Teacher Credential Approved Despite a Past Imperfect

When Natividad “Junior” Alvarado Jr. got the telephone call from the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing, he couldn’t believe he had made it.

Alvarado, 37, had little hope that he would be granted a teaching credential because of his past, which included 14 misdemeanor convictions, the last one for drunken driving in 1989.

Since then, Alvarado cleaned up his act, became a model citizen, married, became a part-time minister and was teaching carpentry at Los Pinos Conservation Camp, as a vocational education teacher with the regional occupational program in San Juan Capistrano.

His teaching ended when he applied for a teacher credential last year. His fingerprints, which accompanied the application, “lit up” the state’s Justice Department computer, he said. The application process ground to a halt while officials investigated.

But last week, after a review of new information Alvarado provided, the commission changed its mind.

“They told me, ‘It’s over.’ They’re giving me my full credential back,” Alvarado said ecstatically Thursday.

“[Alvarado’s] application for a credential was granted,” said Richard Fisher, staff counsel to the state Division of Professional Practices. His office provides legal services to the commission.

The decision to give Alvarado his teaching credential was made by the Committee of Credentials, a seven-member body that reviews all allegations of misconduct of applicants and credential holders.

Alvarado’s fingerprints were needed under a state law enacted last year, after a school janitor with a felony record was charged in a rape and slaying on campus.

While he was given a preliminary permit, Alvarado lost his job at Los Pinos, but he did not give up and enlisted the help of community leaders.

Santa Ana City Councilman Brett Franklin, Police Capt. Dan McCoy and Carl Holmes, Orange County’s public defender, became part of his support team.

Both Holmes and McCoy went beyond writing recommendations to the commission on behalf of Alvarado. They contacted others and solicited their help too.

“I believe in Junior,” Holmes said. “He’s made tremendous changes in his life and needs the support of anybody who believes in rehabilitation.”

McCoy said he was eager to help, noting that Alvarado “has done a significant turn in his life.”

“Plus, he’s able to talk to young people and stress to them not to make the same problems he did,” McCoy said. “I’m sure he can motivate others.”

Now, Alvarado may not seek his former teaching job.

He is busy developing a program for at-risk youth in Santa Ana called Neutral Ground. Already, he has met with city and school officials who have expressed an interest and he is investigating private, nonprofit status.

“I’m on a mission now,” Alvarado said.

The program will have about 20 teenagers, ages 12 to 15, and center on academics and working with city parks officials and the Police Department, Alvarado said.

“The outcome is to give these children goals and have them able to see beyond the five-block radius of where they’ve been raised,” Alvarado said.