Dec 15, 2007 - A Daily Herald editorial, "Right way to check teacher backgrounds" responded to a recent series from the Small Newspaper Group on how Illinois fails to vet teachers before they are hired and fails to remove them when they are unsuited.
The Daily Herald wants certain serious disciplinary actions and dismissals reported to the State Board of Education, with the records held secret unless the person seeks to find another job in the schools. They don't want it to go "too far."
They concluded,
Some go too far, however. The head of a national group seeking to prevent abuse of students by teachers wants periodic criminal checks throughout a teacher's career, as well as psychiatric evaluations and polygraph tests. This is ridiculous. We must remember that teachers who abuse children are a tiny, tiny minority. A widespread effort would be a waste of time, money and resources, not to mention an incredible intrusion into the lives of the thousands and thousands of innocent teachers.TT - Maybe they didn't notice, but most police in this country are subjected to random polygraph tests, psychiatric exams AND drug testing. It is a requirement of the job. The rationale is that police are in a position of trust. Are teachers less so? Especially when they deal with our children?
