Not only are most of Colorado’s public schoolteachers committed to the highest standards of conduct in the classroom, but almost all of them also are undoubtedly law-abiding when off duty. 

For the relative handful who have “made mistakes” earlier in their lives, current state law requires them to disclose any misdemeanor convictions except for traffic infractions when they apply for a teaching license. The law doesn’t deny them a license or prevent their employment; it just requires disclosure so school districts can make informed hiring decisions.

That’s reasonable. 

A bill introduced in the legislature would change that. 

Alongside fine-tuning some other licensing requirements, House Bill 26-1090 would eliminate the requirement for disclosing misdemeanor convictions that are more than seven years old. The only exceptions would be for a crime against a child or at-risk person, which would have to be disclosed even after seven years. 

The bill’s tweaks to licensure are intended to address a statewide teacher shortage. The legislation removes some speed bumps en route to licensure, presumably enabling more aspiring teachers to make it into the classroom.

That probably explains the bill’s bipartisan sponsorship and its unanimous support last week from members of the House Education Committee.

But is Colorado’s teacher shortage so acute it warrants cutting corners when it comes to a prospective teacher’s criminal history? 

“Misdemeanor” sounds minor — but isn’t always. Traffic offenses already are exempt from disclosure under the current rules for teacher licensure, leaving a whole lot of other, more serious offenses. And continued disclosure of crimes against a child or an at-risk person, as proposed under the pending legislation, hardly covers it.

As a practical matter, a wide range of crimes that begin as felonies in the justice system are routinely pleaded down to misdemeanors: auto theft; check fraud; even assault. Various charges that arise from domestic violence, too. All can be turned into misdemeanors to obtain a guilty plea and clear the court docket.

Let’s not forget Colorado also is the state whose legislature downgraded an entire slate of drug crimes several years ago in a terribly misguided fit of “decriminalization.” It helped fuel, among other pathologies, our opioid crisis and overdose epidemic. Even after some subsequent backtracking by the legislature, it remains a mere misdemeanor to be charged with simple possession of up to an ounce of fentanyl — still enough to kill hundreds.

Colorado’s legislature has in fact been on a decriminalization binge in general for a number of years. A host of crimes have been watered down to misdemeanors amid the “justice reform” movement that has overtaken policymakers at the Capitol.

Now, more than ever, it would seem only realistic to hold the line against the side-effects of decriminalization — by ensuring it doesn’t creep into the ranks of the profession to which we entrust our kids daily.

Generally, of course, people who are committed enough to any career path to complete college and their training for licensure are unlikely candidates for crime in the first place. 

But that truism doesn’t rule out exceptions. And as headlines periodically attest, not all teachers are above committing crimes. Why increase the likelihood?

Why take that chance with our children?