The Maine House and Senate both have approved a proposal to
abolish a controversial law subjecting all school employees to
fingerprinting and criminal background checks. That places the
ball squarely in the court of Governor Angus King, a staunch
supporter of the law.
The Governor and other advocates have maintained that the
background checks conducted thus far have justified the law, but
officials have refused to reveal any details, claiming privacy
provisions prohibit the release of even general statistics about
the types of convictions and the nature of the crimes discovered.
Meanwhile, the state has lost some 70 teachers with an
accumulated 2,000 years of experience, many of whom argue
persuasively that the law casts a "guilty until proven
innocent" shadow over everyone involved and calls every
employee’s honesty and integrity into question.
We hope the Governor will reconsider his position, accept the
majority will of the Legislature and sign the repeal measure into
law. It is time to put an end to this misguided experiement, which
appears to have done more harm than good.
