What You Should Know

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz
32nd Senatorial District, Bronx County, New York
Tel. 718-991-3161

You should know that I am forwarding you, a copy of an article that appears in the The New York Daily News, on Friday, June 28th, 2013 written by Corinne Lestch, under the title “Total Ban on Perv’s-pol”.

This article is in reference to legislation #S5908 that I have introduced to protect New York State School children from those teachers that have been charged with sexually abusing a minor.

As you know, the great majority of teachers are decent, hard working, dedicated and committed to their profession, the school system and our children but a small group of predators is giving a bad name to those excellent teachers giving an eyesore to the whole system.

Therefore, I hope and pray that my colleagues in the Senate Democratic Conference lead by Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, The Independent Democratic Conference lead by Senator Jeff Klein and the Republican Conference lead by Senator Dean Skelos, show their support and commitment to the protection of our children by supporting this strong piece of legislation.

New York Daily News Article:

Sen. Ruben Diaz’s legislation comes after two city instructors were recently nabbed on sex crimes, including a music teacher charged with rape, a criminal sex act and endangering the welfare of a child on Wednesday, and another accused of raping a 10-year-old girl.

BY CORINNE LESTCH / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013, 7:54 PM

State Sen. Ruben Diaz on Thursday launched a fight to ban sex creeps from school property — not just the classroom. The Bronx Democrat introduced legislation in the wake of a string of Daily News stories highlighting the difficulty of removing predatory educators.

This “will protect our children from being approached on school grounds by an alarming number of known pedophiles who continue to lurk in our school system,” Diaz said in a statement.

“I remain disgusted by the Daily News report that cited how city education officials tried to fire 128 school employees since 2007 for sexual misconduct or inappropriate relationships with students — but only 33 were actually axed.”

The proposed bill, which notes there are no state laws prohibiting educators charged with sexual misconduct from staying in the classroom, comes after two city instructors were recently nabbed on sex crimes.

Brian Kearins, a music teacher at Herbert H. Lehman High School in the Bronx, was busted Wednesday on charges including rape, a criminal sex act and endangering the welfare of a child.

The 33-year-old married father of two, including a newborn, had sex with a 15-year-old student from this past October to April, according to the criminal complaint filed in Bronx Criminal Court.

Last week, Bronx teacher Anthony Criscuolo, 40, was arrested for raping a 10-year-old girl enrolled in his fifth-grade class at Public School 386.

Diaz said his measure — which applies to public and private schools — is one the teachers union should throw its full weight behind.

“The teachers union should be supporting this bill, because pedophiles give a bad name to good teachers,” he said.

A spokesman for United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said the Education Department already has the power to reassign employees accused of misconduct.

“If Sen. Diaz feels that the Department of Education has failed to enforce this provision, he should take the matter up with the department or Mayor Bloomberg,” the spokesman said.

But Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said the recent spate of sex abuse cases proves that officials should be able to fire teachers found to have committed wrongdoing.

“It should be clear to everyone by now — including the teachers union — that we can’t wait for someone to get convicted before being able to fire them,” said Walcott.

With Ben Chapman

This is Senator Rev. Ruben Diaz and this is what you should know.