AUSTIN – More than 400,000 teachers and other school professionals in Texas might have to pay about $50 each to have their fingerprints taken under a new school safety law enacted this year.
Although teacher-group leaders were assured that the state would pick up the cost of the fingerprinting and mandatory criminal background checks, lawmakers did not include funding in the state budget, and efforts to find the money – about $25 million – through other channels have been unsuccessful.
That means school districts will probably have to foot the bill, and most districts are expected to turn to their teachers to pay the expense.
“We’re still trying to work with legislative leaders to obtain the money, but that hasn’t happened yet,” Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said Friday. “We hope there will be some state funds provided so teachers don’t have to pay to have themselves fingerprinted.”
The State Board for Educator Certification approved new rules Friday to implement the school safety law, which requires all certified school employees – administrators, teachers, counselors and librarians – to submit their fingerprints for national criminal history background checks beginning this year.
Background checks will be conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, using DPS and FBI databases to match fingerprints with criminal histories. Fingerprints will be collected by a private company, Identex, under a contract with the state.
Teacher leaders warned of an angry response from the state’s 300,000 teachers if they have to reach into their pockets to pay the fee, estimated at $47 to $52 per person.
“We will be outraged if, after being repeatedly assured that the state was going to pay, that that is no longer the case,” said Richard Kouri of the Texas State Teachers Association.
He said most teachers are not expecting to be hit with the fee even though the Legislature quietly authorized the payments from teachers in a “rider” to the appropriations bill.
The rules adopted by the educator certification board Friday were amended to allow either the school district or individual teachers to pay the fee – with that decision left to local superintendents and school boards.
Support personnel – such as bus drivers, janitors and cafeteria workers – also will have to submit their fingerprints, adding another 200,000 school employees to the ranks of those who will undergo criminal background checks.
Because of the massive scope of the undertaking, the background checks will be phased in over the next few years, but must be completed by Sept. 1, 2011.
The rules adopted by the state board on Friday specify that once a teacher is notified about the requirement, he or she will have 80 days to have fingerprints and a criminal history review submitted to the Texas Education Agency. After that, the school district must discharge the employee – unless the employee has received a hardship waiver.
“You won’t be allowed to continue teaching if the background check is not done,” said Ms. Ratcliffe, who added that all teachers will be notified via e-mail.
Texas has required background checks for all new teachers and certified employees hired since 2003, but earlier employees were not covered. Some districts have done background checks on all employees under local policies.
Since 2003, more than 200 people seeking to be certified as teachers have been found to have serious offenses on their records, including sexual misconduct and crimes against children. As recently as the 2004-05 school year, state investigators found that 66 certified teachers were registered sex offenders.
Although the Dallas school district conducts criminal background checks, The Dallas Morning News uncovered serious flaws in the system last year – including the district’s failure to report educators with criminal histories to a state agency within seven days, as required by law.
