PRINCIPAL'S 'MISTAKE' MERITS CENSURE BY HER PROFESSION

Our view: Former Bickel Elementary principal Mary Lee Roberts shouldn't
escape professional disciplinary action.

Seven months have passed since Mary Lee Roberts, then principal of Bickel
Elementary School in Twin Falls, got caught with a pound of marijuana. In
five months more, she'll complete the Drug Court program and have her
felony record wiped clean.

Now she wants the right to resume her career in the public schools.

She calls buying the dope, "a mistake." Not unethical. Not immoral. Just,
"a mistake."

Do you want her teaching your children?

Most Idahoans would say no. For Roberts to return to a career in public
education with a clean criminal record, and with no professional censure,
would be a travesty.

The message to children would be: Doing illegal drugs is no big deal.

Roberts' participation in Drug Court will satisfy the demands of criminal
justice. But that's only part of the picture. Her actions destroyed the
trust she held as an educator and community leader. The state's
Professional Standards Commission will further erode the public's trust if
it lets her escape disciplinary action.

The state Education Department argued in a hearing this week that Roberts'
action violated the state educators' code of ethics. The code prohibits
"conduct which is offensive to the ordinary dignity, decency and morality
of others." The Education Department wants a five-year suspension of
Roberts' license.

Roberts' supporters may contend that Roberts is paying her debt to society
by meeting the tough conditions of Drug Court participation, and that any
further punishment is excessive.

But members of certain occupations, such as doctors, lawyers, teachers and
police officers, accept a special responsibility and public trust. When
wayward professionals commit crimes, they stain their professional
credibility. They are subject to professional censure in addition to the
standard criminal penalties.

Judging from her testimony in Wednesday's hearing, Roberts doesn't yet see
the impact of her behavior on the community and its children -- just as she
was blind to the consequences when she committed the crime. "I never
thought I would be caught," she said Wednesday.

Caught and facing the loss of her livelihood, Roberts acknowledges, "I made
a mistake." But a drug felony, especially when committed by someone in a
position of public trust, is more than just a mistake. That Roberts sees no
higher responsibility shows a moral lapse, as well as a professional and
legal one.

If Roberts can go undisciplined and immediately re-enter public education,
the entire notion of enforcing professional standards will be hollow. If
committing a drug felony doesn't violate a teacher's ethics, what good is
the ethics code?

Roberts says it's time to "get back to what I love and do best, which is
teaching young people." She's entitled to that viewpoint. But if Roberts
truly cares about children, she will acknowledge she has a ways to go
before she can deserve the trust of parents, students and the community.

Completing Drug Court means she'll have no criminal record for possessing a
pound of pot. Now she wants to avoid any professional consequences. Where's
her punishment?