Teacher misconduct investigations to be focus of state audit
At a legislator’s request, the California State Auditor will audit the cost and results of Los Angeles Unified School District’s practice of removing teachers from the classroom, sometimes for hundreds of days, when the district investigates allegations of misconduct.
“The need for this audit is two-fold,” said State Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, who requested the audit and won approval for it at a Joint Legislative Audit Committee hearing Wednesday. “We must rapidly resolve issues of sexual misconduct and terminate such employees, while also exonerating those employees who are innocent to keep them from languishing in limbo.”
Misconduct allegations include being verbally abusive, excessively absent from work, failing to follow the rules for administering standardized tests or engaging in sexual misconduct. The audit, which is expected to take eight months, will determine the cost of removing teachers from classrooms and whether disciplinary actions are “fair and just” in their timeliness and appropriateness, Mendoza said.
Teachers accused of misconduct and banned from classrooms are known as “housed teachers” by the district, but Los Angeles teachers often refer to such expulsions as being sent to “teacher jail.” Before the district changed its policy in May 2014, teachers under investigation were required to report to rooms in administrative buildings to spend school hours under supervision. They now are allowed to remain Teacher misconduct investigations to be focus of state audit | EdSource:
