MONTGOMERY — Republicans plan to give priority to a bill that would stop Alabama teachers from continuing to receive pay and benefits while in prison on felony convictions that they are appealing.
The bill would amend the state’s teacher tenure law. Paul Hubbert, chief of the Alabama Education Association, said he agrees that action is needed to prevent the state from paying an imprisoned teacher.
Rep. Chad Fincher of Semmes said he is prefiling a bill in the Alabama House this week that would immediately halt payments to a public school teacher when convicted of a felony.
House Minority Leader Rep. Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, said the bill would be a priority for Republicans in the 2010 regular session that begins Jan. 12.
Fincher said he decided to introduce the measure because a Washington County teacher has continued to receive her full pay and benefits even though she has been in prison since February 2008. The teacher, Charlene Schmitz, is serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for using a cell phone and a computer to entice a 14-year-old boy for sex.
A 2004 change to the teacher tenure law requires that dismissed teachers continue to be paid until an arbitrator holds a hearing and finds the dismissal was proper. But state courts have ruled that a hearing for Schmitz can’t be held while she is appealing her criminal case, because testimony in a hearing could be used against her and she would face possible self-incrimination.
State officials officials have held a revocation hearing as a possible step toward stopping payments to Schmitz, but it is subject to legal challenge.
“I just think this is something we need to address and take care of immediately,” Fincher said.
His bill is similar to state law that requires legislators and other elected officials to immediately lose their positions if convicted of a felony.
“It’s just not right that a teacher convicted of a crime involving a minor would still be drawing pay,” Fincher said.
His bill contains a provision that the teacher would receive back pay if the conviction was overturned on appeal.
Hubbert, the head of the state teachers’ union, said he supports the concept and agrees legislation is needed to make sure a teacher in prison is not paid. But he said he wants to make sure that any bill provides for a fair hearing process for the teacher.
Hubbard, who is also chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, said he hopes the bill is one of the first issues considered in the 2010 session.
“This loophole needs to be closed,” Hubbard said. “It’s just common sense. Why should a teacher who you’ve entrusted with your children be treated differently from an elected official?”
Schmitz is serving a 10-year sentence at the federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla. She still faces state charges of rape and sodomy in Washington County for allegedly having sex with the student as many as 10 times in 2007.
After she was charged, she was terminated from her teaching job at Leroy High School in Leroy, Ala., but the county school system has continued to pay her.
Though Schmitz is the first Alabama teacher to continue drawing pay after being convicted and jailed, there are several others around the state who have been criminally charged and are still being paid although they have not been in a classroom for months.
