Ethics in Education Focus of Press Reports
Mar 31st, 2008 • Posted in: NewsFlorida Senate passes new ethics law; Chinese press says students are not impressed with educators’ ethics; two civil engineering professors are in trouble after investing in land that was the focus of student research; Maryland principal is criticized for buying a golf cart to help him get around sprawling new campus
VARIOUS DATELINES
Ethics issues related to education in schools and colleges were the topic of various reports last week. Among them:
- The Florida State Senate last week unanimously approved an ethics bill cracking down on teacher abuses. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that the measure would prohibit paying retirement benefits to teachers found guilty of committing certain felonies against minors and would require the state to help public and private schools develop codes of ethics for educators. The measure now moves to Florida’s House. A bill passed earlier this month in the Florida Senate urged the U.S. Congress to establish national ethics standards for teachers and to set up a clearinghouse to help states report and share information about educator misconduct.
- An online survey shows that more than three-quarters of Chinese youth say the ethics standards of their professors are declining, reports the official Chinese news agency Xinhua. In addition to worries about standard issues such as plagiarism and research integrity, survey respondents complained about professors cursing in their blogs — currently a controversial topic on the mainland, according to the report.
- The University of Texas at San Antonio has suspended two tenured civil engineering professors after the professors bought a parcel of land that was the subject of surveys by their students, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. A probe had determined that the professors, Chia Shun Shih and Alberto Arroyo, violated the university’s ethics policy when they purchased the property, according to reports from the Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News.
- A high school principal in Maryland is at the center of an ethics controversy after he purchased a golf cart to help him get around his sprawling campus. The Washington Post reports that principal Moreno Carrasco said the golf cart primarily would be used to supervise outdoor athletic events. He would not say how much the vehicle cost, although the Post notes that new golf carts typically cost from $5,000 to $10,000. While critics argue that the expense is inappropriate at a time when the district is facing a tax shortfall, others point out that the campus is huge, with a central building as long as two football fields.
Sources: Washington Post, Mar. 29 — Xinhua, Mar. 28 — Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Mar. 28 — Chronicle of Higher Education, Mar. 21 — San Antonio Express-News, Mar. 20.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Feb. 18 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 31, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 6, 2007 — Related Newsline story, June 11, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 16, 2007.
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