A new database released at HeraldTribune.com in conjunction with a special series lets readers investigate their teachers and schools in detail never before so easily available to the public.

Readers can find out which teachers at which schools in Florida have ever been investigated by the state for inappropriate behavior. The stories focus on sexual misconduct, but the database is all inclusive.

Do a search for everything in Sarasota County, for example, and it gives you a breakdown of the number of cases, which are sortable by the victim’s age and gender, the type of incident and more.

Most interesting is a section called “probable cause documents and detail” where readers can get an in-depth look at each case returned by a search.

This data has never before been available to the public comprehensively. But the state is quickly trying to catch up and recently announced plans to launch MyFloridaTeacher.com, which would do much the same thing. We suspect ours will still be more comprehensive.

Kudos goes to Charlie Szymanski and Maurice Tamman, the creators behind IBISEYE.com, for putting together this tool.

A special multimedia graphic created by Melissa Worden takes readers through a “choose your own adventure” process of reporting abuse, with each step’s pitfalls explained by audio from an expert on the topic. This is meant to help educate parents who are thinking about reporting trouble on what to expect.

Or, readers can decide to report abuse to the Herald-Tribune anonymously by filling out a form. The Herald-Tribune is committed to following up on each report.

The staff really pulled this one together on their own, since I’ve been focused on other projects. And I think they’ve done a terrific job.