POLICY HIGHLIGHTER

Volume 14, Number 26
November 9, 2004

Updated 11/18/04

Illegitimate "degrees" being used by some teachers to obtain higher pay

Earlier this year multiple stories surfaced in the national media exposing the problem of federal government employees obtaining "fake" degrees to acquire salary increases. These "degrees" were claimed by employees at the Department of Homeland Security, the Pentagon, the Transportation Security Administration, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Department of Treasury and the Department of Education. Illegitimate degrees also surfaced in a number of state reviews of teacher personnel files.

In 2002, three Oregon teachers had their credentials revoked after claiming to hold degrees from La Salle University in Louisiana, a now-defunct diploma mill (there is an accredited La Salle in Pennsylvania). In 2003, the state of Georgia audited its 130,000 teachers and found 11 had received salary increases based on "degrees" from Saint Regis University, a diploma mill in Liberia, Africa. In July those teachers were permanently barred from teaching in Georgia. Similar investigations have been launched in Texas, California and Hawaii, as well as abroad in the United Kingdom, Australia and India.

Using an illegitimate degree to obtain a job or promotion is only illegal in North Dakota, Nevada, Indiana, New Jersey, Illinois and Oregon, where the crime is a misdemeanor punishable by job revocation and/or fines ranging from $350 to $2,500.

What is a diploma mill?
The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization states: "Diploma mills (or degree mills) are substandard or fraudulent ‘colleges' that offer potential students degrees with little or no serious work. Some are simple frauds: a mailbox to which people send money in exchange for paper that purports to be a college degree. Others require some nominal work from the student but do not require college-level course work that is normally required for a degree."

Regarding the problem with diploma mills, Alan Contreras, Administrator of Oregon's Office of Degree Authorization recently said: "We as a society treat the idea of a college degree as though it means something. If everybody's got a Ph.D., then where are you? We all run around calling each other doctor. But the effect on society is profoundly negative."

These concerns prompted the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) to launch a survey of the state's school districts to determine if any teachers had used illegitimate degrees to obtain salary increases. EFF sought to verify that all Washington teachers purporting to hold advanced degrees actually received them from legitimate, accredited institutions of higher learning. In the United States, accredited institutions can be checked through a comprehensive institutional database compiled by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) includes as a minimum prerequisite to hold a teaching certificate in Washington "a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college/university." A phone inquiry to OSPI also revealed that the same requirement applies to an advanced degree: such a degree must come from a regionally accredited college/university (foreign transcripts are evaluated to determine US-equivalency).

Of Washington's 296 school districts, only 65 provided the information we requested. An additional 25 districts refused to provide assistance. Most districts did not respond at all.

Of the 65 school districts that provided information, four districts were found to have a total of six teachers claiming illegitimate degrees.

This data is troubling when one considers that, of the 22 percent of school districts that provided information, there are at least six degrees from "institutions" unaccredited for use in qualifying for higher salaries based on degrees obtained. This begs the question: How many more unaccredited degrees have been claimed in the remaining 78 percent of Washington's school districts?

The State Auditor's Office issued a finding earlier this year against the Pateros School District for not verifying the degrees reported by teachers. The auditor determined that at least one Pateros teacher received $35,365 in "unearned salary and benefits" as a result of claiming an unaccredited university degree.

Recommendations
1) Washington should follow the lead of states that have made it illegal to obtain a job or profit from the use of illegitimate degrees.

2) Until changes are made to the current teacher salary model, OSPI should perform a statewide audit of all school districts to confirm that all claimed teacher degrees come from legitimate, accredited institutions of higher learning.

3) Instead of basing teacher pay primarily on job seniority and degrees earned, legislators should adopt a flexible salary model that allows educators to earn competitive pay for demonstrable excellence and for teaching in high-demand subject areas. Earlier this year the Democratic Leadership Council recommended a similar policy.

Conclusion
The state's current salary system, which pays teachers based on how long they've held their job and how many degrees they can show on paper, is bad for students and provides incentives for fraud. The state should instead pay teachers based on their effectiveness in the classroom and their ability to demonstrate student achievement.

Additional Information
KIRO 7 TV 11-8-04 story
Diploma mill example

Prepared by: Sarah Carrico | Research Assistant | 360.956.3482 (please contact Marsha Richards)

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org