
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 23, 1993                   TAG: 9304230199
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Laura Williamson
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VEA TO CONSIDER FINGERPRINT ISSUE

Should somebody be checking Virginia's teachers for criminal records before letting them into the public schools?

That issue will come before members of the Virginia Education Association today during the group's three-day conference at the Roanoke Civic Center.

According to President Robley Jones, 11 school divisions - mainly in Northern Virginia - already fingerprint new teachers before assigning them to class.

"Some have gone through this already," he said.

But whether their colleagues in the other 123 divisions should likewise do so remains to be debated.

Jones said the fingerprinting and criminal records checks would aim to purge pedophiles and sex offenders from Virginia's schools. The investigations would be conducted when teachers applied for licensing, he said.

by CNB