The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has implemented an initial launch of its Educator Misconduct Dashboard, which lays out the numbers of reports being submitted to the agency from all the public and charter schools in the state of Texas.
The new resource tool is being overseen by Levi Fuller, TEA’s inspector general of educator misconduct. It is a position newly created by TEA’s Commissioner of Education Michael Morath.
“I manage the enforcement team, but I also collaborate with all parts of the TEA in the Legislature to figure out ways in which we can keep our kids safe in schools,” Fuller said.
Fuller explained misconduct can include inappropriate student-educator relationships, as well as things such as fraud and school-related violence.
He said the dashboard gives parents and the public a numeric tally of various reports that have been submitted to the TEA.
Fuller identified the four specific tabs visitors to the dashboard can click or hover their mouse over:
- All Misconduct Reports: Shows the number of all misconduct reports made within a fiscal year
- Educator Investigations: Shows how many educators are being investigated by offense, and the overall number of investigations is broken down to where those investigations stand
- State Board of Education Certification Sanctions: Shows how many investigations resulted in some type of sanction or ruling, and the overall number is broken down into the type of sanction issued
- Do Not Hire Registry: The cumulative number of school personnel, educators and non-educators listed on the registry who can no longer be employed by schools in Texas due to misconduct
While the dashboard shows numbers for various groups, Fuller said it does not show specific names of individuals who have been accused or are under investigation.
He said his office and the TEA must let the legal process take its course.
Fuller said should an investigation result in a sanction or ruling, then the name of the person the punishment was levied against can eventually be seen on the dashboard.
One thing he said many parents have asked for is a breakdown of the statistics by school district.
He said that analysis is not currently available but is in the works.
Fuller said the overall goal of the Educator Misconduct Dashboard is to be transparent with the public, especially parents, about the process of what the agency is investigating and doing to provide safe classrooms and campuses.
“We’re trying to protect kids,” he said.
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