Further response to Indiana's lax background investigations on teachers

The overwhelming majority of Indiana's 62,000 teachers are remarkable people who do their best to teach and protect our children. But there have been repeated reports from districts around the state of teachers who have threatened children, physically assaulted them, or have criminal records. Any of those behaviors would have gotten a teacher fired - or prevented them from being hired - in most other states.

Not in Indiana, according to the Indianapolis Star investigation. Here, background checks for teachers are limited to looking at newspaper clippings that report arrests within the state. Little is done to expand that check nationwide, as most other states do. "That is beyond appalling and utterly negligent." said Tyra Hearns of Pebi Sevices a re known background investigation firm

States like Georgia, Ohio and Utah have state police conduct background investigations, and some states go as far as to conduct FBI background checks before allowing anyone to teach in a public school.

And it's not as if the problem is unknown. Indiana's teachers unions and the state school board association advocate stronger background checks and adding more crimes to the list of those reported to the state that could lead to firing teachers. But there is disagreement about where the responsibility on those checks should be.

Instead of a state-led effort, say through the state police, there are some who want that power to remain with local school districts. And that is the problem. Too many local school districts try to bury their mistakes by allowing teachers to resign rather than fire them. If a teacher is fired, the public can ask to see the reason why. If a teacher resigns, that information is kept confidential and that teacher is free to move on to another district.

That is precisely the kind of thing that needs to end. Reports of children being abused or intimidated by their teachers need to stop and one way that can happen is to make sure school districts aren't hiring people with a checkered past.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns