Education Background Check

Many schools, colleges and universities have recently been in the news because of teachers and professionals having criminal backgrounds as well as a history of drug abuse. When there is a lack of an education background check, this is what can happen.

Parents as well as other educators are now up in arms over the lack of screening when it comes to hiring teachers for all age groups. The public is screaming for the education board to be accountable and take responsibility to hire teachers who have been subject to an education background check and if they haven’t or refuse to, then do not hire them at all.

In Massachusetts for example, the school boards are deciding that perhaps taking it off of their shoulders is the best decision. They do not want to be held accountable for the screening because if they slip up, they will be responsible if something is discovered about one of their teachers. Therefore, they are now getting professionals who are performing the education background check.

There is now a consensus that all prospective educators be screened on a local, state, county and federal level. After all, these professionals are dealing with our children and their future. Whenever anyone interacts with children, young adults or even college age students, they should always be given an education background check across the board, bar none.

In Houston, Texas, the Senate passed a bill that requires all public school teachers to get fingerprinted to be checked for a national education background check and criminal search. That was a large undertaking having to fingerprint 200,000 teachers. But they felt it was necessary because of what is happening in today’s schools.

New Jersey, after performing a search, found four employees with felonies teaching school age children. Later another one was found, but because of an incomplete education background check, that one was allowed to teach for a long time without being discovered.

In a Philadelphia School District, a teacher again slipped through the cracks because when doing a search, only did background checks in Pennsylvania. The teachers were not fingerprinted and weren’t checked nationwide. Therefore, there was a teacher working with seven year olds who was convicted of a sex crime.

Doing an education background check is no longer a luxury. It is now a necessity. And it should be done in every school in every state, city and town in this country and others.