ABC-7 Viewpoints: Fingerprints, Give’em Or Get Out!

By ABC-7 Anchor Rick Cabrera

Following our recent special report on local school districts doing background checks on teachers and staff, we received an e-mail from a viewer outraged over the district FORCING employees to get their fingerprints taken.

While you might be able to make the case that forcing someone to have their fingerprints taken may be a violation of their civil rights (although the courts have consistently sided with employees), I don’t really care. These people are going to have close contact with children and it’s incumbent upon our schools to make sure those children are safe and protected while in school.

Unfortunately, we’ve done far too many stories on teachers, not just here, but around the country, being arrested and charged with things ranging from indecency with a child to criminal sexual contact of a minor.

I have a hard time imagining anyone with a child attending our public schools who wouldn’t want to see their local school district do everything possible to make sure the teachers and staff don’t have a criminal background.