Teacher Smackdown

With recent stories of teachers sexually abusing kids in New York state, the NY Senate Majority Conference is introducing another bill to protect kids from predatory teachers.

The legislation calls for the immediate decertification of teachers following a conviction for a serious crime against a child. It also requires schools to contact the child’s parents and law enforcement whenever a report of abuse is made. If you’re a reader of this blog, you’ll know that school administrators don’t always call the police. Instead, they let the abusive teacher resign and telling the parents that it’s better to get rid of them then go through a police investigation or trial.

New York’s legislation also requires better training concerning the issue of child abuse in a school setting. I hope this is for staff as well as students since “good touch-bad touch” training gives kids the knowledge that sexual abuse is wrong and to tell their parents if someone is doing something bad to them.

And for all of you who don’t think that an older, pretty teacher having an “affair” with a teenage boy is harmful, read this quote from Senator Martin Golden (R-C Brooklyn), Chair of the Senate Majority Task Force on Critical Choices.

The relationship between a teacher and a student is one that should be based on trust, responsibility and professionalism, and when that trust is violated the impact on young students can be devastating. This legislation will send a loud and clear message that we will not tolerate the sexual abuse of students in New York State.

Other legislation that New York’s Senate recently approved to address concerns about sexual misconduct involving school employees includes:

–S.189, sponsored by Sen. William Larkin (R-C, Cornwall-on-Hudson), which requires the suspension of pay for tenured teachers upon the conviction of a felony for possessing certain child sexual performance materials or promotion thereof.

– S.1116-B, sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Little (R-C-I, Queensbury) provides that an elementary or secondary student shall not have capacity to consent to sexual conduct with a school employee, regardless of the student’s age.

Senator Little, a former teacher, said the way the current laws read that if a student has reached the age of consent, there is no criminal penalty for a teacher having sex with them. She feels that this wrong, and gives an example of a student being coerced into sex for a favorable college recommendation.

Way to go New York! I hope to see other states following their example.

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[tags]New York Senate, New York legislation, sexual abuse, sexual assault[tags]