The Virginia Department of Education recently canceled or revoked the licenses of 73 teachers.
May 14, 2008 - The Virginia Department of Education found there were more than a few teachers who had been accused and convicted of crimes against children who still held valid Virginia teaching licenses. The problem is that school districts failed to seek license revocation from the state.
After compiling a "database" from news articles and other records, the Virginia Department of Education recently canceled or revoked the licenses of 73 teachers.
Virginia isn't the only state where a state agency depends upon school districts to notify them.
"It happens because in many states, there is no requirement to report these incidents to the state education department or to initiate an action that would lead to the removal of license, so what happens is the teacher doesn't lose their license and might teach in the same state," said Virginia Commonwealth University professor Charol Shakeshaft.In the District of Columbia, there is no requirement that schools report misbehaving teachers to licensing authorities. In Maryland, school superintendents are supposed to report teacher sexual misconduct but it doesn't happen there either.
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TT - Virginia has been working on the problem for months. TT Entry
