Stop pensions for teachers who abuse children

In response to the devastation that haunts communities following school shootings, schools take active measures to combat bullying inside school walls and on the internet. The aim of these measures is to help children and young adults identify and combat behavior that can result in outbursts of violence.

So far, Delaware has not endured a school shooting. Yet as a recent report in the Cape Gazette shows, Delaware children are at risk from a quieter, more insidious form of violence.

This year alone, three Delaware teachers were arrested for crimes ranging from rape to unlawful sexual contact with children.

Those teachers join literally dozens of other teachers who have been convicted of crimes against children since 1999 – most often the very children they were paid to instruct.

Yet these crimes draw far less attention from school district officials or lawmakers than child bullies.

Some teachers are jailed for their crimes, yet Delaware law does not prevent a teacher – or any other state employee – from receiving a pension and benefits, even if they were convicted of a job-related felony before retiring.

According to Delaware law, employees who pay into the state benefits system are eligible for a pension and benefits – even if they rape children. This has to stop.

State lawmakers worry that taking away benefits could have unintended consequences, hurting the families of the criminals, who in some cases are the victims of the crime. But that seems like a problem that is easily solved: Let the courts award all pension and health benefit costs to victims, all those who are harmed by the crime.

We send our children to school every day believing they will come home safely. Exploitation of children by the very people who are paid to instruct and enlighten them shakes our most basic faith in community.

People who commit crimes against children deserve the stiffest penalties the law can provide. At the very least, no matter how long they have paid into the retirement system, people who commit crimes against children should receive not one cent in pensions or benefits.