The number of teachers in New York facing “moral character” inquiries for having had sex with students or brushes with the law has nearly doubled in the last five years, according to the state Education Department.
A shocking department report released yesterday shows that the agency examined 134 such cases statewide in the 2005-06 school year, compared to 106 in 2004-05 and 70 in 2001-02.
The vast majority involved inappropriate relationships with students or drug- or alcohol-related incidents.
“There has been a tremendous growth in the number brought to the [department] for consideration of whether the individual has the requisite moral character to possess a teacher or administrator certificate,” states the report, prepared by the agency’s Professional Standards and Practices Board.
In all, the office has weighed 485 cases since 2001 and resolved 354. In 274 cases, the license was revoked or the person was denied certification, suspended or fined.
Yet those represent but a fraction of the complaints filed by parents and administrators. Of 2,433 received by the department over a six-month period in 2005, 921 were generated by would-be teachers who had noted on their applications, as required by law, that they had had some legal run-ins.
State Education Commissioner Richard Mills reminded school districts yesterday that, by law, they must report “any act that raises a reasonable question about a certified individual’s moral character.”
Schools must also provide ongoing training in the areas of reporting child abuse.
“Student safety is our first concern,” Mills said. “We cannot permit unfit educators in our schools. We must all be vigilant to identify and remove those who pose a risk to our children.”
New York State United Teachers, the state union, did not return calls seeking comment.