By Linebarger                                         H.B. No. 2607
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the rights of teachers in public schools.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 13, Education Code, is
    1-5  amended by adding Section 13.219 to read as follows:
    1-6        Sec. 13.219.  BILL OF RIGHTS FOR TEACHERS.  (a)  It is
    1-7  declared to be the public policy of the State of Texas that
    1-8  teachers, whose work is vital to the success of education, shall be
    1-9  entitled to dignity and respect equal to the high standards of
   1-10  service justly demanded of them.  The State of Texas recognizes
   1-11  that the children of the state deserve an education of the highest
   1-12  quality, and it is declared to be the public policy of the State of
   1-13  Texas that teachers shall be assisted in providing such an
   1-14  education to children.  The provisions of this section shall be
   1-15  liberally construed in order to carry out the above declarations of
   1-16  public policy.
   1-17        (b)  Teachers in Texas' public schools shall be:
   1-18              (1)  treated with dignity and respect in all aspects of
   1-19  their professional lives;
   1-20              (2)  treated as an equal partner in the decision-making
   1-21  processes involved in the instruction of children;
   1-22              (3)  guaranteed academic freedom in the study,
   1-23  investigation, presentation, and interpretation of facts and ideas;
    2-1              (4)  freed from noninstructional paperwork;
    2-2              (5)  entitled to full administrative support in all
    2-3  matters involving student discipline;
    2-4              (6)  entitled to clean, well-maintained working
    2-5  facilities;
    2-6              (7)  provided all materials and supplies necessary for
    2-7  instruction;
    2-8              (8)  guaranteed a work environment free of threats to
    2-9  themselves and their property;
   2-10              (9)  guaranteed due process in all matters affecting
   2-11  their employment;
   2-12              (10)  protected from public reprimand or public
   2-13  disciplinary action; and
   2-14              (11)  paid a salary that will afford a family a
   2-15  standard of living comparable to that of other professions.
   2-16        SECTION 2.  Section 13.218, Education Code, is repealed.
   2-17        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-18  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-19  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-20  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-21  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   2-22  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   2-23  passage, and it is so enacted.