The State Board for Educator Certification has approved a new standard to be incorporated into the Educator Code of Ethics.  Standard 1.14 as drafted addresses what has come to be known as “passing the trash.” This refers to the practice of knowingly allowing, or even facilitating, the movement of an employee from one school district to another despite evidence that the person has engaged in unseemly conduct. We already have standards requiring superintendents to report certain types of employee misconduct to SBEC when the employee is terminated due to such conduct, or resigns in the face of the evidence of misconduct. The new Standard 1.14 goes even further. It would, for example, make it an ethical violation if a teacher recommends his friend for a job in a new district, even though he has “probable cause to believe” that his friend engaged in sexual misconduct with a student.

Here is the language of the new Standard, which is scheduled for approval by the State Board of Education at its November meeting:

 Standard 1.14. The educator shall not assist another educator, school employee, contractor, or agent in obtaining a new job as an educator or in a school, apart from the routine transmission of administrative and personnel files, if the educator knows or has probable cause to believe that such person engaged in sexual misconduct regarding a minor or student in violation of the law.

 DAWG BONE: PASS THE BUTTER. NOT THE TRASH.

 File this one under: EDUCATOR ETHICS