[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]State educational agencies might be able to terminate or deny employment to unpardoned felons, regardless of the connection between the offense and the job duties, if a bill lawmakers discussed Tuesday is passed.

Under current law, employers can deny a position on the basis of a conviction record where the nature of the offense relates substantially to the nature of a particular job.

However, the proposed bill would extend educational agencies' ability to fire unpardoned felons or deny them employment.
State Rep. Jerry Petrowski, R-Marathon, the bill's sponsor, said it is necessary to increase safety in schools throughout Wisconsin and added several school districts and administrators have previously expressed support for the bill.

"[The bill] doesn't say that school officials can't hire a person," Petrowski said at the public hearing. "It just gives them the power to deny employment to felons without suffering from accusations of discrimination. Schools should be a place to feel safe."

Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts, D-Middleton, a member of the Assembly's Education Committee, said the proposal is a "terrible bill" and may be unconstitutional.

"It further alienates our population who was engaged in the process, served time in prison and came out free," Pope-Roberts said. "Wisconsin has a huge prison population, and the state cannot expect them to come out and become productive citizens while continuing to take job opportunities away from them."

While the bill would apply to most K-12 school districts, officials said it would not extend to the University of Wisconsin System, where legislators have criticized the university for hiring felons in the past.

David Giroux, a UW System spokesperson, said university officials carefully review felony records as a standard practice when placing employees, and added system policy would not be affected by the proposal.

However, Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, said he believes the bill should be extended beyond school districts to the university system.

"I think this should be extended to the university system and schools statewide so every institution that thinks a felon may present danger to the educational environment has the right to terminate their employment," Suder said. "This bill is all about safety to the students."

The Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's lobbying and union organization for teachers, wrote a statement to the committee opposing the bill.

"If a person is a convicted child molester, that person most certainly should be denied employment in a school," the letter by WEAC stated. "However, if a person's conviction is unrelated to employment, the mere fact that a person has been convicted of a felony at some point in his or her life should not necessarily disqualify them from employment."

Attorney David Lasker, representing an individual rights group from the State Bar of Wisconsin, submitted a statement opposing the proposal and said "current law strikes the appropriate balance."

In 2003, Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed similar legislation, saying, "ex-offenders are much less likely to commit a new crime if they have steady employment."

"This bill, if it were to become law, would increase barriers for ex-offenders to secure and maintain employment and, as a result, has the very real potential to increase crime and jeopardize public safety," Doyle said in his 2003 veto statement.