Utah educators rusty on ethics standards, survey says

Say a male volleyball coach slaps girl players on the rear end as they come off the court.

Or a teacher downloads pornography on a school computer, but no students see it.

Or a driver's ed teacher intentionally overbills his employer by $500.

Are these things OK, pretty bad, really bad, or fireable offenses?

Looks like not all educators size up the penalties the same way as those who help decide whether to yank teachers' licenses for such behavior.

A survey conducted for a Weber State University master's project shows huge numbers of veterans, rookies and more often, prospective teachers underestimate penalties for such behavior.

And the State Office of Education's legal team thinks it's time for ethics training to be tied to teaching licenses.

"There's not even a common understanding in the profession" of boundaries, said Carol Lear, school law expert for the State Office of Education who works with the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission (UPPAC) to the State Board of Education, which recommends the fate of misbehaving teachers.

Lear knows educators are an ethical bunch; nobody's disputing that. Very few — maybe 50 a year out of 30,000 workers — are referred to UPPAC for possible censure for inappropriate behavior.

But is everyone on the same page on exactly what's appropriate, what's not, and how bad some things can be career-wise?

Davis County third-grade teacher Jean Tonioli examined the matter for her master's project, "A Survey of Ethics Knowledge of Utah Educators." She e-mailed 1,100 surveys to educators at all levels, from administrators to speech pathologists, statewide. She received 383 usable responses. She also surveyed teaching candidates in one elementary and one secondary education class at four Utah universities. Respondents demographically reflected Utah's 30,000 licensed educators.

Surveys asked respondents to read a scenario, derived from actual cases, and determine the proper level of discipline for them, such as, not a problem, requires discussion with the boss, should get the person "written up" in a district file, needs a state reprimand, or should revoke a license.

In some cases, respondents were grossly off what the real penalty was.