Friday, December 01, 2006

Department of Guilty Until Proven Innocent, and by then it's Too Late?

Something to noch on for the weekend. The Albequerque Tribune published a story on how New Mexico is acting to revoke licenses in advance of due process for teachers charged with forms of sexual misconduct. The article states that the NM education department's Ethics Bureau is investigating 104 cases of teacher misconduct. While I have a hard time picking a bone with revoking licenses to protect children from predators, and it's shocking that a man investigated in 1998 and charged in 2001 and 2002, and indicted on over 40 counts of sexual misconduct could still have his license, it still seems like there is room for abuse here.

Education Secretary Veronica Garcia makes some good points though and some reassurance that a teacher could get their license reinstated if found not guilty of the charges. Of course that could take awhile. I'm not sure how big of a problem teacher misconduct is nationally. Anecdotally and locally I am aware of schools that have had serious problems with a handful of teachers. It's troubling that a state has to step up its investigating power against teachers. Garcia waxes quizzically: "Either we've stepped up or people are misbehaving more."

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