LAKE COUNTY ? Between 2001 and 2005, 305 California teachers had their credentials revoked or suspended due to sex-related crimes. State law prohibits school districts from hiring those who have been convicted of certain sex offenses, but there is no requirement for the state to publicize who has had allegations of such crimes made against them, or who has been tried but not convicted for acts ranging from lewd comments to sexual abuse. It then befalls school administrators to do their own research on the background and character of their employees.
As part of state confidentiality clauses, the detailed records of educators who have had a district review of their credentials are available to school districts in and outside of California for one year. This is to protect those who have had false allegations made against them, according to Mary Armstrong, General Council with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC).
Armstrong said “it would be pretty difficult” for a teacher with any sort of background that includes sex-related crimes to be hired by a school district in California, whether they were convicted or not. She said not all of the 305 teachers who had their credentials removed were employed at the time. She declined to give employment records of those teachers to the Record-Bee, stating it would be impossible to find out how many of that number were employed at the time their licenses were revoked. CCTC “doesn”t always keep records” tracking licensed teachers and their places of employment because of the large number of employees who are short-term or substitute teachers, Armstrong said.
“When you apply for a job as a teacher in a public school in California, a background check and fingerprinting is performed. If you were arrested but not convicted, that”s not on the report due to state law. But there are other ways the school can check to see; they can check the references to find out if there were any problems, and they can check to see if there was any discipline against the credential,” Armstrong said. The state does make public all action taken against credentials, Armstrong said, adding that an “all-points bulletin” goes out throughout the year to all school districts providing that information, which is available to the public and all other states indefinitely, she said.
The details of any action taken against a teacher”s credentials, including the specifics about what type of misconduct was alleged, are available for one year after the decision to revoke or suspend a license was made. But that information can be made available with the consent of the teacher in question.
“If their credential was revoked for three months, they”ll still have to claim that on their employment application. The school district can ask for the details of the misconduct for one year. If it”s been longer than that they can say ?we won”t hire you unless you sign a waiver” so they can then access that information,” Armstrong said.
Senior Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine, who handles all sex-related offenses in Lake County, said the process of a teacher being disciplined within the school district is different than that of a court-room trial.
“It”s not the same standard that would go into a (school districts) administrative hearing. If there is an accusation against a teacher, the school may investigate. That is a separate analysis than what is done in a criminal trial?You have to convince all 12 jurors on a case-by-case basis and prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” DeChaine said.
He said he routinely investigates sex crimes where children are the victims of those crimes, and when it comes to state law regarding confidentiality, school districts “should not simply go with what the law says.”
“Under no circumstances should an individual with the abnormality to prey on children be permitted to be around children. Although it may be legal to hire them, a separate investigation should be conducted to determine whether or not they are fit,” DeChaine said.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
