STATE LAW REQUIRING BACKGROUND CHECKS OF TEACHERS, ADMINISTRATORS SERVES GOOD PURPOSE

The State Board of Education has revoked the teaching and school administrator licenses of a former Cape Girardeau School District administrator as the result of his misdemeanor conviction on charges of property damage and harassment.

The action came not as the result of a complaint from any school district or individual, but as part of a routine check by the state.

In 1998, the Legislature passed a bill that established an investigative division within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. That division conducts annual background checks on the estimated 92,000 licensed educators in Missouri's public schools. Checks are also run on substitute teacher applicants.

The law is a good one. Generally, people with criminal backgrounds should not be working with children.

Whether "criminal behavior" includes misdemeanors rests with the state board. The former administrator apparently has been doing well in a small district north of St. Louis. But you can't fault a law whose aim it to ensure a safe environment for Missouri's schoolchildren.