Jennifer Armenia

EDUL 6990

Assignment 1

 

What do you think the legislature was trying to prevent when it passed O.C.G.A. 45-10-1?

The code of ethics for Government services (O.C.G.A. 45-10-1) establishes a code of ethics for employees serving in the government division in Georgia.  This is an attempt to establish a code of conduct for any employee in a government service in Georgia.  This allows the O.C.G.A. to define any misconduct and illustrate to employees acceptable conduct while employed by a government service in Georgia.  Passing this law allowed the legislature to try to prevent corruption of people in government services and require employees to follow proper professional conduct according to the code. 

 

What are the potential consequences for a government employee in Georgia who violates a provision of the Code of Ethics for Government Service?

There are several consequences for a government employee who violates a provision of the Code of Ethics for Government Service.  Before any consequences can be enforced, formal charges have to be filed and a formal hearing related to the charge has to take place.  Once a hearing is held and an individual is found guilty then the consequences such as removal or suspension from office or suspension or revocation of certificate can be enforced by the governor or appointed agent.

 

What should be the proper reaction of a school principal who discovers that the most effective teacher in the sixth grade has regularly been skipping required professional development sessions? The principal knows that the teacher has been very effective at helping the school’s lowest-achieving students make substantial improvements in their standardized test scores since before the principal even entered the field of education. The principal further knows the teacher in question has a notoriously low tolerance for officialdom, and if pressed on this issue, may transfer to a school district located near the teacher’s new house in the country.

 

By not attending required staff development sessions teacher A is in violation of section 3 of 45-10-1 because teacher A is not “giv[ing] a full day’s day's labor for a full day's pay and giv[ing] to the performance of his duties his earnest effort and best thought”.

Even though the principal is aware of teacher A’s abilities in the classroom he or she is unable to excuse teacher A from the professional development session or that would be in violation of section 5 of 45-10-1 by dispensing special favors or privileges.  In order to abide by the code of ethics Teacher A and the principal need to resolve this situation so it is a win-win situation for everybody.  One solution to this problem would be to offer different professional development sessions and allow ALL teachers to choose which professional development session to attend, therefore allowing Teacher A to choose a professional development session which he or she feels would benefit him or her the most.  

Another way this situation could be solved would be by allowing Teacher A to teach the rest of the staff some of the strategies she uses to help her students achieve during a professional development session.  This would require Teacher A to attend the session and help other teachers at the same time.  

If neither of these solutions would work the principal would be required to report Teacher A to the PSC for violation of code of ethics.