Ethics Assessments: Applying the Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators
The Georgia ethics assessment tests Rule 505-6-.01, the Code of Ethics for Educators, through scenarios drawn from real disciplinary cases. You are not asked to recite the rule numbers; you are asked to identify which standard is implicated and what a reasonable educator must do next. Answers that protect students, disclose honestly, and route information to the proper authority are consistently favored over answers that keep matters quiet or handle them informally.
The ten standards, compressed
- Legal compliance. 2. Conduct with students, including boundaries and prohibitions on abusive or sexual conduct. 3. Alcohol and drugs. 4. Honesty in applications, records, and statements. 5. Public funds and property. 6. Remunerative conduct, including private compensation from students or parents and use of position for personal gain. 7. Confidential information, including student records. 8. Required reports of misconduct or arrests. 9. Professional conduct with colleagues and supervisors. 10. Testing, covering test security, altering responses, and improper preparation.
Process and consequence
Allegations go to the GaPSC ethics division, which investigates and can dismiss, issue a reprimand, suspend, revoke, or deny a certificate. Educators are expected to cooperate, to self-report certain arrests and convictions, and to report suspected misconduct through the proper channel rather than investigating it themselves.
Worked example
A teacher is offered $60 an hour by the parent of a student currently in her class to tutor that student after school. Reasoning: standard 6 bars accepting private compensation from a student or parent for services connected to the educator's assigned duties, because the teacher's grading authority makes consent questionable. The correct action is to decline and refer the family to district-approved tutoring. Tutoring a student who is not in her class, for pay, with principal approval and outside contract hours, is generally permissible.
Traps that cost marks
- Discussing a student's IEP or discipline record with colleagues who have no educational need to know; standard 7 applies in the lounge as much as in a meeting.
- Accepting gifts or favors that could influence grading or placement decisions.
- "Fixing" a test booklet or coaching during testing; standard 10 plus standard 4.
- Handling a suspected boundary violation quietly instead of reporting it.
- Assuming a minor infraction cannot reach the Commission; any standard breach can be reported.