Homicide Suspect Turns Self In
By Jamie Burch
Published: Mon, October 22, 2007 - 12:41 pm
Last Updated: Monday, October 22, 2007 - 1:50 pm
Last Updated: Monday, October 22, 2007 - 1:50 pm
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - When Alabama began fingerprinting and
doing background checks on teachers and support staff in 2002,
administrators noticed a pattern.
A longtime educator would miss several appointments for
fingerprinting, then suddenly retire. Others resigned before the
state got a chance to look into their past.
State Superintendent Joe Morton says it became clear that the
new law was working, weeding out those whose past posed a problem
and moving Alabama "light years" ahead in improving safety
controls for schoolchildren.
Propelled by a high-profile Mobile case, the new law set in
motion a process that allowed background checks to be completed on
all current and new staff in 2004.
But the state education department has been reluctant to provide
the public with full details and slow to release records of
teachers cited for wrongdoing, including sexual misconduct.
An Associated Press review of State Department of Education
records found that more than 50 teachers have had their teaching
certificates revoked, denied or suspended for sexual misconduct --
including acts with students and other minors -- during 2001-2005.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Thanks for the article Jamie!! Please keep us posted.