In accordance with Vermont law a licensed educator may be subject to a licensing action against his or her educator's license for engaging in unprofessional conduct or for being found incompetent. A licensing action means any action that suspends, revokes, limits or conditions licensure or certification in any way, including warnings, reprimands, probations and administrative penalties.
Licensing actions imposed against educators are quite complex. The need for taking licensing action may serve different purposes depending on the facts of the particular case. In some cases, licensing discipline serves a critical deterrent purpose where misconduct on the part of the educator places students in physical or emotional jeopardy. Other cases may involve competence issues or minor misconduct where rehabilitation is both possible and desirable. Further, each case may contain either aggravating or mitigating factors - sometimes both in the same case - that must be considered. The reader should view the following in that context.
Pertinent Laws and Regulations
Educator licensing is governed by both Vermont statutes and Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators rules. Pertinent sections of these documents are cited below.
Vermont Statutes
16 V.S.A., Chapter 51 establishes a board of professional educators to oversee the training, licensing, and professional standards of teachers and administrators and establishes hearing panels to determine compliance with those standards to help assure high caliber professionals and high quality public educational programs for Vermont students.
Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators Rules
The Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators (VSBPE) takes seriously its charge to create rules that govern the training, licensing and professional standards of teachers and administrators. Rule revisions were recently implemented effective April 12, 2017. The Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators (VSBPE) creates and approves rules pertaining to Educator Licensure in the state of Vermont.
Licensing Hearing Panel
The 14 member Licensing Hearing Panel (LHP) is a teacher majority board. The Board’s purpose is to establish hearing panels to determine compliance with the professional standards of teachers and administrators and to help assure high caliber professionals and high quality public educational programs for Vermont students.
Licensing Hearing Panel Members 2022-2023
List of Suspensions and Revocations
The spreadsheet contains a list of educators who have been subjected to disciplinary action through 2012. The list is being updated to include more past actions. The list will reflect the voluntary surrender of a license by an educator during an investigation or disciplinary proceeding has the same force and effect as the revocation of a license. For questions, please email the Agency of Education legal staff or call (802) 828-1130.