Background checks failing in education

Background checks are failing in our education system, according to the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO). While the “well-placed system of federal and state background checks” in education is supposed to be the perceived as one of the best screening systems in the country, of the 15 high-profile cases investigated by the GAO, 11 of those involved abusers who had previously targeted children at least once before. The GAO gave several reasons why background checks were insufficient to screen potential school employees: – Background screenings were not performed at all – some schools failed to conduct even cursory examinations into applicants’ backgrounds, instead relying on the strength of resume experience and references. – Background checks cannot uncover mere allegations – if the applicant was never charged with a crime as a result of past behavior, no verifiable record will exist. – If the applicant resigned his or her former position in the face of allegations of misconduct, the school district is hesitant to refuse to give a letter of recommendation or reference – it is increasingly difficult, time-consuming and expensive to terminate a teacher, so many schools simply let the teacher resign to avoid confrontation. – Potential employers ignore red flags – some schools fail to follow up on even egregious issues like admissions of past misbehavior. It would be unthinkable to any parent that abusers can so easily play the system, and continue to work with children despite previous convictions. Even worse, some schools may even know about an employees history and choose to ignore it. How can we change this? How can we prevent putting schools in the position where they are so desperate for teachers? And what measures can we enforce that protects the youth of our society?]]>