Protecting students from offending teachers.

PositionTRENDS AND TRANSITIONS - Brief article

In an effort to keep sexual offenders out of the classroom, state legislators have been grappling with a classic conflict: Balancing the public's right to know with an individual's right to privacy. Traditionally, most states have at least partially restricted access to teachers' certification and disciplinary employment records. But over the past few years, some sensational news stories have led legislators to reexamine whether current policy adequately protects students.

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Several nationwide news stories broke in late 2007 reporting a practice known as "passing the trash," where school officials let what they thought was a one-time offending teacher quietly leave a school without officially reporting inappropriate sexual behavior. These teachers moved to other schools, sometimes within the same district, and often re-offended. In many cases, school officials did not perform background checks, either because they were not required or because of sloppy...

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