It's one thing to a person convicted of a crime a second chance, but in the case of a teacher who admitted encouraging his students to check out computer pornography and assaulted a student, the standard should be different.

Earlier this month, a 35-year-old high school teacher from Monessen lost his job after the school district examined charges that he had shown pornographic images to his male students and had also assaulted a teen. The end result of the case was a plea bargain in which the man pled guilty to lesser, misdemeanor charges of simple assault and possession of explicit sexual materials.

Even though he was ordered to resign his teaching position, and to give up his state teaching certificate and have a mental health evaluation, his plea bargain will provide him with a clean criminal record if or when he applies for another teaching position, perhaps in another state.

It is possible that with therapy, the man can move his life into a more positive phase, but his past behavior is something that a school district in another state should be allowed to consider. With the plea bargain arrangement, there is no way for his past misconduct to be discovered in the course of a traditional background check.

Certain criminal acts or personal mistakes should not condemn a person for the rest of their lives. But teachers, who are entrusted with the safety of young children, represent a special category in which all relevant past behavior should available - and not be hidden by legal technicalities.