A proposed law to stop school employees accused of sexual misconduct from moving from job to job will go before a Senate panel next week, one month after an NJ Advance Media investigation revealed dangerous flaws in the way teachers are vetted. The Senate Education Committee on Jan. 25 will consider a proposal (S414) requiring school districts to ask job candidates and their former employers specific questions about sexual misconduct, according to a spokeswoman for Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, the committee’s chairwoman. Notably, the bill would require school districts to share information about sexual misconduct and child abuse investigations unless the claims were proven to be false or unsubstantiated, and grant the districts legal immunity in doing so. It would also ban the separation agreements that force districts to destroy or withhold information about those probes.
