On the Importance of Policing Ourselves

Have you been following the story of Jennifer Rice? It's a fascinating look at how teachers can get passed around from district to district until something big happens; in this case, she raped a ten year old boy.

Bethel, North Thurston, and Yelm had all hired Ms. Rice at one point or another; it was Bethel where she had her first incident, being investigated for coming on to one of her students at a house party. They never reported that to OSPI, though, and as a result she was passed along, and passed along, and passed along again until this most recent and most disturbing blow-out.

So here's the question: as teachers, what responsibility do we have to the profession regarding people like Ms. Rice?

If the first year teacher seems to have an "odd" relationship with her kids, what do you do? How do you tell the difference between first-year flailing around and something far more sinister?

What do you say to an administrator? If you feel strongly enough about the situation, how do you follow up?

And is there any way to cut these people off at the pass before they get in a position to harm kids?

E! Television is running a special called THS Investigates: Hot for Student where they have two hours of these stories. It's enough to make you sick, but it has to be asked: what can be done?