Teachers now face harsher punishment for infractions

Teachers will now face harsher punishment for severe infractions, including sexual assault, the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) said Friday.

The OCT was responding to one of 49 recommendations made in a report it had commissioned, including a five-year teaching ban for those convicted of sexual assault.

Judge Patrick LeSage released his 76-page report Thursday, criticizing the college for its lack of transparency.

teacher verification

“More than 60 per cent of the LeSage report’s recommendations will require changes to the law that we have worked under for the past 15 years,” the college’s CEO Michael Salvatori said.

“We look forward to working with the government to implement these legislative changes.”

LeSage had also called for faster reporting of teacher misconduct or incompetence and for the names of all those found guilty to be made public.

Click here to read the full report.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) slammed the provincial government Friday, saying it had made similar recommendations to the ministry of education two years ago.

“OCT recommendations that would improve the college’s investigative and disciplinary processes have been sitting with the Minister of Education awaiting legislative action for too long,” ETFO resident Sam Hammond said.

“We want to ensure that in those cases where teachers do harm to children in their care that justice and the public interest are served.”
Hammond said the college’s disciplinary procedures and dispute resolution programs need to be changed.

The LeSage report recommends:

• tighter timelines for reporting information about teacher misconduct or incompetence from boards to the College, from the College to members, and from the College to the public
• disclosing the names of all College members found guilty of misconduct
• posting information that a member is facing misconduct charges on the College’s public register, Find a Teacher
• expanding the roster of panel members who hear misconduct cases to include more non-teachers
• holding hearings on consecutive days until a case is completed
• requiring that written decisions be provided within 60 days of the conclusion of a hearing

Source : wsvn