Arizona Board Of Education Discipline Report Shows Majority Of Cases Involved Sexual Misconduct

The Arizona State Board of Education has released its 2023 Enforcement Action Report, providing an overview of the type and frequency of discipline it has imposed on educators, certificated and non-certificated, who have participated in unprofessional or immoral conduct.

According to the State Board of Education (SBE), the Enforcement Action Report “represents cases adjudicated by the Board (by action taken within public meetings) and does not include allegations and current caseloads of the Board’s Investigative Unit (IU).”

Analysts found, “From only the cases adjudicated in 2023, 39% of cases were associated with sexual misconduct, followed by 28% associated with assaultive (non-sexual) behaviors. Substance-related cases decreased to 15% of all the 2023 cases, while breaches of contract decreased to 7%. Cases associated with fraud and theft remained constant at 11% in 2023.”

The report found that “the number of Enforcement Actions taken in 2012 (55) is a fraction of the number of Enforcement Actions taken in 2023 (272). The difference in these figures represents a 394% increase in instances of Enforcement Actions. The difference for 2022 and 2023 is 58%.”

The SBE analysts claim that, “While the number of cases processed by the State Board Investigative Unit has increased, it is due to increased staffing and improved efficiency in processing cases. The increase in processed cases is not indicative of an uptick in activity by teachers.”

Yet parents and their supporters say their increasing awareness of predators in public school classrooms and lazy administrators desperate to fill classrooms has played a significant role in complaints.

“There are few things worse in our society than the abuse of our precious children,” former Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas told the Arizona Daily Independent. “Parents send their children to school assuming they will be safe from predators. Yet according to this report 67% of the enforcement cases in 2023 were sexual misconduct or non-sexual assault. This is just of the cases that have been reported and investigated. How many cases go unexposed, unreported and in some case under disciplined? How many children may not realize they are being abused because of how they are being sexualized in their school’s CSE classes? How can people who have been trained as the teachers of our children abuse them in such horrific ways? Shame on our “Colleges” of Education – 25% of the disciplinary actions from ASU. Where is our Board of Regents?”

Sexual Offenses And Substance Abuse Most Common Complaints

Overall, analysts found that the complaints against educators and school personnel fell into five categories: sexual offenses, assault (non-sexual), substance-related, fraud/theft, and breach of contract.

Finding Highlights:

Male educators represent the majority (61%) of Enforcement Actions, while 39% of Actions involve women. There is no discernible trend over the EADB period (2012 to 2022), however fluctuation is observed year over year.
An increase in female educators with Board discipline is seen in 2018 and 2019, while recent years reflect the average of approximately 39% or less.
The largest disciplined group, representing more than one-fourth of all EADB adjudicated cases, are educators with Secondary teaching certificates (30%). Educators with Elementary teaching certificates (21%), and educators with Substitute teaching certificates (21%) account for more than one third of all discipline cases.
In 2023, cases adjudicating non-certificated (N-C) persons increased.
Suspensions of any time frame (generally six months to five years) and surrenders of teaching certificates increased from 2021 through 2023. Revocations follow a similar trend, exhibiting a higher climb from 2019 to 2020 and 2022 to 2023. In 2023, more surrenders were received than in any year exhibited in the data prior. This trend continues to rise.