YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Key laws affecting teachers Following are some of the key statutes on teacher rights, working conditions and related topics. These laws apply to school districts and campuses that operate under the Texas Education Code and are not necessarily applicable to the following: charter schools; programs, campuses or districts that have waivers from the commissioner of education; Districts of Innovation; or alternative education programs.
Professional development
Your time
(A) technology;
School start date and last day of school
The first instructional day must be no earlier than the fourth Monday in August; districts may not receive a waiver from this requirement. (Note: More than two-thirds of Texas districts have exempted themselves from this law through the District of Innovation process.) Legislation that took effect in 2015 adds a requirement that a school district may not schedule the last day of school for students before May 15. Each district must operate so that it provides 75,600 minutes of instruction, including intermissions and recesses for students.
Length of instructional day
The instructional day must be at least 420 minutes, including intermissions and recesses. State law does not address the length of a teacher’s workday.
Required days of teacher service
The 10-month teacher contract year requires a minimum of 187 days of service. Recent TCTA-initiated legislation allows school districts anticipating providing fewer than 180 instructional days during a school year to also reduce the number of required teacher days of service proportionately without a reduction in an educator’s salary.
A Texas public school district has the discretion to determine the number of days of the teacher contract year to devote to staff development and teacher preparation days. Staff development must be predominantly campus based and must be developed and approved by the campus site-based decision-making committee. It may include training in: (B) positive behavior intervention and support strategies, including classroom management, district discipline policies, and the student code of conduct adopted under Chapter 37; and (C) digital learning; The district also may use staff development that is designed and approved by the district-level site-based decision-making committee. The district must provide scientifically based staff development relating to the instruction of students with disabilities to educators who work primarily outside of special education and who do not possess the knowledge and skills necessary to implement the individualized education programs of students receiving instruction from the educators. School districts must provide training in the following: •
suicide prevention;
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recognizing signs of mental health conditions and substance abuse;
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strategies for establishing and maintaining positive relationships among students, including conflict resolution;
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how grief and trauma affect student learning and behavior and how evidence-based, grief-informed, and traumainformed strategies support the academic success of students affected by grief and trauma; and Continued
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