Senate Passes Bill On Inappropriate Teacher-Student Relationships
School principals and superintendents who fail to report teachers involved in inappropriate relationships with students could face criminal charges under a bill passed unanimously Wednesday in the Texas Senate.
Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said he introduced Senate Bill 7 in response to an uptick of cases in the past eight years where Texas elementary, middle and high school teachers were found in romantic and sexual relationships with their students. In fiscal year 2016, the Texas Education Agency opened 222 investigations that involved inappropriate relationships.
Many of these teachers, Bettencourt said, remain in the educational system even after their offenses have been discovered because school superintendents or principals do not report their transgressions to the TEA — a practice advocates have dubbed “passing the trash.”
Under the bill, failure by administrators to report teacher misconduct could lead to a Class A misdemeanor — and intentionally not reporting misconduct could result in a state jail felony.
Read more: http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2017/03/09/191086/senate-passes-bill-on-inappropriate-teacher-student-relationships/
