Local Republicans Propose Bill Targeting Predators in the Classroom

On Tuesday, state lawmakers unveiled legislation inspired by recent allegations of sexual abuse by teachers.

Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) is spearheading the effort to get a proposed bill passed that would provide greater protections for students and speed up the process of removing teachers who engage in criminal behavior. 

The lawmakers hosted a press conference Tuesday to outline the suggested reforms.

“Public schools are supposed to be havens for safe learning, not a proving ground for sexual predators,” said Huff, who represents Diamond Bar and Walnut. “The recent arrest of two Miramonte Elementary teachers for lewd acts against their students shows that we must change the law to protect our kids.  That’s why Republicans are standing with Mayor Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Unified to enact reforms to empower local districts and ensure that a Miramonte-like tragedy never happens again.”

The Los Angeles Unified Board of Education was scheduled to vote on a resolution urging lawmakers to adopt reforms to the teacher dismissal process Tuesday afternoon.

Assemblyman Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills), who also represents Diamond Bar and Walnut, co-authored a proposed bill similar to the Senate’s legislation for his House and also participated in the press conference.

"The incident at Miramonte Elementary School must never happen again, no community is immune from this horrendous situation and these proposals will help protect the most defenseless of our community, our children," Hagman said "I hope that both parties can work together, do the right thing, to pass these proposals to protect our school children." 

Both proposals, crafted by Senate and Assembly Republicans, are slated to be introduced this week as legislation, according to a news release. The measures would enact urgent reforms as requested in letters to Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and L.A. Unified officials.  

The reforms were drafted in response to the recent arrest of Mark Berndt, a third grade teacher who was arrested earlier this year following a two-year investigation for alleged lewd acts against his students. Berndt has been charged with 23 counts of lewd conduct, according to a news release.

The measures Republicans proposed Tuesday include:

• Eliminating Restrictions in Union Contracts – Would prohibit bargaining agreements from restricting the maintenance of records or use of prior evidence of allegations in new investigations.
• Removing “Four Year” Rule – Would allow evidence of past charges of wrongdoing to be held in files longer than the current four-year date by which evidence must be removed.  Several complaints were filed against Berndt over the years, but none resulted in action and were removed from his file after four years as stipulated by contract provisions.  The current policy made it extremely difficult for the district to investigate allegations against Berndt.
• Ending Unnecessary Delays in Dismissal Process – Would eliminate notice requirements used as a technicality to dismiss charges, and allow suspension or dismissal notices to proceed in the summer.  Under current law, teachers are reassigned to non-classroom work while dismissal processes are under way.  A 2009 Los Angeles Times report found that there were 160 teachers who were removed from the classroom during the dismissal process, costing taxpayers $10 million a year.
• Reforming the Panel Review Process – Would have panel reviews conducted by an administrative law judge alone, as is done in other states, and make rulings advisory to empower school boards.  According to the Los Angeles Mayor’s office, the average dismissal proceeding can cost districts $300,000 per case.  Due to the cost and heavy burden of pursuing such cases, only 110 dismissal hearings were held statewide between 2003 and 2010, resulting in just 68 terminations.  This process is also used by community colleges throughout California.
• Conforming Disciplinary Pay – Would allow districts to dismiss teachers for disciplinary reasons with no pay, following an administrative hearing.  These individuals would be eligible for back pay if they prevail in the panel hearing or in court. This will conform state law with the current process for handling disciplinary cases with classified employees.
• Creating a Paper Trail – Would require districts to transfer teachers out of the classroom if there is reasonable cause to believe they are being investigated by law enforcement.  Teachers would not be allowed to return to the classroom until the school district reviewed the case and created a paper trail.
• Stripping Pension from Felons – Would strip pension and retiree benefits from teachers who are convicted of a felony related to their job.

In Diamond Bar, Steven Andrews, a 41-year-old teacher at Lorbeer Middle School, was with committing lewd acts with a former student. Seventeen charges were filed against him by the L.A. County District Attorney's office, including six counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object, six counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child, two counts of oral copulation with a child under 16 and three counts of lewd acts on a child.  

Andrews was placed on administrative leave by the Pomona Unified School District before surrendering at the Walnut/Diamond Bar Sheriff's Station. He plead not guilty in November, and in February, an L.A. County Sheriff's during a pre-trial to share information that had been gathered in the case.

Deputy Sheriff Janet O'Bryan of the Special Victim's Unit testified that the 14-year-old victim told her the relationship with Andrews began in May 2011, after she met him at school. The girl said that she and Andrews had sexual intercourse on at least six different occasions in his car and home, in a motel in Diamond Bar and at her father's house. O'Bryan said that she had the victim call Andrews while she listened, and while the two spoke, Andrews asked the victim sexually explicit questions, and indicated previous sexual encounters. She also said that an informant at the school gave her a computer that belonged to Andrews, which had child pornography on it.

Later, O'Bryan testified that the victim gave conflicting answers to her and a detective that spoke with her, and was also unable to give Andrews' correct home address. 

Andrews is due back in Pomona Superior Court Wednesday.