Writer: Danny Robbins
Date: April, 2001
Publisher: Houston Chronicle
TT - What makes the series compelling is that what could be said about coaches and students, their relationships, the system that investigates the conduct and the attitudes that determine the degree of interest in investigating the problem, could be said about just any school district or suspect teacher. The system fails to protect students.
It's classic "Passing the trash" - moving intinerent abusers from one school to another.
In "Sexual misconduct by educators in Texas." they conducted a three-month study and found 64 Texas Middle and High School coaches who in the last four years as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct involving students or other minors.
They report on the disposition of the cases, talk to the foremost authority on the subject of abuse in schools, Dr. Robert Shoop of Kansas State (you can see him in an interactive report in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune series), a former investigator for the State Board for Educator Certification, and the founder of SESAME Inc., a nonprofit organization that serves as a national clearinghouse for information dealing with educator sexual abuse. Former coaches tell why and what they did.
Why are there so many coaches and band teacher cases?
The number of coaches involved in sexual misconduct with students is generally attributed to two factors. One is the amount of unstructured time coaches and students spend together. The other is the power and stature of coaches, particularly those affiliated with successful programs.TT - What could be said about coaches can be said about band teachers, depending on your community priorities. Well-written and informative. See right hand side for other parts to the series.
