Teacher Ethics Proposal Under Statewide Review
Association Says Rules Now Could Ruin Careers
Last updated Friday, April 4, 2008 9:34 PM CDT in News
By Rose Ann Pearce
The Morning News
A proposed code of ethics for teachers is drawing mixed reviews at Arkansas Department of Education public hearings. A hearing scheduled Monday in Fayetteville promises to be no exception.
The Arkansas Education Association, which represents thousands of teachers statewide, is encouraging educators in western Arkansas to voice their opinions at the Fayetteville hearing, the only one planned in this part of the state.
The education association supports a code of ethics, but association President Dan Marzoni said the proposed rules for implementing the code are flawed. Marzoni said more than 100 educators are expected at the Fayetteville hearing.
Laws dealing with due process and subpoena power and the Freedom of Information Act need to be amended by the Legislature to provide teachers a level of protection under the proposal. The rules were drafted by the Arkansas Department of Education.
The way the rules are written provides no protection from the Freedom Of Information Act. As soon as a complaint is filed, the complaint and investigation report would be considered public information and open to inspection by the general public.
"There should be protection until the state board acts on the complaint," Marzoni said. "No one can defend himself unless those things are changed."
The association wants the State Board of Education to delay action until those laws can be amended in the next regular legislative session in 2009, a move which also would provide the association a full school year to educate teachers.
Enabling legislation for development of a code of ethics requires the proposal to go to the state Education Board by July 1.
"We're setting the bar," said Michelle Hayward, principal at Fayetteville's McNair Middle School and a member of the Professional Teacher Licensing Board, which drafted the proposed code. "Most of our teachers are way above this bar."
Some 27 other states have adopted a code of ethics for teachers. The National Education Association, the national organization for teachers, adopted a code of ethics in 1975, Marzoni said.
The implementation process also includes a plan to charge $100 for a new or renewed teacher's license. Hayward said the fee is of concern to some teachers and groups, including universities whose representatives argue the fee is too high for a new graduate to pay.
Other states, 28 in all, charge a license fee ranging from a low of $30 in South Dakota to a high of $155 in Nevada, according to information on the state Education Department Web site. Most of the states use the fees to pay for expenses of their licensing office.
Hayward said the enabling legislation, which requires the development of the code, caps the license fee at $100.
The education association submitted 15 pages of testimony. The testimony cites 12 requested changes in the code before it is adopted by the state board.
The code covers an amalgam of behaviors no matter how trivial or relevant to the teaching profession, according to a copy of the testimony.
The Legislature identified 28 specific crimes that could cause the loss of a teaching license, the education association states in its written testimony. The proposed code goes beyond that by making a violation of any local state or federal law a basis for the loss of a license.
Hayward said a level of common sense will be applied as a five-member review panel looks at potential violations of the code.
"There is a fear of the unknown," she said, but noted the code allows the profession to police itself.
Susan Buchanan, principal of Helen Tyson Middle School in Springdale, intends to take comments from the teachers in her building to the public hearing, noting teachers have some concern about some language in the code.
"We support having a code of ethics," Buchanan said. "We all want to be ethical. It's part of the job when you become mentors and role models."
MEETING INFORMATION
Ethics Code Hearing
The Arkansas Department of Education will have a public hearing for comments on a proposed teacher ethics code and its rules and regulations.
When: Monday
Time: 5 to 7 p.m.
Where: Bates Annex, Fayetteville High School, 601 S. Buchanan Ave.
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