MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A bill being drafted by state Rep. Chad Fincher would automatically revoke the certificates of teachers who are convicted of felonies or crimes involving children.
Under Fincher's proposal, those teachers would immediately be fired upon conviction and they would lose their pay and benefits. He said the bill was inspired by the case of former Washington County teacher Charlene Schmitz, who is in federal prison but continues to draw pay and benefits more than a year after she was convicted of luring a student for sex.
"Here we're spending taxpayers' money to pay a teacher that's sitting in jail," the Semmes Republican said. "We won't continue to pay a teacher found guilty of a crime in this state if this law passes."
Schmitz, 56, was terminated from her teaching job at Leroy High School on May 27, 2008, after being convicted on two federal counts of child enticement. She is appealing the conviction and still faces state charges of rape and sodomy in Washington County for allegedly having sex with the student as many as 10 times in 2007.
She appealed her termination and, under a 2004 change in the state's teacher tenure act, she must continue to be paid until a hearing officer rules on whether the firing was justified. But to avoid self-incrimination, arbitration hearings can't be held for teachers until the criminal case concludes.
Fincher's bill, which was reported Monday by the Press-Register, would revoke a teacher's certification automatically upon conviction, ending employment and pay. He said it could be a top priority for House Republicans and that many people he has spoken with are outraged about the Schmitz case.
She has received nearly $71,000 in salary and retirement benefits since she was terminated and is serving her 10-year federal prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Facility in Tallahassee, Fla.
Schmitz' attorney, Henry Caddell did not immediately return a call for comment Monday but has said it's good that teachers' families aren't left without resources during the appeals process.
Fincher said his bill will allow reinstatement of a teacher's certification should the conviction eventually be overturned but he wasn't sure if back pay would be provided in such cases.
"I'm not going after the tenure system or the Fair Dismissal Act," Fincher said. "We're just trying to (take) a wrong and make it right."
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