Dive Brief:
- Teacher Rafe Esquith's dismissal was related to allegedly inappropriate emails he exchanged with students and keeping sexually explicit material on his school computer, charges he denied.
- Esquith's legal team is questioning due process on the part of LA's Student Safety Investigation Team (SSIT), a two-year-old unit created by the district to investigate misconduct allegations.
- Investigative units like SSIT are typically comprised of former law enforcement officials, and report directly to school boards only.
Dive Insight:
In the district of Los Angeles, the Student Safety Investigation Team (SSIT) is similar to a team operating in New York, similarly comprised of former law enforcement officials. Results of each investigation are kept private unless mandatory reporting rules apply. In that case, details are provided to law enforcement.
Esquith's $1B suit alleges the district pushed him out because of his age, and that the district routinely dismisses older teachers to save money on retirement benefits.
But another factor is whether the district followed due process. Districts have struggled with adhering to mandatory timeline and reporting laws, which vary state to state. In L.A, SSIT was formed after another high-profile misconduct scandal involving a Miramonte Elementary School teacher who pled guilty to sexual misconduct charges, yet was still reportedly paid $40,000 because the district hadn't followed due process. SSIT reports to local school boards, which then make decisions regarding termination or other possible punitive measures.
Half of SSIT investigations result in a teacher returning to work while one-third leads to termination. The unit has executed 106 investigations since January 2014, and critics including Esquith have charged SSIT with being overzealous.