Attorneys join Wisconsin Rapids teachers' e-mail legal battle

Four attorneys who represent employees from two of the state's largest cities have become involved in a Wisconsin Rapids School District lawsuit involving teacher e-mails.

Lawyers from Milwaukee and Madison have sided with the five Wisconsin Rapids teachers who are arguing that personal e-mails from their work computers are not public records that should be open to scrutiny.

Read more here.

Lawmakers Move to Carve Out Public Records Exemption for Teachers

A bill designed to protect teachers would exempt a school employees' name, photograph and other personal information from public records requirements.

“My concern is I don't want to wait until a child (gets a failing grade) … and a child goes ballistic or a parent goes ballistic and something impacts (a teacher) negatively,” said bill sponsor Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville.

The measure (HB 409) would exempt a school district employee’s name, social security number, home address, employment status, home telephone number, and photograph from the list of records that must be made public. It would also specifically exempt any information about the employee’s children.

Read more here.

Lawmakers Move to Carve Out Public Records Exemption for Teachers

A bill designed to protect teachers would exempt a school employees' name, photograph and other personal information from public records requirements.

“My concern is I don't want to wait until a child (gets a failing grade) … and a child goes ballistic or a parent goes ballistic and something impacts (a teacher) negatively,” said bill sponsor Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville.

The measure (HB 409) would exempt a school district employee’s name, social security number, home address, employment status, home telephone number, and photograph from the list of records that must be made public. It would also specifically exempt any information about the employee’s children.

Read more here.

Average Joel Wins Fight for Public Records

Joel Chandler doesn't exactly fit the gadfly profile.

A married man of 23 years, Chandler has four children, sells copy machines and has attended one County Commission meeting in his life.

But what sets him apart is an overriding desire to hold governmental agencies accountable after being served with a public records request.

"Some people like baseball and football," Chandler said. "This has been a lot of fun. It's like dealing with a bully."

Chandler, 44, has become an unlikely enemy of the Polk County School District after winning a lawsuit against the district that allows him access to the names, phone numbers, addresses and dependents' names of any of the estimated 13,000 employees who receive health care.

Judge to Rule on Public Record Pertaining to Ozark Teacher

A Dale County judge may be the first in the state to rule on whether parts of a teacher’s personnel file are public record.

The Dothan Eagle submitted two public records requests to former Ozark City Schools superintendent Dan Payant for disciplinary action taken against D.A. Smith Middle School teacher Melinda Fenn, who disclosed a student’s medical disability to other students last school year. Fenn has taught in the school system for 18 years.

The student’s mother said her child underwent counseling and was temporarily transferred to another school system because of embarrassment.

http://www.dothaneagle.com/gulfcoasteast/dea/local_news.apx.-content-articles-DEA-2008-02-06-0006.html

Criminal Histories Hard to Find

One of the most confounding aspects of checking a person's criminal history is the crimes that don't show up.

This is especially frustrating to those screening for positions involving enormous amounts of trust, such as teachers.

There are a number of ways in Illinois that a person can plead guilty to breaking a state law but avoid having it show up on their criminal history.

http://www.pekintimes.com/articles/2008/01/26/news/news6.txt