SCHOOL TRYST BILL OVERSTEPS

School Tryst Bill Oversteps

A bill that would criminalize sex between city Teachers and their students even if the students had reached the age of consent has pitted the United Federation of Teachers against the Department of Education and the bill's sponsor in Albany.

UFT President Randi Weingarten called the measure unnecessary, pointing out that under the most recent union contract, any sexual contact between a Teacher and student requires that the instructor be fired.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Brooklyn State Sen. Carl Kruger say that's not enough, with Mr. Kruger stating that in cases where a student is of age, "Consensual or not, this is taking advantage of one's position."

He's right on that point. That does not mean, however, that a moral transgression rises to the level of a felony offense.

One of the problems with Mr. Kruger's bill is that it has selective applicability: it covers sex between a Teacher and a high school student but not between a college instructor and his or her pupil. Asked about that discrepancy, Mr. Kruger told this newspaper's Howard Megdal, "You have to start somewhere."

Rhetorically that might sound zippy; we're not comfortable with it as a legal justification, however, and it's hard to imagine that the courts would be, either.

We also have misgivings about criminalizing sex between two consenting adults. Why should Teachers be taken off in handcuffs for doing something that a corporate executive or an elected official would not face arrest for? In all three cases, the employee involved could be viewed as taking advantage of a position of authority, and/or their greater income or sophistication. Those other authority figures face no legal sanctions, however, and often are able to keep their jobs.

Teachers are not treated that gently - nor should they be. The temptations are too great, and the potential harm - to the student, to the education process if other students are aware of what's going on, and to the image of Teachers - makes it appropriate that instructors who cross the line be fired. That is true even if the student initiates the encounter; Teachers must be mature enough to understand boundaries.

As Ms. Weingarten compellingly argues, the loss of their jobs should be punishment enough - and deterrent enough, too. Our guess is that if Mr. Klein and Mr. Kruger give the new contract provision time, they will discover that all but the most foolhardy of Teachers understand that throwing away a career for a fling is too severe a price to be worth the transitory thrill.