Teaching job is a respectable one as the teacher is responsible for educating children of all ages. Maybe you are a high school teacher, a kindergarten, or a teacher appointed in the university. The main focus is to guide the children and students to lead their path successfully when they grow up.
Considering a felon who wants to take a teaching job with conviction is always checked for their criminal past. Therefore, the mistakes or crimes committed by minors may not obstruct getting a teaching job. However, certain offenses might prevent getting a teaching-based certification.
How Juvenile Conviction Determines Teaching Job?
It relates to crime or mistake done when you were underage. Meanwhile, when you grow up and apply for a teaching job, the juvenile record can show up in the results. However, it is not mentioned anywhere that the person will not get a job. The employers or the school administration can take up the cases personally and then judge accordingly.
Further, if any person knows that their offense was severe or not, they can discuss the same with an attorney. Then, based on the same, the individual can ascertain whether they will get the job application forwarded or disqualified. Here, the type of juvenile conviction will determine the approval of a person getting a teaching job or barred from it.
The employers or school administration don’t want to risk students’ lives by hiring a person with negativity. Further, the crimes related to violence to children, child abuse, murder, and robbery are barred.
Meanwhile, take a look at some of the offenses or crimes where the person is disqualified.
- First degree/Second-degree crime: A candidate who wants to apply for the teaching profession will be denied. Further, they will not get the teaching certificate.
- Involvement of drugs: A school campus has zero tolerance for illegal drugs, and that’s why they don’t want to hire such a person.
- Safety concerns: Teachers who can jeopardize the safety of the school children or students can not apply. They do not get any certifications in many states in the USA.
Sharing the Truth is a Good Thing
When filling the employment application, followed by an interview, a person should always be trustworthy. Talking about the criminal past, some employers will take into consideration only the adult convictions.
At the same time, other employers ask to share details about complete history that may include juvenile conviction. Here, the individual should focus on sharing the truth with honesty. Hiding the offenses can make you end up not getting a job, along with other consequences.
Does Expungement Work for Juvenile Crime?
As the crime took place while a person was underage, some states in the USA automatically expunge or seal the records when the person becomes an adult. This kind of expungement helps individuals get a clear record when they share their past with the employers. As the background checks can’t find any history of conviction or felony, the individual gets the post of a teacher.
However, there are some states in the USA which doesn’t automatically seal the records. In this scenario, the individual can file a petition to close or go for expungement. Based on this, whenever a person faces an interview, the best answer is to say ‘NO’ to the employers when asked for conviction or felony. Meanwhile, some employers might ask you to disclose the felony or conviction, even if you have erased records.
Are There Any Exceptions To Expungement?
We talked about deleting the records and some of the automatically done by the states in the USA. Meanwhile, some states follow the rule where the individual cannot expunge or seal a juvenile record. Further, the person becomes ineligible to take a teaching job for felons for conviction as an adult or the juvenile records are expunged.
In some cases, government officials also have the authority to unseal the records. But this only takes place when the crime was done by an adult and not being a juvenile. To access the sealed documents for criminal justice, the federal and state agencies can request the same.
