Are your teachers protected??

This may seem like an ODD title for a post but it is for good reason. I have seen some things happen to several teachers that I have never experienced before. What I have learned from this situation is 3 things.  Hopefully these 3 things can help keep your teachers protected.

1. Any one can make an allegation.
Your teachers may be the very best educators; the most amazing people ever. You may even say they would never do anything wrong but when someone makes an allegation, they could end up in an investigation through TEA. If you find yourself as the campus leader with a teacher going through this, please contact me. I will happily walk you through everything I have experienced thus far. Remember you cannot give them legal advice; which leads me to my next point.

2. Teachers need to protect themselves by joining a teacher organization.
Are you teachers a member of a teacher organization that offers legal services if ever needed?  I recently learned that about half of my teachers were NOT a member.  Some let it expire, others did not even know what a teacher organization was.  Teachers that were members of several different organizations shared information about joining at our latest staff meeting. This is not something an administrator needs to do. You have to protect yourself as well. Are you a member of a principal organization?

3. Document your CPS report information.
When reporting to CPS, document the date, time of call / online report, who you spoke with along with id number, reference number and student name.  This may seem overly obvious to some but to others they believe once you report to CPS, your job is done. That is not the case. Even when children are removed and a few years pass, the specifics of your report can be requested.
To make sure my staff knew when, why and how to report, the local CAC (Child Advocacy Center) came to our campus. They shared the facts about reporting and other very important information that all staff members need to be aware of.

Why did I decide to share this post?
Good teachers sometimes have to defend themselves, not just at my campus but possibly yours. When you are their leader, you need to be there supporting them. If you can share these types of things with them, hopefully they will never have to go through an investigation through TEA.