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Congressman Lee: It's Time To Put Student Safety First

Friday March 13, 2009

Lawmaker Joined in Amherst by Community Leaders to Unveil Major Legislation to Fight Sexual Abuse in Schools; Measure Endorsed by National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

·         National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: “This Act brings attention to the often-overlooked problem of child sexual exploitation in our schools.”

AMHERST – Congressman Chris Lee (NY-26) was joined by community leaders at the Amherst Main Library today to unveil major legislation to protect students from sexual abuse in schools.

Lee and others were spurred to act after a national investigation conducted by the Associated Press uncovered thousands of cases in which incidents of sexual misconduct by school employees were not reported to the public. 

As a result of this lack of reporting, offenders have the freedom to move from school to school – sometimes across the state, other times across the country – without the new school district being aware of the fact that their newest employee was fired from a previous job for sexual misconduct. As recently as 2007, only 17 states mandated collecting data of this nature.

“This unacceptable lack of transparency puts our students in harm’s way. It’s time to put student safety first,” Congressman Lee said. “We need to take serious steps to prevent these menacing acts and give our school officials the tools they need to keep sex offenders from ever setting foot in a classroom again.”
 
That’s why Congressman Lee recently partnered with Congressman Adam Putnam (R-FL) to introduce the Student Protection Act (H.R. 781), which establishes:

A uniform reporting requirement for educators accused of sexual misconduct;
A commission in each state to investigate allegations of abuse; 
A nationwide database where the names of school employees sanctioned for sexual misconduct would be kept on record and made available to the public; 
A toll-free number for reporting incidents of sexual abuse by educators.

Congressman Lee was joined at today’s event by Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard, Amherst Central Schools superintendent Laura Chabe, and Edward Suk, executive director of the New York branch of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Ernie Allen, President and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, commended Congressman Lee for introducing this much-needed legislation: "This Act brings attention to the often-overlooked problem of child sexual exploitation in our schools. The vast majority of teachers are dedicated, decent professionals. However, when abuse occurs there must be meaningful sanctions and oversight in order to prevent teachers from moving to a new school and victimizing additional students."

Congressman Lee also noted that the Student Protection Act is an example of how the federal government can encourage states to work together without growing Washington: “Failing to adopt these common-sense policies at the national level leaves all states vulnerable when hiring educators from states with mediocre reporting procedures and lackluster ethical standards. Our students and our teachers deserve better than a piecemeal approach.”

For more information on the Student Protection Act, visit http://chrislee.house.gov/saferschools.