Eleven teachers and administrators implicated in the Atlanta school cheating scandal lost their teaching certificates Thursday. It's the first official disciplinary action the state has handed down since investigators reported the cheating in May.

The state Professional Standards Commission voted to suspend eight teachers for two years and permanently revoke the certification of three school administrators. The vote was consistent with the PSC’s promise to punish administrators involved in the test tampering more severely than teachers.

The PSC’s chief investigator John Grant says the commission will review individually the cases of nearly 180 educators named in the state’s report. Given that number, he expects the hearings to continue until January.

"Obviously, we’re going to do our own investigation and verify everything that the state investigators have given us, and give the educators the opportunity to address those accusations," Grant says.

The eleven educators disciplined today now have a month to either accept the sanction or appeal.

Grant says because due process procedures for the teachers are just beginning, it could be a while before the educators’ cases are finally settled.

"The initial due process would be that they reject the commission’s decision and they ask for a hearing." Grant says. "Once the educator asks for a hearing, the case is transferred over to the AG’s office, who then schedules a hearing before an administrative law judge."

Thursday's vote brought the first official sanctions on educators implicated in the scandal since state investigators reported findings of widespread cheating to the governor in May. The Atlanta public school district has already removed teachers named in the state report from classrooms while the PSC reviews their cases.