Criminal background checks were an unexpected requirement for Andrew A. Zucker when he agreed to present an employment history. Zucker was not doing the usual work at the pentagon, not even taking out the trash. However, he was to learn how to implement the best teaching skills for middle school students. He was surprised at the numeral prerequisites to be provided.
When asked of his opinion on the matter, he stated that personally, for him, its shocking. Dr. Zucker was, at the time, working as a contractor conducting studies for the Education Department. He is no longer employed for the same department.
The Department of Education has been screening different employees such as Dr. Zucker, investigating with a background check involving a certain level of security for people accessing information of a sensitive class. One of the members of the Department of Education, spokeswoman Katherine McLane, stated that background checks of such extent must be allowed because of the sensitive information being worked with. This includes things such as names and social security numbers of the college students or candidates.
The question at hand was if the background checks as a method of employment screening was invading a right to privacy. One of 100 employees of the department submitted a letter protesting the extensive investigation involving medical and financial records. This was signed by the researchers stating that it was far more information than needed towards Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education.
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