Educator Stripped of Credentials After Scandal
The State Board of Education revoked L. E. Follansbee’s teaching certificate following reports of abandonment, falsified credentials, and coaching students to cheat.
The state board of education tonight revoked the territorial life certificate issued to L. E. Follansbee, of Olympia. Charges presented showed that Follansbee deserted his family in June 1891, leaving them without the necessaries of life; that he induced scholars to attend his school by promising to provide examination questions in advance and coach them on the answers; and that he claimed untruthfully to be a graduate of Dartmouth college.
“Charges were presented showing that Follansbee... would prepare questions for examination and coach pupils to answer them in order to insure the granting of certificates.”
This report highlights a period of significant professionalization in Washington's early education system, where state boards sought to purge the ranks of those operating with questionable ethics or credentials.
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