The Texas Education Agency has warned school districts that facilitating student political walkouts could lead to a state takeover. This comes as the agency unveils a newly created enforcement role focusing on overseeing investigations into alleged misconduct by Texas teachers.
In a Tuesday statement releasing new guidance on walkouts, absences and political activism on campuses, the agency said it was acting in response to a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott to investigate instances of what the TEA called “inappropriate political activism” in Texas public schools.
Under the new guidance, districts that allow or encourage students to leave class for political protests could face state intervention permitted under state law, including the appointment of a monitor, conservator or a state-run board of managers. The TEA added that teachers who facilitate walkouts could be investigated and face sanctions, including possible revocation of their teaching licenses.
Students who participate in walkouts must also be marked absent according to the guidance, and districts risk losing daily attendance funding if they allow or encourage their activities.
The new guidance came just hours before the agency announced the selection of Levi Fuller as its inspector general for educator misconduct, a newly created role that’ll oversee the enforcement of the state’s Educator Misconduct policies and processes “to help foster safe learning environments for all of Texas’ nearly 5.5 million public school students,” according to a TEA statement Wednesday morning.
The agency has recently handled an influx of investigations involving teacher conduct, including cases tied to educators’ public comments following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September.
“Levi will help root out the flawed few that (sow) distrust among families and school communities while helping to restore confidence in the teaching profession,” said TEA Commissioner Mike Morath on Wednesday.
The actions follow student walkouts in Texas and other states over the last week protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In Texas, hundreds of students left classrooms with anti-ICE signs, including in Houston, San Antonio, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and Austin, where district police officers were seen escorting students during the protest, drawing criticism from the governor.
“Our schools are for educating our children, not political indoctrination,” Abbott wrote on social media.
In a letter this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton demanded internal district communications about the Austin walkouts, including policies on student departures, excused absences and security, alleging some staff may have known about and facilitated the protests.