Analysis

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Wrongly accused teachers also need protection

By: The Waterloo Region Record

Posted: 06/19/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

The warm reception the media accorded a comprehensive report calling for more openness and transparency by the Ontario College of Teachers when it comes to disciplining errant teachers is hardly surprising.

After all, media outlets, including The Waterloo Region Record, have long grumbled about the veil of secrecy that so often surrounds cases where teachers accused by the college of teachers of sexual improprieties or other disciplinary matters are virtually shielded from public identification. That will change -- and it deserves to -- if the series of recommendations (49 in all) delivered by former Ontario Superior Court chief justice Patrick LeSage are promptly acted upon.

Among other things, LeSage has recommended that the names of teachers found guilty of misconduct be made public, that hearings into those cases be open, and that teachers found guilty of sexual assault involving students be decertified for at least five years. They're all sensible proposals that are worth endorsing.

But the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario was also right, in responding to the release of LeSage's report on June 7, to highlight an equally concerning, issue: false abuse accusations made against teachers.

In contrast to the publicity blackout that can attend matters of misconduct, it's not unusual for teachers accused of grievous offences, particularly if criminal charges are laid, to find their names in the newspaper or broadcast in local TV or radio newscasts. Responsible media outlets will follow those cases as they make their way through the courts, and if an accused party is found not guilty, provide an equal amount of publicity to the acquittal.

But that is only a partial remedy to wrongly accused teachers, who between the time of the initial publicity and the public exoneration can live in a very unsettled world. LeSage does make recommendations on ways for the college of teachers' investigations committee to improve its screening of "frivolous or vexatious" complaints to determine if they should proceed.

Teachers who are falsely accused -- and according to University of Ottawa education professor Joel Westheimer, the number of such incidents has grown dramatically in recent years -- can take no comfort in the fact that students (often enabled by their parents) who level such accusations face few, if any, consequences.

It's reasonable to ask if parents, in such instances, should be held legally responsible in serious cases. An amendment to the province's Parental Responsibility Act, as at least one teachers' union representative has suggested, could afford the proper remedy.

Bad teachers must face the proper discipline, in an open arena. Equally, students and parents who act badly by levelling unfounded allegations need to be held accountable.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 19, 2012 A7

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