Michael Maynard has something that few, if any, other Illinois schoolteachers have: a pardon from the governor. But it’s a good bet Maynard would trade that dubious distinction and the anguish he has endured over the last year or so for the job he used to have as a Bloom Township High School teacher.
Maynard, 43, was fired last year after authorities in the Bloom Township district discovered in a routine background check that he had been arrested and pleaded guilty in 1974 to possessing half an ounce of marijuana. Despite a spotless record since then, Maynard was fired because a 1985 state law–one of those “zero tolerance” statutes–requires school districts to fire teachers convicted of certain offenses, including misdemeanor drug offenses.
Edgar’s pardon, issued Tuesday, clears the way for Maynard to seek reinstatement of his teaching certificate and to pursue rehiring at Bloom. That’s good, but it doesn’t go far enough.
The legislature needs to reconsider the sweeping statute that led to this patently unfair result. A one-time youthful misdemeanant is not the same as a dangerous felon, and it makes no sense to treat him as such.
