Both bills unanimously passed the state Senate. They now go to the full Assembly for approval.
June 18, 2008 - The Assembly Education Committee unanimously passed two bills Wednesday that would allow the state to revoke licenses from teachers who plead no contest to certain sex crimes or drug offenses or have had their licenses revoked in another state.
In unanimously approving both bills, the Assembly Education Committee rejected arguments from the California Teachers Association, which opposed the legislation.
The ACLU and the gay-rights group Equality California also opposed Margett's bill. They argued that it could unfairly punish gay men caught soliciting or having sex with other adult men in public bathrooms.IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
In an analysis submitted with Margett's bill, the credentialing commission said about 60 of the approximately 90 teachers each year who are convicted of a crime that requires mandatory action—either suspension or revocation of their license—plead no contest.The discretionary review amounts to retrying the case, resulting in difficulty is in tracking down witnesses to testify which is traumatic for the victim.
That triggers a discretionary review by the commission, rather than an automatic revocation of their license.
Scott said those reviews can sometimes take two or three years, putting students at risk while the teachers remain in the classroom. His bill also would revoke a teacher's permit if their contact with children is restricted as a condition of their parole.
Under California law, the results of misconduct allegations are sealed by the credentialing commission after one year. That restricts school administrators' ability to confirm teaching candidates' full record if they learn later that the applicant lied about his or her background.
Margett's legislation makes the records available for five years instead of one year.
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TT - It will be interesting to see what provisions in both bills are dropped when they hit the Assembly.
We confidently predicted in January that neither bill would pass in the highly partisan California legislature. Entry We never thought either bill would get out of the Education Committee. We were wrong, but it's still instructive to see how many members are former educators or school board members. It's too early to predict what will be in the final version of the bills, so we will hold off on revising our opinion.
We were equally cynical in March. Entry And less cynical in May. Entry
If, and when, a final bill is passed into law and signed, we intend to look for every one of those reforms and then see what it concessions were made get them.
