Make sure teacher crime doesn’t pay

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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Iowans were rightly outraged to learn that former University of Iowa assistant professor Toshiki Itoh pocketed more than $200,000 in salary while on leave from his job as he faced criminal charges of assault and sexual abuse.

Iowa teachers who find themselves in a similar situation might not be so financially fortunate in the future. The Iowa House recently approved a bill that would require public school teachers charged with serious crimes to repay any salary they earned on paid leave if they're later convicted of the offense.

It makes sense - why should taxpayers pay for teachers unable to carry out their duties because of criminal acts?

At the same time, teachers, like anyone, should be presumed innocent until they plead to or are found guilty of a crime. Placing teachers on unpaid leave or firing them because they've been charged with a crime would deny them that right.

HF493 strikes a proper balance.

The bill, now under consideration by members of the Senate Education Committee, applies to public school, community college and Regents institution faculty convicted of a felony, aggravated misdemeanor or serious misdemeanor.

It was prompted by Itoh's case, legislators said. The UI recently has paid $430,000 in administrative leave to two faculty members facing criminal charges.

Itoh finally resigned last month after being found guilty of two assault charges. He is scheduled to stand trial on a third-degree sexual abuse charge next month.

The other, researcher Dr. Gary Hunninghake, pleaded guilty in January to misdemeanor disorderly conduct for falsely reporting to police that he had been stabbed last April while jogging on the Chicago Riverwalk downtown. UI officials have said they are pursuing action against Hunninghake, but haven't given specifics.

In the past five years, five faculty members from Iowa's community colleges have been convicted of crimes serious enough to warrant repayment under the bill, at a total cost of only $5,000, according to a fiscal analysis by legislative staff. Neither Iowa State University nor the University of Northern Iowa have had faculty on leave because of criminal allegations in recent years.

That legislative fiscal analysis found such incidents happen too infrequently to gauge the bill's fiscal impact if signed into law.

Still, it's the principle as much as the money that leads us to support its adoption - and expansion to all public sector employees in the state. The terms are fair, and more generous than many employees of Iowa's private companies would face in a similar situation.

It also sends a clear message to public workers drawing paychecks from public funds: Crime doesn't pay.

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