Through recent changes in the law, the State Board for Educator Certification not longer accepts complaints against professional educators. The Texas Education Agency handles the complaints made at the state level. In all cases, the TEA expects individuals to follow the chain of command established through the local school policy. They also do not accept complaints on areas that have not been established through the legislature.
The TEA website states “If after completing the complaint process at the district level, a person believes he or she is aggrieved by the actions or decisions of the district's board of trustees that violate the school laws, the person may appeal the board of trustees’ written decision to the commissioner of education. The process for requesting TEA Hearings and Appeals under §7.057 of the Texas Education Code is described in §157.1073 of the Texas Administrative Code.” (Retrieved January 30, 2011 from http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/ED/htm/ED.7.htm#7.05)
An individual who does not accept the decision of the local school board may request to appeal the decision to TEA. This mostly includes contract decisions, but may include other issues as well. Anyone who is an adult and has interacted with a certified or certify-seeking individual in such a negative way as to consider them to be unfit for the profession can file a complaint. If they have followed all the local chain of command procedures and the local school board policies, and they are unhappy about the school board decision at the appeal process there; then an individual may request an appeal to TEA.
In the Texas Administrative Code, a principal is expected to have high moral character in all areas of their lives. One area that principals are expected to always be truthful is in regards to school monies. Principals may “not submit fraudulent requests for reimbursements, expenses or pay.” (Standard 1.3) This would mean that a principal could not sign up to go to a conference that happens to be in Miami, Florida, and then spend the entire time on the beach. The expectation would be that the principal is attending the conference for most of the day. So if another administrator from the district notices their absence and sees a picture of them on the beach, the beach-loving principal may have an ethics complaint against him.
Another situation where a principal or educator may face an ethics complaint would be in the acceptance of a large gift that may be seen as giving a special advantage. If a principal was offered floor seats for the Spurs basketball season from a parent, and he accepted them; he may face an ethics complaint when he fails to discipline the child of the parent who gave him the tickets. (Standard 1.5)
Another area where an educator may violate the ethics code against a colleague is when the educator makes false statements, lies and twists information to place the victim in a bad light for the purpose of causing them harm in their career. (Standard 2.2) Standard 3.7 states “the educator shall not furnish alcohol or illegal/unauthorized drugs to a student”. An educator would violate this standard if they invited students to their home for a post game party and supplied a keg of beer for their consumption.
An educator would also find themselves faced with ethics complaint if they choose to send inappropriate text messages to a student so as to begin or imply a desire for a romantic relationship. (Standard 3.6) Possible consequences of an ethics complaint could include a criminal investigation by law enforcement officials if any laws are broken, a reprimand letter may be placed in the individual’s permanent file, restitution may be sought for money lost by the district, and a poor evaluation may be received by the educator and quite possibly nonrenewal of their contract.
My example
Standard 3.7 states “the educator shall not furnish alcohol or illegal/unauthorized drugs to a student”. An educator would violate this standard if they invited students to their home for a post game party and supplied a keg of beer for their consumption.
As a principal in this situation, I would gather all the facts regarding the incident and present them to the educator with my decision. If I also knew that this educator had deficits in their teaching skills and classroom achievement, I would feel more empowered. But either way, I would terminate the employee. It is illegal to serve alcohol to minors. The educator has broken the law, and will also probably face legal ramifications for their act of stupidity.
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