All teachers will now have to undergo background checks, under a policy approved 9 to 1 by the State Board of Education. The policy requires all people renewing teaching licenses to be fingerprinted. Since 2002, all applicants for new teaching license or those wanting to renew an expired license, had to submit fingerprints for background information from KBI and FBI. “The significance is that this bill will create more fingerprints and backgrounds,” said Scott Gordon, Kansas State Department of Education. “They will be able to get access from every teacher licensed in the state of Kansas and it will comply with the Senate bill recently passed.” Board members say the new background checks will create a systematic process for ensuring that nothing slips through the cracks.

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