Q: There’s talk in the teacher workroom about a recent legislative committee hearing on the difficulty of removing bad teachers. I’m a good teacher. Why should I care about this hearing?

A: All school districts are required by law to employ classroom teachers and other full-time educators certified by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) under contract. A contract is important because it provides substantially more job protection than the Texas standard of “at-will” employment. Because most professional educators have always worked under a contract, they may have come to take for granted the protections contracts provide and assume that those protections are guaranteed to never change. Unfortunately, that is far from the case.

Chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code establishes the job protections enjoyed by most educators. Chapter 21, like all of the Education Code, is a product of the Texas Legislature. It is the Legislature that created these requirements and rights, and what the Legislature has created, the Legislature can also change or even take away. Why is this important?

For one example, Chapter 21 provides that an educator new to a district can be given a probationary contract for a period of time—a period restricted by Chapter 21. The same chapter provides that to nonrenew a probationary teacher, the district only has to give the teacher notice of the nonrenewal prior to a set deadline. However, Chapter 21 also requires that a district give an educator a term or continuing contract after the probationary period expires if the educator is to continue employment. Term and continuing contracts both provide substantially more job protection than a probationary contract. Why is this? Because Chapter 21 says that they do. The code requires that the district prove that it has good cause to nonrenew or terminate the contract in a due process hearing. This requirement means that there has to be some evidence that an educator did something wrong.

There is nothing other than Chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code that requires an educator to receive any type of contract or any type of due process, or that sets forth any requirement that a district prove it has good cause before terminating an educator’s employment. None of these current protections are guaranteed by anything other than the current Texas Education Code.

Happily, the majority of ATPE members enjoy positive relationships with their districts, students and community. Most ATPE members can feel confident that they know their business and will never do anything that would give their district good cause to terminate their employment. But although this is true, every educator should sit up and take notice whenever there are legislative rumblings about reducing educators’ protections. Public educators are high wire artists, working daily in a setting where an unexpected problem can come from any direction: a student unhappy with a disciplinary consequence, a parent unhappy with a failing grade, a supervisor unhappy with a voiced complaint.

The job protections provided by Chapter 21 allow many educators to maintain balance on that high wire by giving them the legal tools to defend themselves. That’s the reason good teachers need to be the most concerned about maintaining the due process provided by their contracts and Chapter 21. Chapter 21 is not going to save teachers when there is evidence that they are doing a bad job. But it will save good teachers who find themselves in situations in which their districts are looking for the most convenient and easy way to resolve complaints.

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The legal information provided on this website is for general purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for individual legal advice or the provision of legal services. Accessing this information does not create an attorney-client relationship. Individual legal situations vary greatly and readers should consult directly with an attorney. Eligible ATPE members should contact the ATPE Member Legal Services Department using our online system, MLSIS.