Of the investigations in fiscal year 2026, 53.9% involved violence and abuse toward students. Another 15.3% involved inappropriate sexual or romantic relationships between educators and students. That category also covers inappropriate communications and failure to maintain professional boundaries.
Levi Fuller, the TEA's Inspector General for Educator Misconduct, discussed that category. "Colloquially that would be known as grooming," Fuller said. "That's where we're really kind of prioritizing and focusing right now. Once we get that number under control, then we can expand out."
Fuller says grooming typically starts as a special friendship between educator and student and may include texting outside school hours. In some cases, educators begin "sexting" students.
For parents, the reporting rules matter as much as the numbers. Under the Texas Family Code, every school employee must report misconduct, Fuller said, because they are school professionals. Administrators, principals, and district superintendents must tell law enforcement and the Department of Family and Protective Services within 24 hours, and they have 48 hours to tell the TEA. "Failure to report can be a crime," Fuller said.
The official leading this push says he took the job as a public school parent, and he calls the situation "very scary."