An arrest or criminal conviction does not automatically knock you out of the teaching field. Although each decision is made individually, if your conviction was many years ago, you’ve been a model citizen since then, you have people who think you’d make a great teacher (or are a great teacher already), and your conviction was not of a sexual nature or involving a minor, there’s a good chance you will still be able to teach somewhere.
If you’ve been arrested and convicted, or plea bargained and accepted a deferred adjudication, you will have to discuss this with the Texas Education Agency and any school districts to which you apply for a job. Criminal history background checks are now required at so many stages of your career, it is unavoidable that old arrests will come to light at some point. Even arrests and convictions in other states must be revealed, because even though they may not always show up on the official background check, you will be much worse off getting caught in a lie than you will be otherwise.
My Friday post this week will be about expunction of criminal convictions.
I'm curious to know if school districts have the power to withhold sick leave days and dole them out one allowable sick day a month. I ask because my mother is 64 years old and has a severe cold, but continues to show up ill at work in her elementary school because she's afraid of being docked on her paycheck.
Posted by: Tracy Scholz | September 04, 2009 at 04:19 PM