20070717 State must investigate abuse of students - Commentary by Frank Keegan

State must investigate abuse of students

July 18^th, 2007

Frank Keegan, writing in the Examiner asks some important questions for us to consider over the matter of Timothy Gounaris. If you will recall, this is the gentleman who “taught at three area schools, two of them after he was forced to resign in 2000 over allegations he sexually abused students….”

It seems at a quick glance that the more layers of this matter that are peeled back, the more it gets curiouser and curiouser.

And just what did happen with Harford County (Dist. 34,) Republican Sen. Nancy Jacobs’ legislation that she filed in the Maryland General Assembly to address this very sort of issue? Actually, I honestly do not remember and I have made a few phone calls myself…

Meanwhile Mr. Keegan writes:

Commentary by Frank Keegan: State must investigate abuse of students

Frank Keegan, The Examiner 2007-07-17

BALTIMORE –

To any officials who claim the system worked in finally getting sexual predator Timothy Gounaris out of the public school system: Not good enough.

Gounaris taught at three area schools, two of them after he was forced to resign in 2000 over allegations he sexually abused students.

How can this happen? His plea in Baltimore County Circuit Court and sentence to 18 months in prison falls far short of answering that question.

The state must assure parents they do not send their children to school every day to be captive prey for abusers. Administrators must prove to taxpayers they are — at minimum — protecting children with the ever-increasing money extorted from us for continually declining results.

A judge last week sentenced Gounaris, on an “Alford” plea to a third-degree sex offense, meaning he maintains his innocence but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him….

[…[

Maryland’s failure to prosecute this case to the maximum and put the criminal and every public official involved on the stand under oath to get some answers is a failure to act in the people’s interest.

[…]

A bill by Harford County Republican Sen. Nancy Jacobs, (Dist. 34,) went nowhere last year, as did a promise by the state to require teachers who surrender certificates to reapply instead of just getting them automatically. The Department of Education promised “they were going to try to do it through regulation,” Jacobs said Monday.

But the Professional Standards and Teachers Education Board blocked the reforms. “I will introduce another bill,” Jacobs said.

[…]

Read his entire commentary here: Commentary by Frank Keegan: State must investigate abuse of students

… and then start asking some questions yourself…

Thank you Mr. Keegan for calling this to our attention.

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