Senator Eric Pratt [R-Prior Lake] issued the following statement on teachers with criminal pasts being licensed by the Minnesota Board of Teaching:

“Yesterday’s story by KSTP exposing current licensed Minnesota educators with criminal felonies is yet another in a long line of blunders made by the current Minnesota Board of Teaching. The Board of Teaching licensed 14 teachers and a social worker as fit to serve Minnesota’s school children despite their criminal histories involving domestic violence, distributing drugs, sexual misconduct, and felony theft of funds dedicated for school lunches. As shocking as this absence of commonsense is, I am not surprised by the board’s continual lack of judgement. Decisions like these, as well as failing to report allegations of sexual misconduct by teachers, are precisely why I sponsored legislation last session to reform Minnesota’s teacher licensure system and create a new licensing board, the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB). It is imperative that the new board have a fresh start, and I hope the Governor’s new appointments to the board responsible for overseeing the teaching profession will be more accountable to the decisions they make. We must not continue the problematic behaviors of the past… Our children’s futures depend on it.”