Georgia Enacts Ban on Profitable Test Deception Operations
Cheating in school just got a lot tougher in Georgia. On Wednesday, Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 213, making it unlawful to profit from providing students with substantially completed work that could be considered as part of an assessment task.
This new law applies to public, private, and home-schooled K-12 students, college students, and anyone taking career courses or seeking certifications in the state. It's not just about selling essays or answering exam questions anymore; it's about those who profit from providing any work that could reasonably boost someone's grade or certification. This practice, often disguised as tutoring or "homework help," is known as contract cheating, and it's a global, multibillion-dollar industry that experts claim is corroding the foundation of education by allowing students to essentially buy grades and degrees.
Many countries, such as Ireland, Australia, and England, have outlawed contract cheating with varying success. However, in the United States, it has typically fallen to the states to regulate. With Georgia's signing, it becomes one of only 19 states with laws related to contract cheating. Enforcement is a key issue, though, and under the new Georgia law, that power lies with the state's Attorney General, Chris Carr.
The push for this law comes from an unexpected and powerful coalition – the Credential Integrity Action Alliance (CIAA). Founding members include schools like Western Governors University and the University of Maryland, Global Campus, as well as leading education companies such as Pearson VUE, Wiley, CompTIA, Proctorio, and Turnitin.
In a conversation, Rachel Schoenig, CEO of Cornerstone Strategies and a CIAA board member, said, "The members of CIAA have joined together to change the laws in the United States and to raise awareness of the damage caused by commercial cheating services." Michael Clifton, an executive director at CIAA and vice president at Cornerstone Strategies, echoed her sentiment, explaining that the CIAA aims to raise awareness and actively change laws to combat commercial cheating services that undermine education, workforce readiness, and professional licensure protections.
According to Schoenig and Clifton, the laws that CIAA is pushing and passing are more comprehensive and effective than existing laws in other countries and some states. The CIAA's efforts extend beyond higher education integrity to also protect credentialing and licensure assessments that support workforce readiness and protect public health and safety.
Schoenig also mentioned that loopholes in existing laws have been exploited by cheating service providers, often by claiming their services as tutoring or concealing the true nature of their contracts. The CIAA's model statute aims to address these loopholes and hold entities accountable if they know or should know that their services are being used to undermine academic or assessment integrity.
Detailed information about the CIAA was not found in the available data, suggesting this organization may not be widely known or researched yet. However, this new law in Georgia and the efforts of organizations like the CIAA highlight an urgent need for action to address the growing problem of contract cheating and preserve the integrity of education in the United States.
The recent signing of Senate Bill 213 in Georgia aims to combat contract cheating, a global, multibillion-dollar industry that is corroding the foundation of education by allowing students to essentially buy grades and degrees. This change in policy and legislation is a part of education-and-self-development but also extends to politics, as it is one of the actions taken by the Credential Integrity Action Alliance (CIAA), a powerful coalition that includes leading education companies and universities, to raise awareness and to change laws to combat commercial cheating services that undermine education, workforce readiness, and professional licensure protections. General news reports suggest that the CIAA's efforts, such as this law in Georgia, are more comprehensive and effective than existing laws in other countries and some states.
