Linda Meadows, Parent, Topsham
Dear Editor,
I am responding to Pem Schaeffer’s letter of April 14th.
First Mr. Schaeffer assumes that
this law will work. Statistics actually point more toward it being totally
ineffective for catching
anyone, and the recent local cases of school related child molestation
support that evidence.
Secondly, Pem uses the analogy of x-raying luggage at the airport. It’s a
poor analogy. This one
is more accurate. Pem would take his luggage to the check in area.
A policeman would open the
bag, check out his underwear, closely examine his daily planner, checkbook,
and diary, make a
copy to keep on file, and send him on his way. Then the police would give a
copy of that
information to the government. But don’t worry, they’ll keep it confidential.
Would Mr. Shaeffer
agree to that for the public good? (assuming that it really would be for the
public good). Even
this analogy doesn’t go far enough. By now, what’s done is done, at least
for this year and it
doesn’t look good for the teachers who will lose their jobs. I would urge
the people of Maine to
continue to study this issue from all sides so that when it comes up again
next year, we can make
the best choice. I’m open to change if someone can show me real evidence
that fingerprinting
teachers will give us helpful information that we cannot find by doing a
good noninvasive
background check.