Tennessee is one of only 11 states that requires teachers to have a background check before being hired. That 39 states do not have such a requirement is incredible.
But the Volunteer State's system is not enough, investigations by the USA Today Network and the Nashville Tennessean show, because the local districts that conduct them aren't always thorough, personnel records with such information aren't always kept and information isn't passed from state to state.
For those reasons and others, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, has proposed federal legislation that would require every teacher in the country being hired in a district receiving federal funds - essentially, all of them - to undergo a criminal background check to be hired. The bill also says teachers would need to be rechecked "periodically."
The legislation would include searches of state criminal and child abuse registries, an FBI fingerprint check and a search of the National Sex Offender Registry.
We believe this is a minimum of what should be required across the country to prevent discredited teachers from moving from one district to another with no consequences.
In a recent example, former Ooltewah High School teacher Jason Hamrick resigned from the Hamilton County Schools system in 2014 after allegations of improper sexual conduct with students but was hired by Metro Nashville Public Schools - without a check of Hamilton County records or a call to his immediate past supervisor - at the start of the 2015-16 school year.
"He cleared the criminal background check, provided letters of recommendation from previous employers, and the hiring principal contacted the references on his application," Metro spokeswoman Janel Lacy wrote in an email to the Tennessean.
Until they received a tip from a former Hamilton County Schools employee, Nashville officials didn't know about Hamrick's past. Last month, the school district placed him on administrative leave.
Although Blackburn's legislation suggests the periodic rechecks, a criminal background check each time a teacher moves from one local school district to another seems reasonable. And local districts, while not currently required by federal or state legislation, should at a minimum check the previous personnel file of a transferring teacher and speak to the teacher's prior supervisor.
None of Hamrick's references were familiar with his discipline history at Ooltewah High, according to the Tennessean.
Blackburn's legislation proposes no penalties if districts fail to comply and promises no money to help with the checks, but she says correctly it can save districts money and headaches in the long run.
If such a federal law doesn't pass - and the Tennessee congresswoman believes its prospects are good - states and individual districts should follow through to give their children more protection from this type of dangerous predator.