Advocates include governors, education superintendents, and legislative leaders.
"We've got to be on a bully pulpit with our school districts," said Missouri state Representative Jane Cunningham. The Republican's legislation would eliminate statutes of limitation for sexual misconduct, allowing victims to come forward and bring charges against abusers no matter how many years had passed since the crime.
The ideas emerging in state capitals come at a time when US media have been reporting steadily on individual cases, along with more in-depth examinations of the problem.
A nationwide Associated Press investigation published in October found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered, or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct. Researchers who track sexual abuse say those cases are representative of a much deeper problem because of underreporting.
There are roughly 3 million public schoolteachers nationwide.
In eight states, leaders pushing changes said the AP investigation had inspired their proposals. Others said they had grown concerned from individual cases of abuse in their states, or other news reports that looked at the problem locally or in their state.
In New York, Governor Eliot Spitzer supports automatic suspension of teachers convicted of sex crimes, which now requires lengthy hearings. In Maine, Governor John Baldacci hopes to share the names of abusive teachers with other states, which a 1913 confidentiality law there prohibits.
In Florida, Governor Charlie Crist endorsed federal legislation proposed by US Representative Adam Putnam, a Florida Republican, to create a national databank of abusive teachers, a hotline for complaints, and federal funds for state investigators.
Some states are looking to increase penalties, expand background checks, or broaden their ability to police charter schools for abuse, including Indiana, Massachusetts, and Utah. Kentucky and South Carolina are considering making it illegal for teachers to have sex with older students.
Several states are tackling a major problem - the loopholes that allow problem teachers to move from one school district to another, or from one state to another.
