Hidden Violations

 
A very interesting study a reporter, Scott Reeder (sng@springnet1.com), sent to me:

 I’ve been  working on this national investigation for the last seven months. I filed open  records requests with all 50 state departments of education and obtained lists of all teachers who have had their licenses suspended or revoked in the last decade. I inputted the data into spreadsheets and conducted an analysis to see how Illinois compares to other states.
 
 Here are some  key findings:
 
 * Only Virginia revokes or suspends fewer teaching certificates than Illinois.
 
* No  investigators are employed by the Illinois State Board of Education, so reports of teacher misconduct are often not investigated or acted upon.
 
* Illinois teachers hired before 2004 have not had to undergo a state-mandated national criminal background check.
 
* Illinois physicians are 43 times more likely than the state’s teachers to have their licenses suspended or revoked.
 
* Illinois lawyers are 25 times more likely than teachers to have their licenses suspended or revoked.  
 
* None of the tenured Illinois teachers fired in the last decade have also lost their teaching certificates, and certification officials are not notified when a school district disciplines an educator.
 
 The  series can be viewed at: http://hiddenviolations.com/. If you have any questions,  please feel free to contact me at: (217)  525-8201.