OLYMPIA…Senator Don Benton, R-Vancouver, scored a big victory on the Senate floor today when he successfully amended his proposal to protect schoolchildren from predatory teachers onto Senate Bill 5983, another bill regarding teacher certification.   

Senate Bill 5983 is prime-sponsored by Senator Cheryl Pflug, R-Hobart. Subsequent to Benton’s amendment, the bill met unanimous Senate approval. 

“Persistence pays off,” said Benton, a member of the Senate Early Learning, K-12 and Higher Education Committee. “Protecting children in our schools is too important and I knew I had to persist. Senator Pflug’s bill gave me the perfect opportunity and I took it. Sometimes the real work is done on the Senate floor.” 

Benton’s amendment requires the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), for a first offense, to revoke or suspend certificates of teachers found intentionally viewing unauthorized sexually explicit material on school grounds. A second offense requires OSPI to permanently revoke a teaching certificate. 

Benton’s legislation comes on the heels of allegations that Bethel Junior High School teacher Chad Maughan, 35, engaged in sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old female student. Maughan previously worked as a science teacher at North Thurston High School but resigned after the North Thurston School District filed a complaint with the state alleging that he had accessed Internet pornography from his computer at work. 

“These people don’t belong in the school system where they are given free rein to our children,” Benton added.  “Most teachers are outstanding, but their reputation is tarnished by a few bad apples.  We need to expunge the public education system of these bad apples.” 

Last year, after reading the Seattle Times series “Coaches who prey,” and learning that Washington state had nearly 100 teachers who had committed sexual acts with students, only to move on to other school districts without as much as a note in their personnel file, Benton worked across the partisan divide with Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, to pass the following legislation to protect schoolchildren:

• Senate Bill 6171 speeds up and requires the conclusions of investigations of school employees.

• Senate Bill 5533 requires school districts to share information regarding school employee misconduct.

• Senate Bill 6220 outlines and clarifies misconduct reporting requirements. 

Senate Bill 5983 now goes to the House of Repre-sentative for further consideration.

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For more information contact Tami Davis (360) 786-7519 or davis.tami@leg.wa.gov