(Truth Alliance Foundation) -- Last week, Steven R. Battles, a former elementary school teacher in Springfield, IL was sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually abusing one of his former students. He was first charged in February, 2011 for the abuse that took place between 1999 and 2002.
The Battles case is typical. There is nothing remarkable about it. It could be used as a case study of why our public school system has become a safe haven for pedophiles like him. The only thing unusual about his case is that he got caught. Most don’t.
Charol Shakeshaft, a professor of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University, has spent her career studying our educational system. In 2004 she authored a report, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education, which focused on the sexual exploitation of children by teachers. Although the findings were shocking, it didn’t get much attention. What little it got, didn’t last.