Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(b) The Texas educator
shall comply with standard practices and ethical conduct toward students,
professional colleagues, school officials, parents, and members of the
community and shall safeguard academic freedom. The Texas educator, in
maintaining the dignity of the profession, shall respect and obey the law,
demonstrate personal integrity, and exemplify honesty and good moral character.
The Texas educator, in exemplifying ethical relations with colleagues, shall
extend just and equitable treatment to all members of the profession. The Texas
educator, in accepting a position of public trust, shall measure success by the
progress of each student toward realization of his or her potential as an
effective citizen. The Texas educator, in fulfilling responsibilities in the
community, shall cooperate with parents and others to improve the public
schools of the community. This chapter shall apply to educators and candidates
for certification.
(d) As provided in §
249.5
of this title (relating to Purpose; Policy Governing Disciplinary Proceedings),
the primary goals the SBEC seeks to achieve in educator disciplinary matters
are:
(1) to protect the safety and welfare of
Texas schoolchildren and school personnel;
(2) to ensure educators and applicants are
morally fit and worthy to instruct or to supervise the youth of the state;
and
(3) to fairly and efficiently
resolve educator disciplinary proceedings at the least expense possible to the
parties and the state.
(e) The following words, terms, and phrases,
when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1)
Abuse--Includes the following acts or omissions:
(A) mental or emotional injury to a student
or minor that results in an observable and material impairment in the student's
or minor's development, learning, or psychological functioning;
(B) causing or permitting a student or minor
to be in a situation in which the student or minor sustains a mental or
emotional injury that results in an observable and material impairment in the
student's or minor's development, learning, or psychological
functioning;
(C) physical injury
that results in substantial harm to a student or minor, or the genuine threat
of substantial harm from physical injury to the student or minor, including an
injury that is at variance with the history or explanation given and excluding
an accident or reasonable discipline; or
(D) sexual conduct harmful to a student's or
minor's mental, emotional, or physical welfare.
(2) Applicant--A party seeking issuance,
renewal, or reinstatement of a certificate from the Texas Education Agency
staff or the State Board for Educator Certification.
(3) Code of Ethics--The Educators' Code of
Ethics codified in this chapter.
(4) Complaint--A written statement submitted
to the Texas Education Agency staff that contains essential facts alleging
improper conduct by an educator, applicant, or examinee, the complainant's
verifiable contact information, including full name, complete address, and
phone number, which provides grounds for sanctions.
(5) Contested case--A proceeding under this
chapter in which the legal rights, duties, and privileges related to a party's
educator certificate are to be determined by the State Board for Educator
Certification and/or the State Office of Administrative Hearings commencing
when a petition is properly served under this chapter.
(6) Disciplinary proceedings--Any matter
arising under this chapter or Chapter 249 of this title (relating to
Disciplinary Proceedings, Sanctions, and Contested Cases) that results in a
final order or finding issued by the Texas Education Agency staff, the State
Office of Administrative Hearings, or the State Board for Educator
Certification relating to the legal rights, duties, privileges, and status of a
party's educator certificate.
(7)
Educator--A person who is required to hold a certificate issued under the Texas
Education Code, Chapter 21, Subchapter B.
(8) Endanger--Exposure of a student or minor
to unjustified risk of injury or to injury that jeopardizes the physical health
or safety of the student or minor without regard to whether there has been an
actual injury to the student or minor.
(9) Good moral character--The virtues of a
person as evidenced by patterns of personal, academic, and occupational
behaviors that, in the judgment of the State Board for Educator Certification,
indicate honesty, accountability, trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity.
Lack of good moral character may be evidenced by the commission of crimes
relating directly to the duties and responsibilities of the education
profession as described in §
249.16(b)
of this title (relating to Eligibility of Persons with Criminal History for a
Certificate under Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 53, and Texas Education Code,
Chapter 21), or by the commission of acts involving moral turpitude, but
conduct that evidences a lack of good moral character is not necessarily
limited to such crimes or acts.
(10) Intentionally--An educator acts
intentionally, or with intent, with respect to the nature of his or her conduct
or to a result of his or her conduct when it is his or her conscious objective
or desire to engage in the conduct or cause the result.
(11) Knowingly--An educator acts knowingly,
or with knowledge, with respect to the nature of his or her conduct or to
circumstances surrounding his or her conduct when he or she is aware of the
nature of the conduct or that the circumstances exist. A person acts knowingly,
or with knowledge, with respect to a result of his or her conduct when he or
she is aware that the conduct is reasonably certain to cause the
result.
(12) Minor--A person under
18 years of age.
(13) Moral
turpitude--Improper conduct, including, but not limited to, the following:
dishonesty; fraud; deceit; theft; misrepresentation; deliberate violence; base,
vile, or depraved acts that are intended to arouse or to gratify the sexual
desire of the actor; drug or alcohol related offenses as described in §
249.16(b)
of this title (relating to Eligibility of Persons with Criminal History for a
Certificate under Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 53, and Texas Education Code,
Chapter 21); or acts constituting abuse or neglect under the Texas Family Code,
§ 261.001.
(14) Neglect--The
placing or leaving of a student or minor in a situation where the student or
minor would be exposed to a substantial risk of physical or mental
harm.
(15) Recklessly--An educator
acts recklessly, or is reckless, with respect to circumstances surrounding his
or her conduct or the results of his or her conduct when he or she is aware of
but consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the
circumstances exist or that the result will occur.
(16) Sanction--A disciplinary action by the
State Board for Educator Certification, including a restriction, reprimand,
suspension, revocation of a certificate, or a surrender in lieu of disciplinary
action.
(17) Sexual
harassment--Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other
verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
(18) State Board for Educator
Certification--The State Board for Educator Certification acting through its
voting members in a decision-making capacity.
(19) State Board for Educator Certification
member(s)--One or more of the members of the State Board for Educator
Certification, appointed and qualified under the Texas Education Code, §
21.033.
(20) Student--A person
enrolled in a primary or secondary school, whether public, private, or charter,
regardless of the person's age, or a person 18 years of age or younger who is
eligible to be enrolled in a primary or secondary school, whether public,
private, or charter.
(21) Texas
Education Agency staff--Staff of the Texas Education Agency assigned by the
commissioner of education to perform the State Board for Educator
Certification's administrative functions and services.
(22) Under the influence of alcohol--A blood
alcohol content of .04% or greater and/or lacking the normal use of mental or
physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol.
(23) Worthy to instruct or to supervise the
youth of this state--Presence of those moral, mental, and psychological
qualities that are required to enable an educator to render the service
essential to the accomplishment of the goals and mission of the State Board for
Educator Certification policy and this chapter.
