Background Checks

If you're a college student majoring in education, be prepared to give the state your fingerpri...  More »

If you're a college student majoring in education, be prepared to give the state your fingerprints. Beginning next month, background checks on future teachers will be mandatory. It's part of a fingerprinting law passed by the legislature. For ten years, the University system has been taking fingerprints from anyone registering for their state teacher's license. The prints are checked through the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the F-B-I to varify if a candidate has a criminal history. Anyone who has committed a sexual crime or crime against a child is denied a license. All other offenses are reviewed on an individual basis. (Welk): We're trying to make our schools as safe as possible. It would be nice to put on our rose-colored glasses and say that everyone who applies for a license or who wants to work for a school in North Dakota is a wonderful, caring person. But, we know that is not true. Beginning August First, the state will extend fingerprinting to *all* college students majoring in education who will eventually need to complete student teaching. Welk says while there are several details about the new policy that still need to be ironed out, parents can rest assured that the state is doing what it needs to do to make sure our children are kept safe while in school. (Janet Welk, Exec. Dir. of ND Education Standards and Practices): People move today in and out. It's amazing even in ND, we probably license 300 teachers from out of state every year. Don't know where they're coming from... I mean we know the institution, but not always where they've been. The fingerprinting bill just passed by the legislature allows many organizations to collect fingerprints... including foster care agencies, law enforcement and higher education.  « Less