National Education Association, sent a letter to Congress protesting that it is unfair to tell an admitted, convicted child rapist who has completed his prison sentence that he may not be alone in a classroom with small children. Convicted felons, the letter stated, "should not be subjected to additional punishment because of these convictions."

No one doubted that the fifth-grade science teacher at Prospect Park Elementary School was a pedophile. Child after child, boys 10 to 12 years old came forward and told the Delaware County school stories of the teacher groping boys' crotches, stripping boys naked, and performing multiple sexual acts on young children - raping at least one.
The school, amazingly, decided to take the teacher's side. The principal wrote the teacher a letter of recommendation and helped him land a new job in Fayetteville, W.Va.
One brave Pennsylvania boy tried to have the teacher prosecuted. But he crumbled while telling his story, and the case was over.

For two decades, that teacher continued to brutalize children in West Virginia. The school district ignored complaints from parents. Twelve-year-old Jeremy Bell paid the price. The educator raped and murdered him one night.
As a father of three young children, I wish Jeremy Bell's story was just a freak occurrence. Sadly, it is not...

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20150707_Senate_must_act_on_child-protection_legislation.html#V27Qyve5amMM9eyg.99

...A similar measure unanimously passed the House last year with the support of teachers unions, which have since reversed course, saying educators who were convicted of crimes and served their sentences should not be subjected to additional punishment.
Mr. Toomey called that argument shocking. “The logic is that an admitted and convicted child molester who served 10 years in prison should be able to walk out of that prison and walk down the street to the local grade school and get a job as a teacher in that grade school. I think that’s ridiculous,” the Republican senator said...

 http://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2015/03/18/Toomey-bill-would-compel-wider-background-checks-for-school-employees/stories/201503180062