OR: Oregon bills would put tight rein on problem teachers

by Bill Graves, The Oregonian
Saturday January 24, 2009, 4:37 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/01/proposed_bills_would_put_tight.html

The Legislature is gearing up for swift action on six bills that would give the state more power to prevent and discipline sexual abuse by educators and other adults working in schools.

The bills emerged over the past year in response to a series by The Oregonian that showed how school districts sometimes strike deals to keep secret the sexual misconduct of teachers who agree to resign.

The proposed laws would bar administrators from concealing information about an educator's sexual misconduct; make it a felony crime for educators to engage in sex with students, even if they are 18 or older; and ban any educator disciplined for sexual misconduct from working directly with children in schools or colleges.

Legislative leaders in both parties predict broad support for the bills, but they expect resistance will emerge over details. Some expect opposition from the Oregon Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, though the union says it has taken no position on the bills.

The legislation "is a step in the right direction" but doesn't go far enough, said House Minority Leader Bruce Hanna, R-Roseburg. He said the state, for example, should require background checks for volunteers who have unsupervised contact with children.

The House Education Committee on Wednesday will consider House Bill 2062, which would ban secret deals that lead to the practice known as "passing the trash."

In some of the 47 confidential settlements obtained or confirmed by The Oregonian, district leaders promised cash settlements, health insurance and letters of recommendation to encourage problem teachers to resign. Between 2002 and 2007, nearly half of the teachers disciplined for sexual misconduct with a child left their school districts with such confidential agreements.

Secret deals
The bill designed to ban secret deals explicitly states that school leaders may not enter any contract or agreement that "has the effect of suppressing information relating to sexual misconduct."

It also bars districts from expunging any information about child abuse or sexual misconduct from "any documents in the personnel, investigative or other files of a current or past employee." The bill requires districts to do thorough background checks on anyone they hire, and it would allow parents of abused students to sue any school district where an abuser previously worked and previously engaged in sexual misconduct.

The bill probably will see some changes in the House Education Committee, said Rep. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, the committee chairwoman.

"But the outcome will be that this legislation will act to keep children safe," she said, "and to make sure that school districts have the best possible information when they are making hires."

Missed warnings
The Oregonian series also described how school leaders repeatedly missed red flags or ignored complaints against educators who engaged in sexual misconduct, ranging from inappropriate touching to rape.

On average, Oregon disciplines 13 educators a year for molesting or having sexual relations with children, a tiny fraction of the 35,000 educators who teach, mentor and coach in Oregon schools. But in addition to causing lifelong damage to children, educators who sexually abuse children violate trust and harm relations between schools and communities.

The House committee also plans to discuss on Wednesday House Bill 2063, which would require employees of the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, the agency that licenses and disciplines educators, to report any suspicion of child abuse as other school employees must do.

The Senate Education Committee also will hear debate over Senate Bill 45, which would bar any educator suspected of or disciplined for sexual misconduct or inappropriate relationships with children from working directly with children in schools, colleges or child care centers.

It also will look at Senate Bill 47, which would give the standards commission authority to revoke or suspend student teachers' right to apply for a license when they engage in misconduct.

A third bill, Senate Bill 46, would allow the Department of Education to require all new, nonlicensed hires in public and private schools to be fingerprinted, a rule that now applies only to those deemed to have direct, unsupervised contact with children.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has been assigned Senate Bill 48, which would make it a felony crime, rape in the third degree, for any school employee to engage in sex with a student, even if the student is 18 or older and above the state's age of consent. The committee has not yet scheduled that bill for a hearing.

"These are all fairly good pieces of legislation that probably in one way or another will be passed," said Senate Majority Leader Richard Devlin, D-Tualatin.

The Oregon Education Association is tracking the bills but so far has taken no position on them, said Becca Uherbelau, the union's spokeswoman.

"As we are looking at all of these, we have to balance the priority of protecting children with also ensuring the due process rights of educators (accused of sex abuse) and protecting them from false allegations," Uherbelau said.

Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, predicted the union "will push back on every accountability measure that protects kids," but still expects some of the bills to pass.

The Confederation of Oregon School Administrators supports bills that will protect children and provide clarity on expectations for districts and educators, said Chuck Bennett, lobbyist for the group.

The package of legislation is "all substantially headed in the right direction," said Vickie Chamberlain, executive director for the teacher standards commission.

Sen. Mark Hass, D-Raleigh Hills, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said he wants the legislation to protect children while ensuring districts are not burdened with expensive new requirements:

"I don't know if you can ever do enough," he said. "It is hard to eliminate this kind of behavior in any walk of life."


--Bill Graves; billgraves@news.oregonian.com