EDITORIAL
Nov 20, 2007 - From The Argus: Time to drag school sex abuse out of dark
IT'S TIME to drag sexual misconduct in schools out of the locker rooms, hallways and dark shadows and into the public spotlight.Their suggestions are,
A recent Associated Press investigation found that 2,570 educators were stripped of, surrendered or denied teaching credentials or positions for sexual misconduct involving public school students between 2001 and 2005. But that just scratches the surface. A total of 313 cases were confirmed in California, but many more are hidden from public view.
Few adult sexual abusers in schools are caught. Most cases aren't reported and there's no consistent reporting or monitoring system. Many school officials are reluctant to go public with such cases. As a result many are swept under the rug, allowing violators to move on to other school districts and repeat their offenses with new girls and boys.
- Confidentiality agreements that hide perpetrators should not be allowed.
- More thorough background checks for credentials, licenses and hiring are needed.
- A national registry for school sexual offenders and hot lines on which such violations can be reported.
- Reporting such incidents should be mandatory
Background checks would only weed out new teachers with prior arrests and convictions. A few states conduct background checks every few years. That too, doesn't predict which teachers will engage in sex with their students. Most teachers who are arrested and convicted have worked for the school districts for years. Background checks in every state make use of state databases and also FBI checks.
Checking prior credentials and licensing and hiring would involve cooperation between districts and states. It isn't happening now. There is no legal requirement for full disclosure. In many investigations, such as the one called "Broken Trust" by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida, they found that, after reviewing 14,000 records, a major problem was that school districts were not even reporting abusive teachers to other districts, let alone the state.
Reporting has been mandatory since the late 1990s in California. Every state has a mandatory reporting requirement. The penalty for non reporting is usually a slap on the wrist.
We have only found two cases where failing to report was prosecuted. We are curious how a teacher can have a two-year sexual relationship with a student that half the student body is aware of, but no teachers report the same awareness, let alone contact school authorities with their suspicions.
