Judge: Teacher who posted test answers can retain license

SNELLVILLE - A Gwinnett County elementary school teacher who posted questions for a countywide student assessment test on the Internet cannot have his teaching license suspended, a judge ruled. <br> <br> James Hope, a fourth-grade teacher at Centerville Elementary School, made the Gateway exam questions public more than two years ago as a protest against the test. <br> <br> Superior Court Judge Gail Tusan of neighboring Fulton County said Tuesday that a suspension was not supported by the evidence. <br> <br> ``Hope&#39;s actions after he had already given the test were unrelated to preparing his students or giving them the test,&#39;&#39; she wrote. <br> <br> The Professional Standards Commission, which certifies Georgia teachers, originally recommended that Hope&#39;s license be revoked. The commission said Hope violated the teacher code of ethics by not adhering to a contract he signed to keep the test questions secret. It said he violated that contract when he posted six standardized questions from the March 2000 Gateway test on a Web site criticizing the test. <br> <br> An administrative law judge scaled back the punishment to a six-month suspension. <br> <br> Hope maintains the Gateway is not an accurate assessment of student achievement, but he has given the exam to his fourth-grade classes. Hope said he intends to continue teaching at Centerville, where he was voted teacher of the year by his co-workers in 2000-01.