US teacher helped students cheat because they were ‘dumb as hell’

New York -  A fifth grade teacher from Atlanta allegedly helped students cheat because she thought they were "dumb as hell."

Shayla Smith appeared before a three-person test-cheating tribunal on Monday.

The tribunal endorsed her termination to the school board of Dobbs Elementary after an hour of deliberation.

The Atlanta Public School system enlisted the tribunal to investigate prevalent cheating. Approximately 180 teachers stand accused of dishonesty, the New York Daily News reported.

Smith's hearing included testimonies from a former student and a colleague.

Schajuan Jones, Smith's fellow instructor, who taught a fourth-grade class, overheard Smith talking to another teacher about the test.

"The words were, 'I had to give your kids, or your students, the answers because they're dumb as hell,'" Jones told the tribunal.

Both women admitted to not getting along. During the hearing, Smith accused Jones of being a liar.

The student claimed that Smith gave her and other students answers to a test in the summer of 2010. Smith allegedly pointed to the correct answers throughout the exam, according to the  unidentified girl, who is now in the eighth grade.

But the girl's testimony wasn't air tight. She also said the exam lasted for several days but Smith maintained it was only one day. A testing expert sided with Smith on this point, reports The  Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Along with giving students answers, Smith has also been accused of changing answers after collecting the tests. The exams' many erasure marks show that someone changed the answers  from wrong to correct, said Superintendent Erroll Davis.

Although this is not hard evidence that Smith altered the students' responses, Davis does not trust that Smith will proctor future tests with honesty, according to WSBTV.