Tenure and teacher discipline

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

"Removing a troubled teacher can be vexing"
Frank Eltman, Associated Press Writer
June 28, 2008

Disciplining a tenured teacher can be long and costly. Firing bad teacher is a part of the ongoing debate over education reform and the role tenure plays in the process.

• In New York City, it often costs taxpayers $250,000 just to fire one incompetent teacher. Some teachers are convicted of serious felonies and still remain on the payroll, forcing districts to hold disciplinary hearings behind prison walls.
• Dave Albert, a spokesman for the New York State School Boards Association, said between 1995 and 2005, there were 633 disciplinary hearings statewide, 60 percent of which were in New York City. Of the 633 cases, 184 resulted in termination and 234 teachers were placed in unpaid suspension.
• New York teachers are granted tenure after three years and a series of reviews.
• Legislative leaders and Gov. David Paterson agreed this month to a bill that will automatically revoke the certification of teachers convicted of sex crimes against students. The law will end what is now often a yearlong administrative process.

And earlier this year, the Center for Union Facts launched a $1 million ad campaign featuring a billboard in Times Square, offering 10 teachers it said were the country's worst $10,000 to quit their careers.

Teachers should be paid based on how well they do their job, not how long they've had their job, Brooks said.

Code of Silence in Arkansas

NEWSPAPER INVESTIGATION

Some of the best investigations by newspapers across the country have had little media attention. This 1996 Special Report from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette by Mary Hargrove and Susan Roth examines the problem of teacher misconduct and the "Code of Silence."

The series was the result of an eight-month investigation.

Using computer databases, reporters compared a list of criminal charges against a list of individuals holding teaching licenses. The computer programs matched birth dates of 103 teachers charged with crimes ranging from distributing drugs to asking students to pose for pornographic pictures.

Reporters then drove to courthouses across the state and copied selected files to determine the outcome of those charges. More than half of the cases were filed after January 1992. Those figures do not include convictions that were expunged to preserve a teacher's reputation, or those sexual charges that were not prosecuted.

The three largest categories of teacher crimes involved theft, sex and violence.

"A disturbing pattern emerged: When teachers are accused of sexual misconduct, some school officials and school boards quietly sidestep legal and ethical issues to protect their schools from scandal. Accused teachers can depend on this unwritten code of silence to cover up their actions, which may be repeated at their next school."

A seven-part series, excellently researched, thoughtfully presented and everything in it has been repeated in virtually every state.

Teacher Misconduct in Illinois

NEWSPAPER INVESTIGATION

How Illinois fails to take teacher misconduct seriously.

Oct 18, 2007 - "Superintendents become de facto investigators" by Scott Reeder, Small Newspaper Group.

Because the Illinois Department of Education has no investigators to follow up on misconduct complaints, they rely upon regional education superintendents to investigate. But there's a problem

The problem is that those charged with following up are wholly unqualified to do so. And their sympaties are not with the victim or the parents.

Generally regional superintendents are former teachers or school administrators who have had little to no training in conducting investigations.

Placing teachers in charge of investigating other teachers creates a tendency for investigators to look after their own, said Charol Shakeshaft, chair of Virginia Commonwealth University's Education Department.

Educators tend to be more sympathetic to the adult facing the allegations than to the children making the complaint, said Shakeshaft, a nationally known expert on sexual abuse in schools.

After investigating and filing Freedom of Information requests, the newspaper group made some startling discoveries.

Of those 70 regional offices of education, only 24 have taken any action in the last decade.

Of the 24 regional offices of education that have taken any disciplinary action, about eight took discretionary action for a noncriminal offense such as immorality or unprofessional conduct.

"It's not hard to figure out why this is," Superintendent Donkin said. "We don't feel comfortable investigating these matters. We aren't comfortable with all of the formalities associated with it and everyone is scared to death of being sued. So we just wait until the teacher has been convicted of a crime before we do anything."

But Kansas State University Education Law Professor Robert Shoop said this is flawed reasoning.

"Just because they weren't convicted doesn't mean they are innocent," Shoop said. "It's like O.J. Simpson. He was never proven innocent; he was just found not guilty. In a lot of these cases the kids don't want to come forward to testify. And what parent wants their kid on the front page saying I had oral sex with a 50-year-old guy in the band room? Another thing is that these people are smart. They don't typically do things in front of witnesses."

For all of these reasons it is quite appropriate for education officials to seek to revoke a license, even if there is not a criminal conviction, he said.

NEWSPAPER INVESTIGATION

The Eagle Tribune, (Massachusetts) produced a series in 2003 called "Marked Absent" teachers spend far less time on the job than most workers, thanks to liberal leave benefits granted decades ago.

Series includes:
When teacher's out
Few in work force match sick day benefit
Teachers cite stress, exposure to germs
No substitute 'No one pays attention'
Days off costing state $1B
Training puts strain on Newburyport
Teacher temp agencies turn a profit on sick days
Sick leave abuse seldom addressed by schools
Sick leave buybacks don't always pay off
'Insurance policy' approach to sick days has uncertain origin

Read the whole thing. It's worth the time to find out what questions you should ask of your school board.

The Hidden Costs of Tenure

NEWSPAPER INVESTIGATION

A 2005 series by Scott Reeder called "The Hidden Cost of Tenure" (Subhead: Why are failing teachers getting a passing grade?) ought to be on the reading list of every parent. Because what they found in Illinois isn't unique to that state.

In a sixth-month investigation, the Small Newspaper Group filed some 1,500 Illinois Freedom of Information Act requests with the State Board of Education and all 876 of the state’s school districts requesting information on disciplinary action taken.

It isn't just the $219,000 it costs to fire a tenured teacher. To avoid the expense, buyouts become secret settlements to avoid public disclosure. When it isn't feasible, the incompetent stays in the classroom without proper evaluation. The student is cheated out of an education and if the the school district pays the teacher to leave quietly and move on to another school, it's to demoralize more teachers and fail to educate even more students.

The statistics are astounding. Of 95,000 teachers, only 2 are fired each year for poor performance.

Great series.

Stories from the "Hidden Costs of Tenure" series
Tenure frustrates drive for teacher accountability Combine teacher tenure, softball evaluations and a reluctance to use remediation with underperforming teachers and you get a dysfunctional system. Kids are paying the price.

School boards lose power to fire poor teachers -- Procedure trumps everything when a school attempts to dismiss an incompetent teacher. The slightest error on any of the many forms to be followed can result in a problem teacher remaining in the classroom.

Firing Mr. Roth: $400,000 and counting -- Firing Cecil Roth has cost Geneseo schools more than $400,000, and counting. The case illustrates why administrators fear dismissing tenured teachers.

Impact of poor teachers cripples students for years -- A single weak teacher can have a devastating affect on a student's academic progress. One expert says a bad teacher can actually reverse academic abilities.

Student pregnant, DNA points to assistant principal; no firing -- A 14-year-old pregnant, and a DNA test indicates 99 per cent probability the father is an assistant principal at her school. But an attempt to fire him fails.

High cost of firing teachers deters action by schools -- School adminstrators' reluctance to accurately evaluate teachers makes dismissing bad teachers more difficult. 20 years worth of Cecil Roth's evaluations illustrates the impact.

`Diplomacy' undermines teacher evaluations -- Diplomatic evaluations mean most all teachers get the "excellent" rating they've come to expect in any circumstance. This ritualistic process undermines the intent of the Legislature when it mandated teacher evaluations in 1985.

Remediation falls short of '85 legislative intent -- Remediation, seen by legislators in 1985 as a tool for improving mediocre teachers, is a seldom used tool. It's also less effective than anticipated.

Teacher unions' clout keeps tenure strong -- Influential unions squeeze ever-more complex procedures for firing teachers out of the Legislature. School boards routinely add similarly complex procedures to local contracts.

Local influence adds to teacher-union power -- Politicking at the local level shows influence of teachers' unions at its peak. In the generally low-profile school board elections, word-of-mouth campaigning by teachers often determines results.

Schools resort to secret buyouts to get rid of teachers -- Frustrated by procedural hoops and the high costs of dismissing a poor teacher, schools sometimes resort to buyouts rather than outright firings. They then try to hide that cost from public view.

An editorial: Time to quit hiding costs of tenure -- With the information now in hand, it's possible to see what needs to be done. A grand trade is proposed.

Teacher sex cases

NEWSPAPER

"Schools struggle with teacher sex cases"
Written by: Kim Smith
Date: September 20, 2002
Publisher: Las Vegas Sun

Betrayal of Trust

NEWSPAPER INVESTIGATION

"Betrayal of Trust"
Written by: Marisa Schultz
Date: April 24, 2005
Published In: Detroit News

A special Report. Well-written and researched.



Thursday, April 28
Lawmakers want to oust sexually abusive teachers
LANSING -- Lawmakers will work to ensure that teachers convicted of crimes are removed from classrooms, House Speaker Craig DeRoche said Wednesday in response to a Detroit News investigation. 04/28/05

Monday, April 25
Schools, Granholm pledge to curb abuse by teachers
To combat sexual abuse in schools, districts need to develop clear policies -- preferably written -- on inappropriate employee-student relationships, enforce zero tolerance and encourage staff and others to report allegations without fear of retaliation, experts say. 04/25/05

Brandy Baker / The Detroit News
When Southgate Anderson High School teacher Joseph Brickey was sentenced, supporters filled benches on one side, while a smaller crowd sat behind the teen victim.

Sunday, April 24
State fails to stop teacher sex abuse
Students at Warren's McKinley Elementary School didn't think much of the black gym bag their teacher carried -- until federal agents discovered its mesh pocket concealed a video camera. 04/24/05

Part 2: Abuse reports increase
Nationwide, reports of educator abuse are increasing, but it's unclear whether the abuse is more prevalent or whether kids are more willing to come forward. 04/24/05

Transfer didn't stop Warren molester
WARREN -- The school district staff had plenty of warning signs that James Kearly posed a threat to his students. 04/24/05

22 convicted of sexual misconduct, online solicitation
In the past 15 months, at least 35 school employees or those recently employed by schools have been charged or convicted of sexual misconduct involving minors or the mentally impaired. The Detroit News identified these employees through news reports, public records and sources in law enforcement and state government. Twenty-two of the employees have been convicted. They are:
04/24/05

Looking for signs of sexual abuse
Physical signs of sexual abuse may not be obvious. Hints of possible abuse may include... 04/24/05

A Synthesis of Existing Literature

STUDY

Title: Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature
Author: Charol Shakeshaft, Hofstra University and Interactive, Inc., Huntington, N.Y.
Date: 2004

This report was prepared for the U.S. Department of Education.

Shakeshaft examines and critiques a number of studies. Excellent resource.

OUT OF BOUNDS

NEWSPAPER INVESTIGATION

Title: "Out of Bounds: We trust our kids to them every day. But a Chronicle investigation reveals the relationship between secondary school coaches and students is rife with abuse."
Writer: Danny Robbins
Date: April, 2001
Publisher: Houston Chronicle

In "Sexual misconduct by educators in Texas." they conducted a three-month study and found 64 Texas Middle and High School coaches who in the last four years as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct involving students or other minors.

They report on the disposition of the cases, talk to the foremost authority on the subject of abuse in schools, Dr. Robert Shoop of Kansas State (you can see him in an interactive report in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune series), a former investigator for the State Board for Educator Certification, and the founder of SESAME Inc., a nonprofit organization that serves as a national clearinghouse for information dealing with educator sexual abuse. Former coaches tell why and what they did.

Why are there so many coaches and band teacher cases?

The number of coaches involved in sexual misconduct with students is generally attributed to two factors. One is the amount of unstructured time coaches and students spend together. The other is the power and stature of coaches, particularly those affiliated with successful programs.

Sexual misconduct by Texas coaches investigated
'Good ol' boy' factor aids suspect coaches
Deal hid sex charges against coach from district
Local attitudes can influence sexual-misconduct cases
Non-criminal cases
Pending Cases
Criminal cases
David Thomas' paper trail
Joel Berry's paper trail

Broken Trust

NEWSPAPER INVESTIGATION

Series: "Broken Trust: A Herald-Tribune Investigation"
Authors: CHRIS DAVIS, MATTHEW DOIG & TIFFANY LANKES
Published: March 18, 2007
Pub by: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

A four-part series on how Florida's system of teacher discipline is dysfunctional at every level.
Sub head: Despite charges by students, instructors often end up back in the classroom. The series continues on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
--------------------------------------
It was the culmination of two years of investigation and reviewing 14,000 records, interviewing hundreds, including a teacher who sexually abused a student who would talk to them.

Reading the text versions of the stories is easier.

The interactive online presentation shows that what a newspaper can do in the Information Age to connect with readers and convey a vast amount of information. The case flow with commentary by Dr. Robert Shoop is an espcially brilliant way to educate and inform.