State: It’s needed to police profession

By Edith Starzyk

Plain Dealer Reporter

The Plain Dealer

3/1/2008

Teachers across the state are upset about a tripling in license fees that takes effect today.

The State Board of Education voted weeks ago to raise the fees, saying the money is needed to support a more-stringent system for unearthing criminal and ethical infractions within the profession.

A typical five-year license will cost $200 instead of $60.

“That’s quite a wallop all at once,” said Debbie Tully, director of professional issues for the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

To avoid the increase, some teachers whose licenses are coming up for renewal rushed to get their paperwork postmarked by today. That meant they also had to hustle to get fingerprinted for required background checks, which cost an additional $46.

Under a law passed by the legislature last year, just about everyone who works in a school – public or private – must have a criminal-history check by the FBI and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

Licensed teachers can wait until they’re up for license renewal, but most employees under other classifications have to get their checks done by Sept. 5.

In the past, primarily only new teachers had to be checked, and that was just by the state bureau, not the FBI. The new regulation will affect more than 90,000 license renewals each year, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

Keeping track of the additional reports and investigating when necessary will mean more work – and more cost – for the office that oversees licensing and professional conduct, said department spokeswoman Karla Carruthers.

In addition, the state Board of Education expects to pass a new professional-conduct code this month, and part of the fee increase will be used to follow up on reported infractions.

The last substantial fee increase was 14 years ago, though a minimal increase was enacted in 2000, according to Carruthers. By law, the licensing office has to be self-supporting, she said.

Calling the increase “sudden and dramatically high,” the Ohio Education Association is asking the state board to roll back the fees and find another source of money.

State teachers union President Sue Taylor said that she understands the fees need to go up but that teachers are furious about the size of the jump. It hits the lowest-paid teachers – in the southeast region of the state – particularly hard, she said.

“When 99 percent of teachers are ethical and show the proper conduct we expect of educators, making them underwrite this just seems wrong,” Taylor said.

Joanne DeMarco, president of the Cleveland Teachers Union, has watched many district teachers scramble to renew their licenses before the rates rise.

The Cleveland district is requiring all employees to get their background checks by May 30 instead of Sept. 5, so the process can get rolling before people disperse for the summer, DeMarco said.

Because thousands of Cleveland employees are affected, the district is taking fingerprints daily through April 30 at the administration building and on set dates at four high schools and at the Barbara Byrd-Bennett Professional Development Center. Employees have to pay the $46.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

estarzyk@plaind.com, 216-999-4881

© 2008 The Plain Dealer

© 2008 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.