TEACHERS GUILTY OF ABUSE
|
www.TheCitizensWhoCare.org
|
Bill
targets teachers guilty of abuse
Admitting
abuse but free to teach
Disciplining
Oregon teachers
Bill targets teachers guilty of
abuse
The case of Joseph Billera, the former Houck Middle School
band director who pleaded guilty two years ago to sexually
abusing four students, continues to echo in the
Capitol.
Sen. Vicki Walker, a Eugene Democrat
critical of how Salem-Keizer school officials handled
complaints against Billera, has sponsored two bills about
the issue.
In January 2005, the Statesman
Journal reported that the district had received
complaints about Billera's behavior with students as long as
four years before his arrest, but had not placed him on
leave, hired an independent investigator, or reported the
complaints to the state. The newspaper got the records after
appealing the district's denial to the Marion County
District Attorney's Office.
Senate Bill 380, which the Senate
Judiciary Committee advanced this week to a vote of the full
Senate, would make public the disciplinary records of former
school employees convicted of sexually abusing
students.
The 2005 bill Walker sponsored and the
Legislature passed makes public those records for current
employees.
"But some districts, when asked for
those records, decided we weren't explicit enough because we
didn't identify former employees in the bill," said Walker,
who was not referring to the Salem-Keizer
district.
"The only way for people to know what
was going on and to help things change in a district is to
get a copy of the disciplinary records, which contain all
the information about who reported what and what was in the
investigations."
Walker said an interpretation of the
2005 law by the Department of Education opened the
disciplinary records of former employees, but her new bill
would write it into law.
The bill was supported by Tricia
Smith, who spoke for the Oregon School Employees
Association, which represents workers other than teachers
and administrators.
"While we are protective of our
personnel records of our members if they are not convicted
of crimes or suspected of child abuse, we believe in these
particular circumstances, the greater good is more
important," she said.
Senate Bill 379, which the judiciary
committee held for more work, would require schools to
provide training to all employees about how to identify and
prevent child abuse.
School workers already are required to
report child abuse, and Walker's 2005 law requires school
boards to adopt policies about reporting child abuse. When
there is "reasonable cause" to support a report of child
abuse, the 2005 law requires the employee in question to be
put on paid administrative leave until the Department of
Human Services or police decide to dismiss it or pursue an
investigation.
"I felt there were not firm policies
in place to make sure everybody knows what needed to be
done," Walker said.
The Oregon School Employees
Association supported the new bill.
Walker's new bill would apply not only
to school districts but also the Oregon Youth Authority, the
Oregon School for the Blind and the Oregon School for the
Deaf. At the latter school, at least six instances of
inappropriate sexual conduct occurred between students, or
students and staff, according to documents filed with the
Department of Education.
Walker proposed a similar training
requirement in 2005, but it died during the Legislature's
budget-writing process. Sen. Roger Beyer, R-Molalla, said
lawmakers should know what costs might be imposed on
schools.
"We get beat up constantly that we are
passing along unfunded mandates to our school districts,"
Beyer said. "I'm not saying this is not a good idea or is
not needed, but I would like some information about
costs."
The Salem-Keizer district is providing
such training in the aftermath of Billera and other
incidents. Then-Superintendent Kay Baker formed a community
task force to develop the training program, which has
reached hundreds of people who work with youth.
A spokeswoman said there were small
costs for staff time and training materials.
"It is our belief that the cost of
doing initial training on child-abuse reporting is minimal,"
said David Williams, who spoke for the Oregon School Boards
Association. "But there is a cost, to be sure."
Source: Peter Wong,
Statesman Journal, E-Mail
or 503.399.6745
Admitting abuse but free to
teach
Oregon education - Criminal convictions for admitted sexual
misconduct are hit and miss.
More educators in Oregon are
disciplined for sexual misconduct than for any other
offense. But teachers who touch, molest or have sex with
children are more likely to escape criminal charges than be
convicted, a review by The Oregonian
shows.
Many of those offenders fit the
profile of sexual predators, law enforcement officials say.
If they're convicted of sex crimes, they can't teach. But
without a conviction, others who lose their state licenses
for sexual offenses can be reinstated after a year, meaning
some can and do return to Oregon classrooms.
Boyce Williams Jr., for example, had
his license revoked in Alaska for spanking and touching
special education students on their bare buttocks. But
Williams was never convicted of a crime, and Oregon
reinstated his credentials. In 2005, he was convicted of
misdemeanor harassment after spanking three Rainier School
District boys. Neither Williams nor his lawyer could be
reached for comment.
An analysis by The Oregonian of
more than 400 discipline records from 2002 through 2006 from
the state teacher licensing agency found:
For every educator convicted of sexual
abuse, another was never charged with a crime despite
admitting to physical, sexual or inappropriate relationships
with students. Thirty-eight educators lost their licenses
permanently for a sex crime. But 42, who were not convicted,
were suspended, reprimanded or put on probation.
At least 1 in 4 teachers who engaged
in a relationship of a sexual nature with a student had been
disciplined for similar behavior before. The repeat
offenders wrote students love notes, touched them in private
areas or had sex with them, even after warnings from school
officials.
Each year, an average of 90 educators
statewide are sanctioned for wrongdoing, from showing up to
class drunk to stealing school property. The number is just
0.3 percent of the 33,000 educators working in public
schools and a mere fraction of the 65,000 licensed by the
state's Teacher Standards and Practices
Commission.
This does not include 20,000
nonlicensed adults such as coaches, janitors and
instructional aides working in public schools. An additional
2,000 educators work in private schools and aren't
necessarily licensed.
Even though educators who abuse
children are a small number, they poison the trust
communities forge with schools and other trusted adults. And
their sexual exploitation devastates lives.
"I am still scared of him," said one
Oregon woman, now in her mid-30s, of a rural high school
track coach who lured her into a sexual relationship that
persisted through her college years and beyond. The
Oregonian is not naming her because she is a sexual
abuse victim.
"I still look over my shoulders. . . .
My whole memory of it is ugly, and I just don't want to be
confronted with that ugliness anymore."
Her anger has grown with time, she
said, nearly a decade after she broke free of the coach, who
was later convicted of sexually abusing another high school
student.
"The majority of the sexual misconduct
took place in his classroom after dark," she said. "That
violation should appall anybody."
Difficult to convict
Teacher sexual abuse cases are
particularly difficult to prosecute because they tend to be
high profile, law enforcement officials say.
And investigations are hampered when
older teenagers refuse to cooperate and are viewed as
consenting adults, even if they're not yet 18.
Often, they believe they are in love
with the teacher, or the teacher with them, said Alicia
Egan, a deputy district attorney in Yamhill County who has
prosecuted several teacher sexual abuse cases.
"The student victims come in my office
and they say, 'Well, we're in love,' " Egan said. "I tell
them, 'You think you're in love, it doesn't make it right.'
It's not love. It's a power relationship."
In addition, teacher sex offenders are
often popular, dividing communities and pitting supporters
against accusers, said Darin Tweedt, who worked at the child
sex crimes unit for the Marion County district attorney's
office.
For example, Brian W. Miller was a
popular, young teacher who taught math and science at
Canyonville School in the South Umpqua School District. When
he was convicted in 2006 of groping three girls, ages 12 to
14, some parents and community members sided with
him.
According to police reports, the
victims' accounts mirrored one another's: Miller asked each
girl to stay after school on separate occasions to help him
construct a female skeleton by allowing him to take their
measurements. He then brought them into an adjacent wood
shop, where he touched their breasts while trying to take
measurements of their chests. In some cases, he asked the
girl to take her shirt off.
In their reports to police, each of
the girls referred to Miller as her "favorite
teacher."
Miller pleaded no contest in Douglas
County to misdemeanor harassment. His lawyer, David Terry,
said Miller is still "well-loved and enjoys support in the
community."
Gray area
Without a criminal conviction, most
cases fall to the Teacher Standards and Practices
Commission, which has the discretion to reprimand teachers
or suspend or revoke their licenses. When a teacher
reapplies for a license, the commission weighs decides
whether to grant a reinstatement or deny it.
The Oregonian's analysis of five years
of data found the state disciplined 80 teachers for touching
kids, contacting students outside school hours or forming
relationships with them, and disciplined 14 others for
making sexual comments to students.
The 17-member state commission,
composed mostly of teachers and former teachers and
appointed by the governor to three-year terms, can revoke an
educator's license for one year at a time. After that, the
educator has the right to ask the commission to reinstate
the license.
The commission receives hundreds of
complaints each year. Most are dismissed because
investigators find the claims unfounded and are vigilant
about wrongfully accusing a teacher.
Even after a conviction, some teachers
say they are innocent.
David G. Kohl, a Milwaukie middle
school teacher, was convicted in 2002 of misdemeanor
harassment for touching students.
"I never touched kids
inappropriately," he said. "When a kid accuses you of
something, you are automatically guilty."
Over the course of the 1999-2000
school year, Kohl's students complained that he rubbed their
shoulders, necks and backs -- what an expert on sex
offenders would later describe as grooming behavior. The
principal sent Kohl at least three memos about the
complaints, and parents pulled students from Kohl's class.
Only after school officials notified police was Kohl removed
from the classroom.
Under Oregon law, an educator
convicted of serious crimes cannot teach again. But when
there is no conviction, the state agency sometimes has to
decide whether to allow a disciplined teacher back in the
classroom.
Reinstatements are rare, said
Executive Director Vickie Chamberlain. The decision often
comes down to a psychiatric evaluation and the educator's
testimony.
The commission must weigh the costs of
waging expensive legal battles, student safety and the
educator's rights to due process, she said.
Much of the commission's
decision-making happens behind doors closed to the public,
as well as to victims of abuse. Investigation files and
complaints are sealed. And final educator discipline orders
are decided upon by the commission and its executive
director on a case-by-case basis.
Some school officials say districts
should have a say in who is allowed to teach again. In
Gresham, one teacher lost his license for forming an
inappropriate relationship with a student. The commission
later reinstated him.
Steve Lewis, human resources director
of Gresham-Barlow School District, said he voiced concerns
when he learned of the reinstatement.
"They didn't give us the opportunity
to say, 'We don't think he should ever be reinstated,' "
Lewis said.
Sex offenders should not be given
second chances because they are prone to repeat their abuse,
said Cory Jewell Jensen, co-director of a sex offender
therapy center in Beaverton.
"It's insane for someone who has
offended kids to be allowed to teach," she said.
Source: Amy Hsuan:
503-294-5954; E-Mail;
Melissa Navas: 503-294-5959; E-Mail;
Bill Graves, 503-294-5955 E-Mail;
or www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1192866902159980.xml&coll=7
Disciplining Oregon teachers
In Oregon, teacher discipline typically begins at the school
district level, but complaints also can be made directly to
the state Teacher Standards and Practices Commission. The
state agency is required to investigate every
complaint.
District level
Complaints come from students, staff,
parents. The process varies, but the district investigates
the complaint while potentially putting the employee on paid
or unpaid leave. Law enforcement officials may be
involved.
By law, superintendents must file a
letter of potential misconduct with the state commission,
even if a superintendent is unsure whether a violation has
been committed.
During the investigation, the employee
may resign prior to a conclusion or decision.
Source: www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/factbox/index.ssf?/base/factboxes/1192866902160010.xml
|
©2007-2011,
www.TheCitizensWhoCare.org/brookings/teacher-abuse.html
|
|