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.

Dashboard Overview

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. Fuller explained that misconduct can include inappropriate student-educator relationships, as well as things such as fraud and school-related violence.

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. 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.

Fuller said his office and the TEA must let the legal process take its course. 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.

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. As Fuller stated, “We’re trying to protect kids.”

Original reporting: San Antonio, TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.