Newspaper Editorial

Nov 1, 2007 - From TC Palm (Scripps newspapers) in Florida, "Editorial: Sex education should never be like this"

Google the words “teacher sex” and brace yourself for 14.6 million hits. Clearly, there’s a problem out there.

Hardly a week goes by without some tawdry tale of sexual escapades in classrooms, school offices or storage closets (e.g., South Fork High School history teacher and 16-year-old coed).
And as long as this country maintains its current system of reporting — or, in too many cases, non-reporting — a few sick school employees will continue preying on children.

As revealed recently by the Associated Press, 2,750 educators had their teaching credentials revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned following allegations of sexual misconduct over the past five years. Surely, this is a low-ball figure.

Studies estimate that only one in 10 victimized children actually reports sexual abuse, and Byzantine state laws and protective union contracts shield untold numbers of offenders from public scrutiny.

They make a number of suggestions including one that investigations not be handled internally, and

While some reformers say the situation cries out for a national database, the less bureaucratic and more common-sense answer is to simply break down the provincial walls that keep school systems from sharing appropriate background information.

TT - That last would work if districts were shielding information out of concern for the teacher, rather than protecting school and district administrators whose negligence in handling cases is often the basis of expensive lawsuits.

The negligence frequently includes failure to act on prior complaints or on a teacher history that should have alerted them sooner. Or an early awareness of the teacher's prior problems that meant a bad hiring decision and potential liability for leaving them in the classroom. Then, too, internal investigations document the unwillingness of other teachers to report the sexual conduct of another teacher. When another teacher does report their suspicions, their report is verbal and easily ignored but can't be buried in a lawsuit.

Other reasons remain hidden behind the non-disclosure agreements in settlements with parents.

It's a safe bet that school and district administrators have as much to worry about in those records as does the teacher. Probably more.