Teacher Helps Students Cheat Because They Are "Dumb As Hell" - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.

We rely on our teachers for support during the formative academic years.

However one teacher in Atlanta took her duties a little too far. Fifth grade math teacher, Shayla Smith has been terminated from her job after allegations that she had helped her students cheat during tests. She reportedly gave children answers during competency testing in 2009.

A tribunal found Smith guilty of immorality and willful neglect. A teacher claimed to have overheard her admitting to cheating. The teacher stated that she heard Smith say to another teacher - “I had to give your kids, or your students, the answers because they're dumb as hell.”

The student, who is now in eighth grade stated “She would just come to our desks, read the question and say the answer.”

School officials in New Jersey also came under scrutiny recently. Two principals and three teachers have been suspended after allegations surfaced that they had helped students cheat on standardized tests. Investigators discovered an extremely high number of cases where the wrong answers were erased and rewritten with the correct ones.