Teacher misconduct must be reported

Twenty years ago, a 31-year-old teacher in Ellis County was caught in a relationship with a 16-year-old.

When Texans learned how more than 700 such teachers had gone unpunished, lawmakers vowed that would change.

Now, 20 years later, Texans should be upset at the news that some superintendents are not cooperating.

A WFAA/Channel 8 investigation found that Dallas and other area districts have allowed teachers to resign quietly in the face of sexual misconduct accusations.

If the abuse is never reported to the State Board for Educator Certification as required by law, the teachers simply go to another school district. The board is an administrative arm of the Texas Education Agency.

The new school might never know about the wrongdoing, unless a criminal case is filed.

In 2003, Texas lawmakers made teacher-student relationships a criminal felony. But they have yet to crack down on school officials’ failure to report abuse allegations so the teacher’s certificate can be tagged for anyone checking.

In the TV report, a teacher association spokesman said that school officials have two reasons not to terminate or report misbehaving teachers: money and public relations.

Firing a teacher even for good cause costs $30,000-$50,000 depending on the length of appeals, and it generates embarrassing publicity.

Some superintendents are choosing to let their problems move on, and they have no fear of punishment.

The TEA’s seven investigators have 1,040 open investigations, or about 150 per investigator, WFAA reported.

In the report, a 36-year-old Dallas teacher at a performing arts high school was texting a 17-year-old student: “[Want] to rip ur clothes off.”

The teacher quit but was not reported to the state until eight months later, after he was arrested over a student relationship in the Irving district.

The TV series called that “Passing the Trash.”

Texans expect educators to focus on teaching our children, not on grooming them for sexual behavior.

If a teacher’s behavior is bad enough to merit a criminal investigation, it’s bad enough to go into his or her official state file.

School officials must report these problems.

Don’t make the Legislature step in.

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 6:53 PM with the headline "Teacher misconduct must be reported."