|
Friday's Internet Edition, July 03, 2009.
Discipline for teachers handled ‘case by case’
-
Beyond the district level, each teacher in California must receive a credential from the state of California Teacher Credentialing Commission. It is this agency that first approves applications for teaching credentials in California and then serves as the teacher self-policing agency once credentials have been issued.
Thus far, the GJUHSD District has not contacted the commission in the case in question, and, instead, has reached conclusions based on its own internal investigation into the allegations, issuing a letter of finding that the behavior was “unprofessional” and issuing an apology for the teacher’s conduct.
“We have not received any documentation or call from the district at this time,” said Assistant General Counsel for the commission Lee Pope. “We strongly urge districts to take action at the local level that is fair to everyone first. They have their own contracts and regulations. They are right there. They have all of the evidence and access to all of the involved parties.”
Pope went on to say that, in cases like these, there are several local factors to consider as well.
“First, do they have any rules regulating this sort of communication,” said Pope. “If they establish those rules and then they are broken, it makes consequences much easier to levy. Unfortunately, many districts do not have teacher/student communication policies that cover the new technology of texting, My Space and Internet face-books that allow teachers to share all of their personal information. We are in the process of encouraging all districts to update those policies just for these reasons.”
Pope also said the issue has a lot to do with what he called the conscience of the community.
“It really comes down to what they think is appropriate,” said Pope. “It has to do with setting professional boundaries. What is too close to a student?”
If the district takes certain actions, or involved parties are not satisfied, the case can be turned over to the commission for an investigation.
According to the commission’s California Laws and Rules Pertaining to the Discipline of Professional Certificated Personnel, 2007, teachers can have an “adverse action” taken against their credential by the commission for a variety of reasons. Additionally, the commission can and will assume jurisdiction over investigations involving credentialed teachers under certain circumstances.
Section 44242.5 states that the commission may assume jurisdiction of an investigation for several reasons, including: if a sworn affidavit is received by a person with knowledge of the acts alleged to constitute misconduct, if the employee is put on more than 10 days unpaid administrative leave, or if they receive a notice from an employer that a complaint has been filed alleging sexual misconduct.
“We handle each complaint on a case-by-case basis and try to evaluate the evidence in each case,” said Pope. “We convene a hearing with members made up of two teachers, one administrator, one school board member, and three members of the public at large.”
Once in the hands of the credentialing committee, Pope said the teacher may be represented by a union, a lawyer, or they may appear on their own behalf.
“The commission makes recommendations based on their own experience and the facts of each case,” said Pope. “Employment action of a certain level deserves a licensing review. If a teacher under investigation just quits, that affects only one school. What we do affects every school, and we have a different set of rules than employers.”
At the commission level, the outcome of a hearing can vary from dismissal of the case to an admonishment, which appears only on the teachers record, a public reprimand which is on the teachers record indefinitely, a suspension of the credential, or even revocation of the teacher’s credential in California.
The term unprofessional is not defined in the code and is left up to, first, the district and then, if necessary, a hearing of the Committee of Credentials to determine the levity of the behavior being charged as unprofessional. Additional sections of the Laws and Rules indicate when the district can take punitive action against a credentialed employee, up to an including “unprofessional” behavior.
As part of a teacher’s credential, they agree to become “mandated reporters.” A mandated reporter is a professional who is required to report suspected abuse and/or neglect of those with whom they work to a qualified third party. When it comes to mandating reporting of a student in distress, Pope said, again the lines can get blurred.
“Generally, it is better to over report than not to report at all,” said Pope. “We get a fair number of cases where a teacher is trying to help and they get drawn in, lines get blurred outside of the classroom. Were there better resources at the school to handle the problem? That’s why it can get so convoluted and complex.”
With so many teachers in the state and so many complaints filed each year, Pope said it is important for each district to take authority over complaints and to the best of their ability, render decisions that are legal and fair to all parties.
“One thing to keep in mind is, if the district generally believes they do not need to report the situation to us, we won’t hear that case. There are some real bright lines, a teacher hits a kid, but when it comes to communication of this type, when and how and to whom, it’s a much more complicated area,” said Pope. “We open eight to nine thousand cases each year, the vast majority of which are not serious. In fact, of all the professions that are monitored like teachers are in the state, it is considered one of the cleanest professions by the department of justice.”
|
|
