NEW LEGISLATION

Signed into law.

May 23, 2008 - The governor signed a new law in Arizona that requires educators to immediately notify schools when they are arrested or when charges are pending. Failure to do so calls for immediate termination and exclusion from future employment as a teacher.

In addition, the bill that was passed unanimously in both the house and the senate requires that the Department of Public Safety to inform school districts directly whenever an educator is arrested or charged.

In the past the Department of Public Safety notified the Department of Education that was supposed to notify the school district.

The law is the result of the arrest of Angela Csader, a 25-year-old elementary school teacher who had a baby with a 16-year-old student. Police learned of the situation more than a year before Csader resigned, but since the boy and his parents did not want to prosecute, prosecution was delayed. Even after her arrest, she remained in the classroom for six more months. TT entry for Csader.