MICHELLE R. SMITH, Associated Press
SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — It’s called “passing the trash”: A school suspects a teacher of sexual misconduct and forces the teacher out to protect the students. But that person can still get a new job in a new school, sometimes with a glowing recommendation.

Only Pennsylvania, Missouri and Oregon ban the practice.

A man charged with child sex crimes was hired as a Wichita teacher last fall after a background check failed to uncover that he resigned from Garden City Community College amid a child pornography investigation.

Sixty-two-year-old Steven Thompson, of Wichita, was charged In January  with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child in Finney County, where he previously was a tenured computer science instructor.

Garden City Police Capt. Randy Ralston says school officials reported in September 2013 that child pornography was found on Thompson’s work computer.

A federal mandate passed in December now requires states to address its potential risks. Connecticut is considering such legislation.

Advocates say it’s an important tool to keep abusers from moving from school to school and hurting more children.

A  teachers union says it overreaches and presumes guilt before innocence.

And the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education says it worries the legislation might make it difficult for schools to make timely job offers.