An investigation by the Cap Times revealed 200 educators in Wisconsin schools have been formally investigated for sexual misconduct or grooming students since 2018.
The Oct. 15 article found that information about those cases has largely been shielded from the public. Wisconsin is not alone in seeing sexual misconduct in schools, but there are some clear steps legislators can take to prevent the problem, Jetta Bernier, the executive director of the national group, Enough Abuse, told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
Nationally, about 10 percent of students report sexual misconduct or grooming in schools, Bernier said.
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The cases can range from inappropriate social media conversations, physical touching like rubbing a back or kissing and, in rare cases, intercourse. She added that the problem is likely underreported.
“The impact on kids is not only felt while they’re going through this but these problems extend into adulthood with (increased) rates of depression, anxiety and inability to form trusting, safe relationships,” Bernier said.
In response to the investigation, Wisconsin lawmakers announced a number of proposals to eliminate misconduct in schools. State Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R–Pleasant Prairie, said she is drafting legislation that would prohibit educators under investigation for sexual misconduct from surrendering their teaching license to avoid further investigation — a practice the Cap Times reported is allowed in the state.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly criticized the Cap Times reporting and called for a correction.
A statement from Underly reads, “Any suggestion that the DPI withholds information from the public is categorically false. Records are released in accordance with open records laws, and educator license statuses are publicly available to anyone on the DPI’s website.”
Bernier said Wisconsin could do more to prevent abuse. She called on lawmakers to create a comprehensive code of conduct and ensure schools are protected when disclosing personnel information about previous employees.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Rob Ferrett: One concern raised in this Cap Times report is that in some cases educators facing allegations can voluntarily surrender their teaching license and that effectively puts an end to that investigation. What are your thoughts on that?
Jetta Bernier: Allowing individuals to surrender their license in lieu of an investigation is happening pretty consistently across the country. We applaud the Wisconsin legislators who are taking quick action to push for a piece of legislation that would, in fact, no longer allow that to happen.
State departments do have information that they keep and when the media wants to find out more details, they often have to pay money to get it. And then when they do, what they get is a lot of documents with a lot of redacted information, so they don’t even know exactly what the particular charges were.
These bureaucratic systems have got to shape up. There’s no question.
RF: One concern is if a teacher or other school staff member is accused and investigated, and they leave that job, can they just get a job with access to kids somewhere else?
JB: I have to applaud Wisconsin because, in 2017, your state — and it is only among six that actually has a law on the books — prohibits schools from what is called “passing the trash” — in other words, aiding and abetting an individual engaged in some kind of educator sexual misconduct to get a job in another school. This is something all states should be doing.
However, Wisconsin doesn’t go far enough.
For example, one of the things that a number of states are now doing is including a disclosure form as part of the interview process for new hires in schools.
It basically says: “Have you ever been the subject of an investigation for sexual misconduct? Have you ever relinquished your license? Was your license ever permanently or temporarily withheld from you because of the findings of such an investigation?”
What Wisconsin’s law doesn’t require is the potential employee to say, in written form, you may contact all the other schools where I worked to make sure that they verify what I’ve told you is accurate.
The reason that is important is that a lot of schools are very reluctant to share information about a previous misconduct of an employee, because they’re concerned that if the employee doesn’t get the job and finds out that there was not a positive reference, and that they shared personnel information that they could be liable for some kind of civil suit.
We need to make sure that schools know that they are protected from any kind of liability when they share in good faith information about a previous employee’s personnel record.
RF: Another idea circulating in the state Capitol would create guidelines on appropriate teacher/student relationships. What makes a strong code of conduct in your view?
JB: Individuals who work in schools and in youth organizations need to know what are boundary violating behaviors that they should not cross.
It’s uncommon that we find a stand-alone, very comprehensive, detailed code of conduct that specifically lays out behaviors of how to interact with students and how not to interact with students.
If there is that education of staff about what those violations are, we will see fewer cases of sexual abuse happening with schools.
We need to make sure that those types of behaviors are understood not only by the staff in the school, but by the students, and even more importantly, by the parents.
So if a child comes home with an iPad one day and says, “My teacher gave this to me,” the parent says, “Well, did every other child in the school get one too? Why did the teacher give this to you only?”
This is not rocket science. We know what the modus operandi is of individuals who would abuse our children. And so with that knowledge, we can begin to put in place these codes of conduct.
