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Teacher Certification Section - Referral to Ethics and Investigation

Every application for certification contains a "personal affirmation" section in which three questions are asked of applicants.

• Have you resigned or been discharged from any position, including the armed forces, while under suspicion of having engaged in criminal, immoral, or unprofessional conduct, or are you under investigation for any such charge?
• Have you been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, including pleading nolo contendere, or are you now under investigation for any such offense, other than a minor traffic offense?
• Have you ever surrendered a teaching certificate/credential/ license/permit, or had one denied, revoked or suspended, or is any investigation or adverse action now pending against you?

The applicant is informed that false statements made in an application may constitute sufficient grounds to invalidate or deny a certificate, and may constitute grounds for legal action. Applicants also give Ethics permission to obtain copies of any criminal and personnel records, including those that may have been sealed or expunged, for investigation purposes.

Individuals may be referred to Ethics for investigation for one or more of the following: applicants who answer "yes" to any of the personal affirmation questions are referred to Ethics; a local school system or college official may refer an individual to PSC or Ethics for any violation of the standards of conduct; a newspaper article implicating an educator in violation of the standards of conduct is referred to Ethics for investigation; notification from the national educator clearinghouse that a disciplinary action has been taken against an individual’s certification in another state is referred to Ethics for investigation; an applicant’s petition for the right to reapply for a certificate that was previously denied or revoked.

When cases are referred to Ethics, a file is opened and the investigation is begun. Additionally, a flag is made to the PSC Certification Channel that the individual is under investigation by Ethics. When a case is referred to Ethics, all processing of the individual’s certification application is discontinued until a recommendation is received from Ethics. Because of the nature and severity of the investigations, strict adherence to due process is followed. For this reason, additional time is necessary to process the application from its first receipt in the PSC, through the investigation, and ending with the final recommendation and action. Educator discipline cases can require several months or a year to complete, depending on the complexity of the case. Individuals involved in this process are notified of the status of their case as steps are completed.