Mississippi teacher accused of cheating on state tests

Wright
Wright
Wright

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Department of Education will try to revoke the license of a second Clarksdale teacher it accuses of cheating on state tests.

A department news release said Thursday that a complaint was filed Wednesday against Tetra Winters of Heidelberg Elementary School.

State Superintendent Carey Wright said an investigation shows Winters cheated during the 2012-13 school year.

“We will not tolerate cheating by educators in Mississippi,” Wright said. “Cheating deprives students of an opportunity to learn and puts them behind academically. Educators who engage in this type of conduct do not belong in the classroom.”

The complaint says that when students in 2013 took the Mississippi Curriculum Test Second Edition, also called the MCT2, Winters coached them or altered or interfered with their answers. It also says she failed to report violations of testing procedures.

Winters could not immediately be reached Thursday, and it was not clear whether she has an attorney to comment on her behalf. A call to Dennis Dupree, superintendent of Clarksdale Municipal School District, was not immediately answered.

The Commission on Teacher and Administrator Education, Certification and Licensure and Development has scheduled a Sept. 29 hearing to consider suspending or revoking Winters’ license.

A former Heidelberg Elementary teacher, Frances Smith-Kemp, voluntarily surrendered her license in July after she admitted to cheating on tests.