PROPOSED LEGISLATION
Feb 8, 2008 - It always pays to check. An Orlando Sentinel blog reported that an education ethics bill would forfeit pensions for those convicted of molesting children or "other serious crimes."
If the threat of prison wasn't enough, Florida's public employees - including teachers - may be forced to forfeit their pensions if they are convicted of molesting children or committing other serious crimes.The legislation as proposed actually does a little more than that. From The Ledger: As written, the bills or amendments would prohibit school districts from signing confidentiality agreements with teachers accused of misconduct. There would be a one-year salary losses for school boards and superintendents who fail to investigate or report child abuse complaints. And there is provision that action could be taken against the licenses of teachers who fail to report abuse by colleagues.
The committee wants districts to establish a list of crimes and delinquent acts that would serve as an absolute bar to hiring or retaining a teacher.
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TT - Neither story provides a link to the proposed legislation. The Committee Meeting Packet for Feb 6 contains details.
Interestingly, the St. Petersburg-Times abbreviated the AP story to eliminate comments by a lobbyist for a Superintendent's group and comments by a teacher's union lawyer.
Forfeiture of a public pension is the law in New Jersey and we occasionally find a case where the pension has been forfeited by a state employee or a teacher. We're pretty sure however, that elected officials in N.J. made darn sure that they would be exempt from that kind of oversight.
