Bill to Combat Sexual Abuse of Students Wins Senate Approval

The Missouri Senate has passed legislation which would help keep teachers out of the classroom who have engaged in sexual misconduct with students. The proposal, sponsored by Senator Jane Cunningham of Chesterfield, was approved by the Senate on a unanimous vote of 34-0. The bill seeks to deal with a pernicious pattern in the public school system. A teacher or coach commits sexual abuse of a student and is released by the school district. The abuser then moves on to another school district which is unaware of the prior conduct because of employee confidentiality stipulations and agreements. The teacher or coach then engages in sexual misconduct again. This scenario is often referred to as "pass the trash." Under the provisions of the bill, any school district employee who shares information about a former employee with another school district will be immune from any civil action in court seeking damages. Any school district which failed to disclose information concerning sexual misconduct by a former employee in discussions with another school district would be liable for damages. The bill also requires that a school district suspend any employee who has been the subject of a child abuse investigation where the state's Division of Children's Services has substantiated allegations of sexual misconduct. School officials who receive allegations from a student of sexual misconduct must report that information to state child abuse authorities within 24 hours. All applicants for a state teaching certificate would be required to undergo a criminal background check. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will also be required to conduct an annual check of teachers with active certificates against criminal history records, the sexual offender registry, and the child abuse registry. A state audit conducted by State Auditor Susan Montee in 2007 found that students were at risk because of inadequate background checks. The Senate amended Cunningham's bill to include another child protection measure sponsored by Senator Ryan McKenna of Crystal City. Known as "Erin's Law," the proposal calls for the development of a curriculum in the public schools to discourage incidents of sexual abuse. Senator Cunningham has been working valiantly for several years to address the horrendous problem of sexual predators in the educational system. "Missouri statutes prohibit sexual offenders from being within 1000 feet of our schools, yet we allow them right inside our classrooms," Cunningham observes. Senator Cunningham's bill is named "The Amy Hestir Student Protection Act." Amy Hestir is a Missouri woman who was repeatedly molested and assaulted by her junior high school teacher during her youth. The perpetrator went on to teach in other Missouri school districts.

A Moment with Mike for March 30th, 2011

Each year at about the middle of session, the General Assembly takes a week off to “recharge” a bit and to be able to spend some time in our home districts. I made the decision 5 years ago to spend that time visiting schools and talking to 4^th graders about Missouri Government and history. That is generally when our students start learning about state government and they are always excited to have someone come to their classroom to share.

Education is always an issue of discussion because we all realize how important it is to prepare our young people for the ever-changing world that they will face. We all agree that education is of utmost importance but unfortunately we cannot agree on how to help our schools keep up with the demands and expectations that are put on them today. Many educators feel that education is under attack and fear the changes that are proposed by some and question the leadership of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Missouri. I share some of those thoughts because our schools are often judged by those failures that are far more prevalent in the urban areas and little credit is given to those schools that function well and turn out students every year that are ready to take the next step into higher education or the world of work.

I always feel good about education in Northwest Missouri when I complete my visits and have a chance to hear from teachers, administrators and most importantly, the kids. In spite of the fact that our schools in recent years have lost funding from the state, their facilities may not be as modern as we like and they are all feeling the weight of continual speculation on how they should operate, they are doing a great job. I see comaraderie among teachers, pride in their students, well organized classrooms with technology that the 4^th graders have to teach me to use and bright eyed students that seem happy to be there. Attendance is good and parent support of the school is the norm. I am proud of the dedicated educators that we have in Northwest Missouri and the citizens that support their efforts.

As we convene for the second half of session, there will be many issues to tackle but the one that is the largest and most important is the budget for 2012. The budget committee has completed its work and will bring 13 appropriation bills forward. It is about 2.5% smaller than last year and equals about $23.2 billion. The sluggish economy has restricted our opportunities and the parts of the budget that I am the most disappointed in is the very thing I have been discussing--education. There are many cuts that have affected our rural schools directly and higher education funding has been cut by approximately 7%. After a 5% cut last year and no tuition increases for higher education institutions, they will have to be especially creative and innovative in the coming years.

It is easy to become discouraged. However, as I look at other states and the tremendous fiscal problems that they face, I am thankful that I am in Missouri where we will balance our budget, pay our bills and continue to make progress toward recovery and job growth.

If you have questions, you may reach me at my Capitol number 573-751-9465, at the local district number, 660-582-4014, by email at mike.thomson@house.mo.gov or by mail at Room 401B State Capitol Building, Jefferson City, MO 65101