Jeannette Olson was surprised when she opened the newspaper and saw her photograph published for the community to see and identify her as an educator shortly after she had gotten her first teaching job.

She realized quickly her personal life had become public interest.

“Teaching is very visible; you’re in a fishbowl. Any inside or outside activities are monitored by the community,” Olson said. Olson now works for Iowa State as the program coordinator for teacher education, where part of her job is to keep track of legislation that concerns educators.

Background checks

In October 2000, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners found that Iowa was one of only a few states that didn’t do fingerprinting and background checks before licensing.

Linda Aspengren is the record analyst for education student services and coordinates teacher licensing between Iowa State and the state department.

Aspengren said background checks are run on education students before acceptance into the teacher education program at Iowa State. If records show serious offenses, students are told they could be denied licensure and advised to consider new majors if they don’t continue in education.

Department of Public Safety officers at Iowa State do fingerprinting free of charge for education students.

She said anyone who applies for an initial teaching license in Iowa must also have a background check. Initial licenses are primarily for students entering the field or people who have taught in other states and are looking to find a position in Iowa.

“The board felt that there might be an undesirable person shopping around from state to state, and if they know Iowa doesn’t run fingerprints and background checks, they might try to come here,” Aspengren said.

Education students apply to the board for a license and it decides whether to grant it. Once the board issues the license, the student still has to go through the school district where he or she applies to work, which usually does its own background check on teachers.

Olson said each institution determines its own criteria for administrative education. She said when schools are considering applicants, GPAs, letters of recommendation and backgrounds are all heavily weighed.

At the time of licensing, the student pays $50 for a license and $42 for the board to run state and national background checks. Part of the background check fee goes to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the rest goes to the FBI.

A criminal past

Each student applying for a teaching license signs a waiver and is asked to disclose felonies, child abuse and crimes other than traffic violations in the applicant’s history. Written explanation of any listed items is required.

Aspengren said if students are honest about minor, older charges in a self-report, the board probably would grant a license.

If a student signs a waiver without reporting an offense, it is considered fraud and may result in license denial or revocation.

“We hate to feel like we’re policing people all the time, but it’s part of our ethical obligation to the profession,” Olson said.

For example, “as an institution, it looks really bad if we were to have an ISU student teacher who is providing alcohol to minors. It can severely restrict our ability to place student teachers with that institution again,” Olson said.

Dawn Kruger, junior in family and consumer sciences education, hasn’t signed the waiver or been fingerprinted yet, but she said she thinks it is a good idea.

“I think if it prevents even one incident of a child being abused, it’s worth it,” Kruger said.

Chapter 12 of the Iowa Administrative Code states that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners has the right to deny an applicant of a teaching license or revoke an existing license if an educator is criminally convicted of a number of serious crimes listed.

If an applicant or licensee has been convicted, has pleaded guilty to, or has been found guilty of criminal offenses on the list, regardless of whether the judgment of conviction resulted in sentencing or was deferred, the board will deny or revoke the license.

It also states that, when dealing with more minor crimes, the board should consider how long ago the crime took place, how many times it happened and the degree of rehabilitation that has taken place since the crime occurred.

The Iowa Department of Education published the “Iowa Teaching Standards and Model Criteria,” which was adopted by the State Board of Education on May 10, 2002 to reiterate the importance of teachers maintaining a clean record. It states that teachers should demonstrate “professional and ethical conduct as defined by state law and district policy.”

A safe place

Nan Jungst, a teacher at Willson-Beardshear Early Childhood Education Center in Ames, said she thought it would be great if everyone with active licenses were checked for background information, but it is probably not feasible.

“We don’t have the manpower or the money to do something like that,” Jungst said.

Jennifer Naber, senior in early childhood education, is student-teaching in Jungst’s classroom at Willson-Beardshear.

Naber agreed it would probably not be possible to check all active teachers, but it would be a good idea.

“You have to think of it as if you had kids. Would you want your child with that person?” Naber said.

Kruger said she thinks some of the energy should be focused on people already in the profession of education, as well as new teachers, especially as there has been recent media coverage of teachers and custodians abusing children.

The new procedures in place for background checks of teachers are ultimately to protect the children.

“These kids, being small, if something happens to them it’s hard for them to tell someone. And it’s happening at home, too, and we want this to be a safe place,” Jungst said.

Olson said more and more people and organizations are doing background checks, including the YMCA and Girl Scouts, and even parent volunteers at some schools are being investigated.

Watching their steps

Education majors planning to apply for a teaching licenses should be aware of how heavily backgrounds affect the board’s decision for licensing.

Naber said she restricted some of her actions during college because she knew it could affect her future as a teacher.

“If you’re going to be a teacher, you need to be a little more responsible,” Naber said.

Kruger said she doesn’t restrict her actions because it’s not her nature to do things that would jeopardize her chances of getting a license.

She also said she believes students who are likely to take those kinds of actions won’t be persuaded to rethink it because of their future occupation.

“If you’re a risk-taker, you’re going to do something anyway,” Kruger said.

Olson suggested students who want to be licensed teachers carefully consider their actions.

“You have to think about what the parents of the children of your future classes are going to think about it,” Olson said. “What are you willing to risk for some fun?”