I-Team investigation: Bad teachers are not always fired

TAMPA - Several cases of educators being arrested have been in the news lately. A former Pinellas County teacher faced a trial this for allegedly punching a firefighter. Police used a stun gun and arrested a Polk County teacher who they say resisted arrest during a marijuana bust.

The vast majority of teachers have no state disciplinary action on their records. Less than 1% of Florida teachers have been reprimanded by the state. However, the small number of teachers who do face disciplinary action against their licenses has increased in Florida in recent years.

I-Team investigator Michael George has been looking into disciplinary actions against teachers as part of an ongoing investigation.

There’s no question there are thousands of good teachers in the Tampa Bay area. They work long hours in the classroom and fight against drastic budget cuts in school board meetings at night.

But a handful of teachers don’t live up to that standard. Reviewing thousands of teacher disciplinary records, the I-Team found more than 50 teachers in the Tampa Bay area who are still in the classroom after being disciplined for serious allegations. We are not naming specific teachers in our story because many were never convicted of a crime.

Pinellas County parent Dennis Barth says society does hold teachers at a higher standard than most professions.

“They do teach our children, so you expect the utmost out of your teachers,” Barth said.

In Hillsborough County, one teacher is still in the classroom after pleading no contest to two counts of battery and obstructing an officer.

“I wouldn’t want my kid being taught by someone like that,” Barth said.

If a teacher is convicted of a felony, Florida’s Ethics in Education act requires the state revoke his or her license for good. But many smaller crimes and incidents with students aren’t specifically addressed by state law.

In the 2009-2010 school year, a 54-year old Pasco County teacher allegedly made an 18-year old student “uncomfortable” by texting her and e-mailing her outside of the classroom, even allegedly showing up at her home uninvited. His actions were not illegal, and not enough to get him fired, though he was given a reprimand and 2 years of probation.

In Pinellas County, a teacher was accused of looking at pornographic websites on his school computer. He was also reprimanded for allegedly texting and e-mailing students outside of school on non-school related matters. He was even accused of trying to arrange a meeting with a 14-year old student at a mall. The teacher reached a settlement with the state and was given probation and required to take a course on child development.

More:  The Department of Education allows anyone to review action taken against teachers’ licenses. You can look up teachers in your area by going to http://www.myfloridateacher.com/discipline/summary.aspx

Kathleen Richards is executive director of the Education Practices Commission, the state agency in charge of reviewing complaints against teachers. She says the standard of proof required to revoke a teacher’s license is high.

“To take revocation or any action against a license, we need clear and convincing evidence,” Richards said.

Richards says the commission does have the proper authority to take action when revocation is necessary. But she added that local school districts have more flexibility to pull teachers from the classroom. In many cases, when the teacher in question is facing a first offense and the accusation doesn’t rise to the level of an actual crime, many districts opt for counseling or suspending the teacher, rather than firing.

Pinellas School Board chairman Carol Cook says teachers should have the right to due process. She added that the allegations of a teacher viewing pornography on a school computer are disturbing.

“That’s not something that we want of our teachers. That’s just not acceptable to have it around our students,” Cook said.

Some believe that it’s difficult to fire teachers, even those with disciplinary problems. Kim Black of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association says ... NEXT PAGE ...