#147-TTC-193 --
DOCKET NO. 147-TTC-193
TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY, + BEFORE THE STATE
DIVISION OF EDUCATION +
PERSONNEL RECORDS +
+ COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
V. +
+
CHRIS DEE HOOTEN + THE STATE OF TEXAS
DECISION OF THE COMMISSIONER
Statement of the Case
Petitioner filed a complaint and request for sanctions
before the State Commissioner of Education on January 28,
1993, contending that Respondent is not of good moral
character and that Respondent's Texas Teaching Certificate
is invalid because Respondent's Alaska Teaching Certificate
was revoked before Respondent obtained his Texas license on
reciprocity grounds. Respondent answered on February 24,
1993.
Hearing on this matter was held before Hearings
Examiner Maggie H. Montelongo on April 22, 1993. Petitioner
appeared through Mr. Terry Johnson, Attorney at Law from
Austin, Texas. Respondent is represented by Mr. Rae
Leifeste, Attorney at Law from San Angelo, Texas.
On August 4, 1993, the Hearings Examiner issued a
Proposal for Decision recommending that Petitioner's request
be granted and Respondent's Texas Teacher Certificate be
suspended for a period of one year from the date of the
order. It was further recommended that Respondent's request
for an additional endorsement be denied. No exceptions were
filed.
Findings of Fact
After due consideration of the evidence and matters
officially noticed, in my capacity as State Commissioner of
Education, I make the following Findings of Fact:
1. In September of 1992, Respondent Hooten was
employed as an administrator with the Anchorage School
District. At that time, Respondent was charged with various
allegations of sexual harassment by some female subordinates
and the Alaska Professional Teaching Practices Commission
launched an investigation. Specifically, Respondent Hooten
was charged with engaging in a course of conduct of (1)
sexual harassment of female members of the school staff; (2)
false allegations about sexual activities of other staff
members; (3) kissing and/or fondling staff members without
their consent; (4) making false statement about other staff
members' conduct in order to cause dissension among staff
members; (5) coercing staff members in an effort to
influence their professional judgment, including attempting
to dissuade them from reporting his conduct or cooperating
in an investigation; (6) falsely listing classroom
observations that did not take place on teacher evaluations;
and (7) allowing his son to see the PSAT scores of his
classmates. (Stip.).
2. Respondent resigned from the Anchorage School
District on September 18, 1992. (TR. 31).
3. On October 1, 1992, Respondent Hooten signed a
memorandum of agreement wherein he acknowledged that his
Alaska teaching credentials would be revoked and that he was
not contesting the charges of sexual harassment which had
been levied against him. Respondent admits that he did not
review the document in detail; rather, he looked only at
points that were important to him. Respondent agreed to the
revocation of his certificate. There was no finding of
guilt on the charges issued by the Alaska Professional
Teaching Practices Commission. (TR. 36-37, 38, 54; Record).
4. On October 19, 1992, the Alaska Professional
Teaching Practices Commission revoked Respondent Chris
Hooten's Teaching Certificates No. 452-80-62770754703 and
No. XXX-XX-XXXX. The order was dated October 19,
1992, and was effective immediately. (P. Ex. 4).
5. Respondent Hooten was notified of the Alaska
revocation order by letter dated October 23, 1992. This
notice was sent to Respondent by certified mail No. P 911
230 165. The return receipt on this mailing reflects that
Respondent received and accepted the letter on October 26,
1993. (P. Exs. 4, 5).
6. Alaska Administrative Code AAC 12.095(a) required
Respondent to surrender his certificate within thirty days
of October 19, 1992, and Respondent was so notified by
letter dated October 23, 1992. Respondent Hooten did not
surrender his Alaska certificate for revocation within
thirty days. Notice of Respondent's revocation of
certification was also provided by mail to the Alaska
education agency in Juneau. (P. Ex. 5; TR. 57, 75-76).
7. Until the first week of January, 1993, the Alaska
Department of Education's file in the certification office
in Juneau, Alaska, indicated that Respondent held two
current and valid certificates in Alaska. (Stip.).
Although the Alaska Professional Teaching Practices
Commission sent notice of the order of revocation to Juneau
in October, this information was not programmed into the
Juneau computer system until January of 1993. (Record).
8. Although Respondent Hooten received and accepted
the certified mailing of October 23, 1992, notifying him of
the revocation of teaching credentials, Respondent chose not
to open the envelope. (TR. 61).
9. On December 1, 1992, Respondent Hooten filed an
application for a mid-management K through 12 principal
certificate in Texas and requested that Texas issue
equivalent certification. In support of his application,
Respondent submitted Alaska Teacher Certificate No.
XXX-XX-XXXX and indicated that it was a valid
certificate. Respondent also submitted a copy of his
original Texas Teaching Certificate. (P. Ex. 6, P. Ex. 2,
P. Ex. 7; TR. 38, 39, 59).
10. Question 10 on the application for Texas teacher
certification states the following:
"Have you ever had a teaching certificate revoked,
suspended, or denied, in this or any other state?"
Respondent answered no to this question on December 1, 1992,
when he applied for a mid-management certificate because he
believed it "sounded like a crime". Respondent was already
on notice that his Alaska teaching certificate had been
revoked by the Alaska Professional Teaching Practices
Commission on October 19, 1992. (TR. 40, 68, 69, 70).
Discussion
Respondent Hooten faced accusations in Alaska of
engaging in a course of conduct that constituted sexual
harassment between 1981 and 1992. Rather than going forward
to hearing to address the merits of the claims, Respondent
Hooten elected not to contest the charges, to surrender his
Alaska teaching credentials and to sign a memorandum of
agreement where he acknowledged that the Alaska Professional
Teaching Practices Commission was revoking his teaching
credentials. The Commission then notified Respondent on
October 23, 1992, that the revocation had been effected and
that he was to surrender his credentials within thirty days.
Respondent failed to surrender his Alaska certificates
within the requisite thirty days.
Instead, Respondent Hooten returned to Texas and
applied for a mid-management endorsement on the basis of the
equivalency of a valid Alaska teaching certificate. In
response to a question on the application, Respondent
indicated on December 1, 1992, that he had not had a
certificate revoked previously. This definitely was not a
correct representation of the status of Respondent's Alaska
teaching credentials.
Respondent contends that he had a question in his mind
about the categorization of his situation because he had
resigned and voluntarily surrendered his Alaska license and
did not believe it had been revoked. This is in direct
contravention to what Respondent agreed to in writing with
the Alaska Professional Teaching Practices Commission in
October of 1992.
Respondent also submits that he had doubt about the
status of his Alaska teaching credentials because he called
Juneau and the Department of Education advised him that its
computer system did not reflect the revocation of his
certificate. Apparently, Respondent attempted to rely upon
the float period between the time the order of revocation
was relayed from Anchorage to Juneau and the time the
information was finally inputted into the Juneau computer
system to justify his answer to Question 10 on the Texas
application.
Respondent has failed to present a persuasive argument
that he honestly did not know the status of his Alaska
teaching certificate in December of 1992 when he filled out
his Texas application. Given the sequence of events, and
Respondent's willful decision not to open his mail, it is
concluded that Respondent has engaged in a duel of semantics
and that he had actual knowledge of the revocation of his
Alaska teaching credentials and that he was required to have
surrendered them by the end of November, 1992.
Consequently, Respondent provided information that he knew
to be incorrect at the time of application in Texas.
Respondent's conduct in this case merits sanctions. It
is hereby recommended to the Commissioner of Education that
Respondent be denied his request for a mid-management
certificate and that Respondent's Texas Teaching Certificate
No. XXX-XX-XXXX be suspended for a period of one year due
to Respondent's obfuscation of true events.
Conclusions of Law
After due consideration of the record, matters
officially noticed, and the foregoing Findings of Fact, in
my capacity as State Commissioner of Education, I make the
following Conclusions of Law:
1. The Commissioner of Education has jurisdiction over
this action pursuant to Tex. Educ. Code Ann. +11.13(a) and
+13.046(a).
2. Respondent's failure to disclose the revocation of
his Alaska certification on December 1, 1992, is construed
to be an intentional concealment of the action. Such
behavior is a deliberate misrepresentation and obfuscation
of the validity of his Alaska credentials.
3. Respondent Hooten's conduct in reporting the
validity of his Alaska teaching credentials is not
forthright and clouds his moral character.
4. Respondent is not entitled to a mid-management
endorsement on grounds of reciprocity with an Alaska
teaching credential.
5. Respondent Hooten is charged with notice of
revocation of his teaching credentials by the Alaska
Professional Teaching Practices Commission as of October 23,
1992.
6. Respondent provided false information on his
application for an additional endorsement when he indicated
that he had never had a license revoked.
7. Alaska revoked Respondent's teaching certificate
on October 19, 1992, pursuant to a memorandum of agreement
between Respondent Hooten and the Alaska Professional
Teaching Practices Commission.
8. Respondent Hooten is to surrender any and all
copies of Texas Teaching Certificate No. XXX-XX-XXXX
immediately due to suspension of such.
9. Respondent Hooten's Texas Teaching Certificate No.
XXX-XX-XXXX is suspended for a period of one year from the
date of signature of this order due to Respondent's conduct
in obfuscating the circumstances surrounding the revocation
of his Alaska teaching credentials.
10. Respondent's request for an additional endorsement
is denied.
11. Petitioner's complaint and request for sanctions
is GRANTED.
O R D E R
After due consideration of the record, matters
officially noticed, and the foregoing Findings of Fact and
Conclusions of Law, in my capacity as State Commissioner of
Education, it is hereby
ORDERED that Respondent's Texas Teacher Certificate No.
XXX-XX-XXXX be and is hereby, SUSPENDED for a period of one
year from the date of signature of this order due to
Respondent's conduct in obfuscating the circumstances
surrounding the revocation of his Alaska teaching
credentials; and,
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Respondent surrender any and
all copies of Texas Teacher Certificate No. XXX-XX-XXXX to
the Texas Education Agency, Division of Educational
Personnel Records; and,
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Texas Education Agency,
Division of Educational Personnel Records prepare and
distribute appropriate notices informing the public of the
suspension of Respondent's Texas Teacher Certificate; and,
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Respondent's request for an
additional endorsement be, and is hereby, DENIED; and,
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner's complaint and
request for sanction be, and is hereby, GRANTED.
SIGNED AND ISSUED this ___ day of ______,
1993.
______
LIONEL R. MENO
COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION