Teachers' Compulsory Fingerprinting Unease

Among the first educators expected to comply with the state's new mandatory fingerprinting law, some faculty members at Pillow Elementary School in North Austin are putting up a fight.

Nine teachers at Pillow spoke out Wednesday against the new requirement, with seven saying they don't know yet whether they'll submit to the required fingerprinting and national criminal background checks

"It feels sort of like using a shotgun to kill a cockroach," said
Candy Ellard, a fifth-grade math and science teacher who said she is
considering whether to ignore or possibly resign over the requirement.
Pillow will begin fingerprinting at the end of the month.

Under the new rules, which expand on existing statewide criminal
checks, teachers with felony convictions or who are registered sex
offenders could lose their teaching certificates. Supporters say the
law will keep children and school employees safe by weeding out those
with criminal pasts. Refusal to comply with the checks, district
officials say, could cost teachers their jobs.

With about 6,600 workers, Austin was chosen as the state's test
case, allowing officials to work out problems before expanding the
checks to more than 1,000 other school districts and about 392,000
employees across the state. A few districts already perform national
checks on their own.

Teachers are encouraged to sign up for a "fast pass" by submitting
their personal information online for a ticket to present when they are
fingerprinted.

Ellard, who has taught for 28 years, said she has no criminal record.

"I don't want to be the Rosa Parks of teachers, but I've lived
though the '60s and '70s, and I've got that mentality that you question
things that don't quite seem right," she said. "This is not about
hiding something. This is about what are my rights as a citizen who is
not a criminal."

Austin has fingerprinted faculty members at 20 schools this week,
and the process has been going smoothly, district spokeswoman Kathy
Anthony said. She said if employees refuse, they will be reported to
the Texas Education Agency, which will invalidate their teaching
certificate.

The bulk of fingerprinting in Austin will end in March. Janitors,
cafeteria workers and other support employees hired before Jan. 1 will
face only statewide criminal checks. Each national check will cost the
state about $50.

"It seems the money they're spending on this could have been spent
on something a little more practical," Ellard said. Other teachers said
that they felt insulted and that the fingerprinting is an invasion of
their privacy. Mentors often spend much more time alone with students
than teachers, they said.

"What about the public librarians, the toy store employees?" asked
Allan Shropshire, a first-grade teacher. "How would parents feel if
they were asked to submit a fingerprint to eat lunch with their child?"