Nov 22, 2006 - Nancy Barnes, writing in The Country Times, found a nationwide problem. She interviewed Hofstra University professor Carol Shakeshaft who wrote a federal stury referring to laws that ban sex between teachers and students rather than including educator sexual misconduct in the broader category of statutory rape. [Emphasis mine.]
What Ms. Shakeshaft didn't mention is that the media doesn't care either. With rare exceptions.Ms. Shakeshaft said that because incidents involving educator sexual misconduct are widely dispersed around the country, the crime does not seem as prevalent as it is."
It doesn't have an advocacy group," she continued, seeking to explain why the misconduct continues unabated. "Teachers aren't the advocacy group. Schools aren't the advocacy group. Students who have been sexually abused shouldn't be the advocacy group. So, there's just no group that can organize around the issue."
"Nothing right now is being done," she said, referring to politicians at the federal level. "We're trying to get congressmen and people to pay attention, now that the election is over. It's not at the top of anyone's list." She said that when the issue is addressed, the concern typically comes from social conservatives.
"Teachers unions have not been supportive of looking into this issue, and teachers are a big voting block. ... We're trying to get some kind of a summit [that] we get teachers' organizations to come to, so, in some way, we can all come together."
