Reports of educator misconduct to the Texas Education Agency have roughly tripled since lawmakers tightened reporting rules and made school districts more liable for abuse, the Dallas Observer reported Friday.
The agency has logged 19,766 misconduct reports this year, compared with 6,456 last year, according to figures cited by the Observer. Those reports have led to 13,916 investigations, and 1,114 sanctions have been issued so far. The TEA did not answer the Observer's questions about why reports have jumped.
The agency counts physical abuse and unlawful acts involving minors as misconduct, including threats of violence, sexual acts, inappropriate communications and physical mistreatment. The largest share of reports involves physical abuse, improper restraint and neglect of students, the Observer found.
What changed
Senate Bill 571, passed in the last legislative session, widened the state's definition of abuse to include inappropriate communications and failing to keep appropriate boundaries with students.
It also cut the deadline for reporting suspected abuse to law enforcement from 48 hours to 24 hours, and it required the public Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard, which tracks reports, investigations, certification sanctions and a "Do Not Hire" registry.
Investigations into inappropriate communications and relationships reached 2,134 this year, up from 577 the year before, the Observer reported.