A LABOUR Councillor and Unite the Union Chairman from Merseyside has been suspended after being banned indefinitely from teaching for forging student coursework to dupe exam boards.
Councillor John Wiseman, who is also a computing teacher at Calderstones School in Liverpool, was caught making “extensive” modifications to his pupil’s work before submitting it to the exam board for moderation, in an apparent attempt to boost his own result stats.
A virtual hearing of a professional conduct panel heard that Wiseman admitted to altering numero of his students’ coursework, and subsequently gave an indefinite ban from teaching by the Teaching Regulation Agency.
Wiseman, who represents the Bold ward in St Helens, did not inform the council nor his party of the ruling, leaving fellow councillors to learn of his ban in the regional press.
In a statement, David Baines, Labour council leader for St Helens, said: “Councillor Wiseman has been suspended from the Labour Party pending a full investigation.
“Our Labour Group had not been informed by Cllr Wiseman about the case against him, in spite of its gravity, and we believe his conduct falls way below the standards we expect from an elected representative.”
Cllr Wiseman has stated that he will be standing down in May, upon the arrival of the local elections.
Mr Baines added: “While he may be leaving the council shortly we cannot and will not ignore such behaviour which falls way below the standards we expect.
“I can therefore confirm that after seeking support from Region a decision has been made to immediately suspend him from the Party pending a full investigation.
“I know we will all be disappointed by what’s happened and how we’ve found out.”
