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BC, Thanks for the ping on this.

I have two comments: first, they should have criminal background checks - but, even if they do, the real question is this: Should institutes of higher education be hiring people with felony convictions to teach in colleges? Because right now there are a number of well-known felons teaching on campus, and the colleges welcome them.

And, second, another pressing issue, in my mind at least, is this one: Why is there currently no way to file an ethics complaint against a college professor for violating the professional educators' code of conduct?

What I recently discovered, after a college professor acted unethically towards me -- for political reasons I believe now -- is that there is no way for a person to complain about it because: the college professor does not have a teaching certificate on file with the state.

When a K-12 educator violates the ehtics code, then, a person can complain, a hearing can result, and the punishment/sanctions would impact the teacher's teaching certificate.

But, no such procedure or possible punishment exists for college professors, because: they are not required to hold a teaching certificate. So, there is no certificate to go after, and the certificate is the object of the ethics complaint. These facts were recently given to me by a woman at FL Dept of Ed, after I asked how to report ethics violations for a college professor. (And, these were pretty serious ethics violations.)

In light of what I learned, I think the laws should be changed to this: an ethics complaint, hearing, and punishment should exist as a possibility for all college professors, because without such a procedure or possibility of punishment -- guess what? It seems professors can engage in as much unethical conduct as their university will allow (especially in terms of bias and prohibiting others' free speech, if such speech does not agree with their point of view). It is a serious problem.

Consequently, I believe the educators' code of professional ethical conduct should also apply to higher ed teachers just as it already applies to K-12 educators. But, right now - it doesn't.

See if you can file an ethics complaint against a professor in your state, with your state's department of education. I am curious to know if this inability to file such a complaint exists elsewhere.