2014 Educator Conduct Report OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................... 3 The Office of Professional Conduct .................................................................. 3

Referral Data .................................................................................... 4 Referrals: 2005 - 2014 ....................................................................................... 4 2014 Referrals: By Applicants v. Licensed Educators ......................................................... 5 By Non-Application Referral Sources ......................................................... 6

Investigation Data .......................................................................... 7 Investigations: 2005 - 2014 ................................................................................ 7 2014 Investigations: By Applicants v. Licensed Educators ......................................................... 8 By Referral Source ..................................................................................... 9 By Offense Type ........................................................................................ 9 A Closer Look: Conduct Unbecoming Investigations ....................................... 10

Case Disposition Data .................................................................. 12 Case Dispositions: 2005 - 2014 ....................................................................... 12 2014 Case Dispositions: By Decision Maker ................................................................................... 13 By Type of Action ..................................................................................... 13 By State Superintendent .......................................................................... 14 By Advising Board Member Committee ................................................... 14 By State Board ......................................................................................... 15

Appeals ......................................................................................... 16 Active Appeals: 2011-2014 .............................................................................. 16

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INTRODUCTION The Office of Professional Conduct On behalf of the State Board of Education, the Office of Professional Conduct (Office) administers the ethical standards for the teaching profession pursuant to Revised Code §3319.31 and §3319.311. The Office investigates allegations of educator misconduct involving criminal or ethical violations and if warranted initiates disciplinary action against an educator’s credentials. The Office has jurisdiction to investigate allegations of misconduct by any person who holds or has applied for a license issued by the State Board of Education. Each year, the Office compiles data regarding the allegations it receives, the cases it investigates, and the disciplinary actions the State Board of Education imposes. Since 2005, the Office has collected and provided this data to the State Board of Education, members of the teaching profession, and other stakeholders. The data in this report provides a summary of the Office’s work in 2014, as well as providing historical information regarding referrals, investigations and disciplinary actions.

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REFERRAL DATA Referrals: 2005-2014 Educators in Ohio are nationally recognized, highly qualified and exemplify the high ethical standards embodied in the Licensure Code of Professional Conduct for Ohio Educators. With approximately 300,000 licensed educators1, the Office receives a relatively small number of educator misconduct referrals each year.

Yearly Referrals 8246

4770

2005

5896

8089

8252

8554

8068

8231

9087

6201

Referrals

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Educator misconduct referrals fluctuate from year to year. After increased fingerprint background checks and mandated school district reporting laws were enacted in 2007, the number of yearly referrals rose significantly from 2007 to 2008. Yearly referrals were fairly consistent from 2008 through 2013, with the referrals only fluctuating from 1.9% to 5.7% per year. In 2014, the Office received 856 more referrals than the previous year. This represents a 10.4% increase in educator misconduct referrals. This is the biggest yearly increase in referrals since 2008.

1

Educators include teachers, principals, superintendents, and other persons serving schools (e.g., school nurses, coaches, substitute teachers, treasurers, etc.).

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Percentage Changes in Yearly Referrals Yearly Referrals

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Increase/ Decrease

n/a

23.6%

5.2%

32.9%

-1.9%

2.0%

3.7%

-5.7%

2.0%

10.4%

2014 Referrals: By Applicants v. Licensed Educators The Office receives allegations of educator misconduct from various sources. Every licensure application that indicates a possible criminal conviction is reviewed by the Office. In addition, the Office receives referrals from criminal background checks, children services agencies, school districts, citizens, and other external agencies. In 2014, the Office received the majority of referrals through the licensure application process. Out of 9087 referrals received, 7316 referrals were related to applications for licensure.

2013 Referrals

Applicants 7316 81%

81% of referrals involved individuals submitting an application for licensure Licensed Educators 1771 19%

19% of referrals alleged misconduct by educators already holding a license

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2014 Referrals: Non-Application Referral Sources By analyzing the 1771 referrals the Office received involving licensed educators in 2014, the majority of the referrals were submitted through children services agencies, the Office’s participation in the rap back program 2, school districts, and citizens. The Office received 15% of non-application referrals from media reports, external agencies, NASDTEC 3 reports, internal ODE offices, and prosecutors. In 2014, the number of internal referrals increased dramatically from the year before. In 2013, the Office only received 15 internal referrals compared to 164 internal referrals in 2014. This increase reflects the internal referrals related to allegations of data manipulation by eight districts.

2014 Non-Application Referrals By Referral Source

School Districts

400

Rap Back Reports Citizen Reports

235

Children Services Media

25

NASDTEC

30

External Agency

350

37

Internal Referrals

Prosecutor Reports

526

0

4

164 100

200

300

400

500

600

2

Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code §3319.316, the Department of Education is required to participate in the retained applicant fingerprint database program (commonly referred to as “rap back”). The rap back program is implemented by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI&I). BCI&I provides daily notifications to the Office of any license holder’s recent arrest or conviction. In turn, the Office informs the respective employing school so it can contact BCI&I for further information and make necessary employment-related decisions.

3

The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) maintains a database of disciplinary actions imposed against educators by other states. When an out-of-state disciplinary action is added to the NASDTEC database, the educator’s information is cross-referenced to ODE’s educator database to determine if the educator is licensed in Ohio and whether the Office needs to initiate an investigation.

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INVESTIGATIONS Investigations: 2005-2014 The Office evaluates each referral it receives to determine whether a more indepth investigation is warranted. These evaluations are based upon statutory provisions, licensure eligibility requirements, past disciplinary decisions imposed by the State Board, and ethical standards detailed in the Licensure Code of Professional Conduct for Ohio Educators. With fewer than 1000 referrals investigated yearly, less than one percent of the approximately 300,000 licensed educators in Ohio are involved in the investigation process each year.

Yearly Referrals v. Yearly Investigations 8246

4770

786

2005

5896

8089

8252

8554

8068

8231

9087

6201

Received

Investigated 619

2006

655

2007

895

2008

959

2009

931

2010

983

2011

959

2012

711

2013

997

2014

In 2014, the Office opened 997 cases for investigation. The number of investigations increased this year by 248 cases or 40.2%. This increase is due to the Office starting its review of data manipulation allegations by eight school districts and a rise in the number of application referrals and educator misconduct referrals submitted by school districts.

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2014 Investigations: By Applicants v. Licensed Educators Comparing investigations involving applicants for licensure versus licensed educators, the majority of cases the Office investigated in 2014 involved licensed educators. In 2014, the Office investigated 703 licensed educators and 294 applicants for licensure.

2014 Investigations

Applicants 294 29%

Licensed Educators 703 71%

71% of investigations involved licensed educators

29% of investigations involved applicants

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2014 Investigations: By Referral Source Of the 997 cases investigated by the Office in 2014, school district reports led to 33.4% of the Office’s investigations. Referrals involving applications accounted for 29.5% of investigations, while rap back referrals resulted in 9.5% of investigations and internal referrals resulted in 11.0% of investigations. The remaining 16.6% of investigations originated from citizen reports, media reports, external agency referrals, NASDTEC reports, and prosecutor reports.

2014 Investigations By Referral Source

School Districts

Applications

Rap Back Reports Citizen Reports

Children Services Media

23

External Agency NASDTEC

5

Prosecutor Reports

2

Internal Referrals 0

37

63

294

95

333

35 110 50

100

150

200

250

300

350

2014 Investigations: By Offense Type The Office investigates allegations involving criminal convictions, achievement test violations, contract termination violations, and allegations of conduct unbecoming to the teaching profession. Conduct unbecoming allegations can include child abuse and neglect, inappropriate use of school technology, unprofessional relationships with students, or any other conduct that negatively reflects on the teaching profession.

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In 2014, the Office investigated allegations involving 893 criminal convictions and 1085 conduct unbecoming accusations. 4 Nineteen investigations involved allegations of early termination of teaching contracts in violation of R.C. 3119.15. Forty-nine investigations in 2014 involved educators violating testing protocols and/or assisting students to cheat on assessment tests in violation of R.C. 3319.151.

2014 Investigations By Offense Type

Conduct Unbecoming

96

Criminal-Drug Offenses

Criminal-Misc. Offenses

39

Criminal-Sex Offenses

Criminal-Theft Offenses

Criminal-Traffic Offenses

Criminal-Violent Offenses

19

Broken Contract

Testing Violations

1085

0

49

289 138

128

203

200

400

600

800

1000

A Closer Look: Conduct Unbecoming Investigations In 2013, the Office began tracking conduct unbecoming investigations by category. The 21 categories align with the conduct standards listed in the Licensure Code of Professional Conduct for Ohio Educators. For example, the Office tracks the number of case investigations involving child abuse and neglect, academic fraud, unprofessional relationships with students, misuse of school resources, inappropriate use of technology, and falsification of licensure applications. The increased numbers in the conduct unbecoming categories from 2013 to 2014 is directly related to the 40.2% increase in the number of investigations opened in 2014.

4

When case investigations are evaluated by type of offense involved, some cases had more than one type of offense/conduct due to multiple convictions or misconduct allegations. Therefore, the total number of offenses for 2014 exceeds the number of case investigations opened for the year.

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1200

Conduct Unbecoming Investigations by Category CONDUCT UNBECOMING CATEGORY

2013

2014

2

24

21

52

15

25

Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation

6

58

Children Services – Emotional Maltreatment

1

3

Children Services – Neglect

2

16

Children Services – Physical Abuse

22

71

Children Services – Sexual Abuse

12

16

Data Scrubbing

3

99

Disclosing Confidential Information

2

17

Failure to Supervise Students

17

54

Falsification of Licensure Application

51

60

9

6

73

218

Inappropriate Comments/Gestures

18

39

Inappropriate Relationship

34

42

License Violation

29

59

20

45

16

33

Other

10

96

Physical Altercation

26

52

389

1085

Academic Fraud (grade changing; cheating on non-achievement tests)

Accurate Reporting/ Failure to Report (falsifying records; not reporting child abuse)

Alcohol/Drug Use (non-criminal misconduct)

Finding for Recovery (issued by Auditor of State)

Inappropriate Behavior (misconduct at school that does not fit other categories)

(NASDTEC referrals, fraudulent licenses)

Misuse of School Funds/Resources (theft of funds, misuse of leave time, co-mingling funds)

Misuse of Technology (emails, texting, on-line communications)

TOTAL

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Case Dispositions Case Dispositions: 2005-2014 The State Board of Education resolves case investigations pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 3319.31. The State Board resolves cases by either imposing a disciplinary action or determining that disciplinary action is not warranted. Disciplinary decisions are based on statutory mandates, licensure eligibility requirements, ethical standards in the Licensure Code of Professional Conduct by Ohio Educators, and past disciplinary decisions by the State Board. The State Board does not impose disciplinary action if an allegation of misconduct is untrue, evidence is not sufficient to prove the misconduct, or the proven conduct is a minor infraction that does not warrant disciplinary action. In addition, the Office may place a case in an inactive status if an applicant has not engaged with the Office and provided the information necessary to process an application. While a case is in an inactive status, the Office does not issue a license nor initiate disciplinary action. In 2014, the State Board resolved 676 cases and imposed disciplinary action in 449, or 66.5%, of the cases. This was the second consecutive year that more than 50% of case investigations resulted in disciplinary action.

Yearly Case Dispositions No Discipline

Discipline

297 242

389 242

355 242

537 286

554 442

539 426

622 370

420 310

339 385

227 449

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

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2014 Case Dispositions: By Decision Maker The State Board exercises its authority to impose disciplinary action through direct review of cases and by delegating authority to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Advising Board Member Committee 5. In 2014, the State Superintendent, Advising Board Member Committee, and State Board collectively resolved 676 cases. The State Superintendent resolved 329 cases, the Advising Board Member Committee resolved 227 cases, and the State Board resolved 120 cases.

2014 Dispositions 120 18% 227 33%

329 49%

State Superintendent ABM Committee SBOE

2014 Case Dispositions: By Type of Action There are several types of disciplinary actions the State Board can impose to address educator misconduct. The State Board can issue a letter of admonishment, the least severe disciplinary action, or can limit, suspend, deny, or revoke a license, the more severe disciplinary actions. A consent agreement is a settlement agreement that addresses an educator’s misconduct through rehabilitative efforts to give an educator the opportunity to remain in the teaching profession through corrective action.

5

The Advising Board Member Committee consists of an appointed State Board Member and representatives from the Ohio Department of Education’s senior leadership, the Office of Professional Conduct, and the Attorney General’s Office. The Committee meets monthly to review and approve settlement terms for cases in lieu of the cases proceeding to administrative disciplinary hearings.

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2014 Case Dispositions By Type of Action

No Disciplinary Action

227

Admonishment

72

Automatic Denial/Revocation

30

Consent Agreement

227

No Disciplinary Action

0

Admonishment

1

Suspension

7

Denial

8

Permanent Denial

21

Revocation

7

Permanent Revocation

76 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Resolved by State Superintendent Resolved by ABM Committee Resolved by SBOE

Case Dispositions by State Superintendent Through delegation, the State Superintendent has the authority to resolve cases by determining that no disciplinary action is warranted, issuing a letter of admonishment, or automatically denying or revoking a license as mandated by Revised Code 3319.31(C). In 2014, the State Superintendent resolved 329 cases. Disciplinary action was imposed in 102 cases with the remaining 227 cases resolved without any disciplinary action.

Case Dispositions by Advising Board Member Committee The State Board delegates its authority to review and approve settlement agreements to the Advising Board Member Committee. The committee reviews possible settlement terms for cases deemed appropriate for remedial action. The focus of the settlement agreements, referred to as consent agreements, is to put corrective measures in place to rehabilitate the applicant and/or educator and 14 | Page

prevent similar conduct if the applicant/educator remains in the teaching profession. Cases that do not result in a settlement agreement typically advance to an administrative hearing. Of the cases the Advising Board Member Committee reviewed in 2014, 227 cases were resolved through consent agreements.

Case Dispositions by State Board The State Board reviews all cases proceeding through the administrative hearing process and cases involving an educator voluntarily surrendering a license. 6 The State Board can suspend, limit, deny, or revoke a license and determine whether the applicant or license holder is eligible to re-apply for any license issued by the State Board. After reviewing a case, the State Board may decide not to impose any disciplinary action or may admonish the applicant or license holder for engaging in conduct unbecoming to the teaching profession. In 2014, the State Board resolved 120 cases and issued disciplinary action in each case. In 97 cases, the State Board imposed the most severe disciplinary action, permanent revocation and permanent denial. Of these 97 cases, 34 of the cases involved either an educator voluntarily surrendering a license or an applicant agreeing to the voluntary denial of a license. The State Board imposed less severe disciplinary actions in 23 cases.

6

The State Board initiates the administrative hearing process through a written notice to notify the applicant or license holder of its intended disciplinary action and his/her right to an administrative hearing. If the applicant or license holder does not request an administrative hearing, the case may be reviewed by the State Board without an administrative hearing being held.

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Appeals Active Appeals: 2011-2014 As with prior years, in 2014, courts consistently upheld disciplinary actions the State Board imposed. Various courts of common pleas or courts of appeal resolved eight out of seventeen State Board actions that an applicant or license holder appealed. Courts affirmed the State Board’s disciplinary decisions in three cases and dismissed four other cases. A court of appeals reversed the State Board’s order in one case by modifying the disciplinary action imposed by the State Board. Nine cases remain open pending appeal. 2014 Cases Appealed Michelle Blain Guselyn Bobb Tinia Bradshaw Jorethia Chuck Todd Dolwick Jeanette Duke Carol Haskins Nikki Highfield Willena Jackson Edwina McClendon Norris Peter Schaal Kimberly Wall Thomas Weaver

Disposition of SBOE Action Pending Affirmed Dismissed Pending Dismissed Pending Dismissed Pending Pending 7 Pending Dismissed Reversed/Modified (sanction) 8 Pending 9

Disposition Date n/a 02/05/15 08/26/14 n/a 07/15/14 n/a 01/12/15 n/a n/a n/a 12/15/14 04/13/15 n/a

2013 Cases Appealed Santiago Anguiano Scott Ballard

Disposition of SBOE Action Affirmed Affirmed

Disposition Date 06/27/14 03/19/14

7

On January 16, 2015, the Summit County Common Pleas Court affirmed the State Board’s order. Ms. Jackson filed an appeal in the Ninth District Court of Appeals. The appeal is still pending.

8

On August 19, 2014, the Shelby County Common Pleas Court reversed the State Board’s order suspending Ms. Wall’s license and reinstated the hearing officer’s recommendation to admonish Ms. Wall. ODE filed an appeal on September 18, 2014 in the Third District Court of Appeals. On April 13, 2015, the Third District Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the Shelby County Common Pleas Court.

9

On October 20, 2014, the Seneca County Common Pleas Court overturned the State Board’s decision. ODE filed an appeal in the Third District Court of Appeals on November 17, 2014. The appeal is still pending.

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2011 Cases Appealed Jerome Johnson Sherry Orth

10

Disposition of SBOE Action Pending Pending 10

Disposition Date n/a n/a

On February 15, 2012, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas affirmed the State Board’s order to permanently revoke Ms. Orth’s licenses. On September 28, 2012, the Tenth District Court of Appeals vacated the decision of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas and remanded the case to the State Board of Education for further proceedings. On March 12, 2013, the State Board adopted a resolution suspending Ms. Orth’s license. Ms. Orth filed an appeal of the State Board’s resolution with the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas on April 11, 2013. The Franklin County Court of Common Pleas upheld the State Board’s revised order. Ms. Orth appealed to the Tenth District Court of Appeals on January 6, 2014. On December 4, 2014, the Tenth District Court of Appeals affirmed the State Board’s order suspending Ms. Orth’s license. The only issue currently pending before the Tenth District Court of Appeals is Ms. Orth’s motion for attorney fees.

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Office of Professional Conduct 25 South Front Street Mailstop 104 | Columbus, Ohio 43215-4183 (614) 446-5638 | (877) 644-6338 | (614) 995-3752 (fax) education.ohio.gov

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