In previous sessions, I have voted to strengthen the penalties against teachers and other school workers who engage in sexual relations. Sadly, in the past five years there have been 802 educators who have had their teaching certificates revoked or voluntarily surrendered — that’s an average of nearly one teacher for every day of the school year.

The “Do Not Hire Registry,” which I helped create and was implemented in 2020, currently has more than 2800 names of teachers and other school employees who have some connection to a sexual crime. The last two years have seen more than 300 names added to the registry.

I filed House Bill 1938 to give victims of sexual grooming the ability to report predators in the school and quickly escape that environment without compromising their education. I will soon release a substitute of the bill that creates a framework for mandatory reporting and an investigation by state officials, removing predators from the classroom before they can truly traumatize a child. The bill allows for a parent to apply for a program that will take the education dollars that would support their child in a public school and use them for an alternative education venue. This includes transferring to a neighboring school district.