WASHINGTON, D.C. – Are teacher unions standing in the way of legislation to keep sex offenders, murderers and kidnappers out of public schools?

That’s a question on the minds of many education reform advocates after an effort in Congress to address the growing problem of educators sexually abusing students appears to have stalled in the Senate.

The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s two largest teacher unions, are reportedly the only entities to raise objections to the federal legislation, and the unions hold considerable political influence over the Democratic majority in the Senate.

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The unions are also notorious for squashing similar state legislation to make it easier for school officials to terminate teachers who harm their students.

A bill requiring comprehensive background checks for school employees was introduced late last year in the House by California Democrat Rep. George Miller, and quickly passed by a voice vote.

But identical legislation later introduced by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in the Senate appears to have stalled after the NEA and AFT both raised objections to the House bill.

Specifically, the legislation would prohibit schools from hiring convicted sex offenders, kidnappers, murderers, pornographers, spouse beaters and rapists, and would outlaw secret “passing the trash” deals orchestrated by spineless school administrators and union officials.

Those deals have allowed countless predatory educators to resign with a letter of recommendation amid allegations in one school district, only to gain new employment in another district and repeat their behavior.

The Associated Press reported in October that “the bill has run into objections from major teachers’ unions like the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. In letters to lawmakers, their criticisms included concerns that the measure might jeopardize workers’ protections under union contracts,” the Associated Press reports.

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The NEA is also reportedly concerned that because minorities make up a disproportionately high percentage of criminals, they’d be disproportionately impacted by the bill.

Terri Miller, founder of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct & Exploitation (SESAME), routinely consults with lawmakers drafting educator misconduct legislation.

She said “there’s been difficulty in even getting a hearing (for the Senate bill), and they’re working to garner more support.”

“We have other reports that the teachers unions, (AFT President) Randi Weingarten in particular, has spoken out against these (reforms), so it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the teachers unions are working to stall,” she added, pointing to the unions’ successful effort to kill similar bills in states like New York and California.

A new Government Accountability Office report released last month highlights the federal government’s failure to enforce laws that could help protect students from predatory school employees.

That serious lapse, combined with a hodge-podge of federal, state, and local laws addressing educator sexual misconduct with students, has created a system with gaping holes that allows abusers to slip through the system.

The GAO report makes it clear the system is the problem, in part because of inconsistent background checks. The federal legislation could correct that problem, and Miller believes it’s long past time for the public to put the safety of students ahead of employee interests.

It’s time for teachers unions to quit playing politics, she said.

“This is about child safety and child endangerment by adults and politics should never take precedent over child safety,” Miller said. “We just can’t tolerate these kinds of problems where the employee in the school system is front and center over students.

“Right now, as the system exists with teachers unions defending due process, to me that’s criminal. That’s deliberate aiding and abetting child endangerment and that needs to be a criminal offense and prosecuted.”