Pennsylvania Code › Title 22 - EDUCATION › Part XIV - Professional Standards and Practices Commission › Chapter 233 - BYLAWS-STATEMENT OF POLICY › Section 233.113 - Disciplinary proceedings

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
				Disciplinary proceedings will be initiated and conducted in accordance with
				sections 9 and 9.2-9.5 of the act (24 P. S. §§
										2070.9 and
				2070.9b-2070.9e) and §§
				233.114-233.122.
(b) At any
				disciplinary proceeding conducted by or on behalf of the Commission, the
				affected educator is entitled to represent himself or be represented by legal
				counsel. No other designated representative other than legal counsel will be
				permitted to appear on behalf of the affected educator.
(c) The Commission considers allegations of
				misconduct on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the details
				specific to each case. The overall purposes of the educator discipline system
				and the Commission's responsibility in imposing sanctions are as follows:
				protecting the public from educators who are unfit to discharge their
				professional duties and ensuring the safety and security of students and others
				in schools in this Commonwealth; preserving the integrity and reputation of the
				teaching profession and the public's confidence in the profession; declaring
				and upholding proper standards of conduct and performance; determining the
				continued fitness of an educator to remain in the profession and, whenever
				possible, rehabilitating the educator; and deterring further unethical conduct.
				The discipline, if any, to be imposed in a particular case will depend upon the
				facts and circumstances of the case, will be fashioned in light of the purposes
				of educator discipline in this subsection and will take into account
				aggravating or mitigating circumstances. The Commission strives to ensure that
				similar violations result in similar outcomes and that the sanction or
				combination of sanctions that it decides to impose is both sufficient and no
				more than is necessary to achieve the purposes of sanctions. When applying
				these principles and crafting appropriate sanctions, the Commission may
				consider one or more of the following factors, as it deems appropriate:
(1) The seriousness and circumstances
				surrounding the misconduct.
(2) The
				extent, severity and imminence of danger to students, other educators or the
				public.
(3) Whether the misconduct
				involved sexual misconduct, or sexual abuse or exploitation.
(4) The status of the victim, if any,
				including the victim's age or special vulnerability.
(5) The harm or adverse impact to students or
				other persons.
(6) The harm or
				adverse impact to the educator's employer and to the profession.
(7) If the misconduct or violation is an
				isolated occurrence, part of a continuing pattern or one of a series of
				incidents.
(8) The educator's state
				of mind at the time of the misconduct (that is, negligent, reckless or
				intentional).
(9) The pecuniary
				benefit or other gain inuring to the educator by virtue of the
				misconduct.
(10) Whether the
				conduct was criminal in nature.
(11) The likelihood of a recurrence of the
				misconduct or violation.
(12) The
				age and level of maturity of the students served by the educator.
(13) The danger that students will imitate
				the educator's behavior or use it as a model.
(14) The educator's level of
				experience.
(15) The educator's
				past performance and performance following the misconduct or
				violation.
(16) The educator's
				prior disciplinary record, including warnings, or absence of a prior
				disciplinary record.
(17) Timely
				good faith effort to make restitution or to rectify the consequences of the
				misconduct.
(18) Meaningful and
				sustained period of successful rehabilitation.
(19) Impositions of other penalties or
				sanctions, including local disciplinary action.
(20) The educator's attitude and conduct
				during the disciplinary proceedings.
(21) The deterrence impact of the
				sanction.
(22) Penalties imposed in
				other cases for similar violations.
(23) Other extenuating circumstances or other
				factors bearing on the appropriate nature of a disciplinary sanction.