No more hiding teacher misconduct

State senators passed with one voice last week a bill that would strengthen reporting requirements for suspected teacher misconduct or abuse.

The vote was 50-0. Now the bill goes to the House, where representatives should waste no time in passing it.

The bill closes legal loopholes that have allowed potentially predatory employees to hop from school to school, sidestepping investigations into their questionable behavior.

It makes small but powerful changes to existing law, taking away incentive for schools to strike resignation deals with problematic teachers instead of investigating and reporting allegations of misconduct or abuse.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, also strengthens protections for whistle-blowers and requires annual ethics training for school staff. It requires school administrators to report founded cases of misconduct or abuse to state licensers or risk losing their own jobs.

These revisions might seem like small potatoes compared with some of the issues House members have been wrestling with. No doubt about it -- changing the law regarding teacher misconduct investigation and reporting doesn't have the drama or reach of, oh, say collective bargaining reform.

But make no mistake: Dvorsky's bill will make our schools demonstrably safer for nearly a half-million Iowa school children. It's also just the right thing to do.

As former Benton Community School District board member Deb Drahos wrote, urging senators to pass the bill:

"We are mandated to supervise sex offenders as diligently as possible ... So, why would we not expect our school administrators to report alleged sexual misconduct by a school employee, involving students, to the proper authorities to investigate? And then to the Board of Educational Examiners to determine if their license should be denied or revoked?"

If House members pass the bill, it will mean schools no longer will be able to offer resignation deals to employees suspected of misconduct. Teachers suspected of wrongdoing will no longer be able to make investigations go away by taking up somewhere else. Schools will have to get to the bottom of allegations.

But more than changing how those (thankfully) rare investigations are handled, passing Dvorsky's bill sends a clear message to school employees, students and families: There simply is no room for misconduct involving students in Iowa schools.

Not my school. Not your school. Not any school.