idea/conclusion.