(Texas Scorecard) – A proposal from a freshman state lawmaker could help Texas families hold school officials accountable in student sexual abuse cases—which are on the rise—by removing schools’ immunity from civil liability.
“We have a systemic problem within the state of Texas and our education system,” said State Rep. Mitch Little (R–Lewisville) as he introduced House Bill 4623 during a hearing Wednesday in the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee.
“The purpose of my bill is to remove governmental immunity from school districts and their employees for acts of intentional sexual abuse of various kinds—sexual assault, rape, indecent assault—and what I’ll call a laundry list of penal code violations that are described in the bill,” he said.
Little, who is also a civil litigation attorney, called the effects of his proposed bill “consequential.” It would allow abused students to sue for monetary damages, including exemplary damages above any economic or non-economic losses.
In Texas, a jury must vote unanimously in favor of exemplary damages. If the defendant also faces felony criminal charges, there is no cap on those damages.
“There are good public policy reasons for removing this immunity from school districts and their employees,” Little told the committee. “We are at a crisis in our school system concerning sexual abuse.”
Little cited recent arrests of three teachers and a maintenance worker in Huntsville Independent School District within just a few weeks. They are among hundreds of Texas school employees accused of sex crimes involving students and other children in the past three years.
What is the extent to which we are willing to allow our children in the state of Texas to attend school and undergo the risk of being either groomed or harmed by a teacher sexually? Is that part of the social contract that we enjoy here in the state of Texas, or is there some other potential solution that might address the problem?
“Let’s do it by statute and hold not only the employees but districts responsible—not only for the intentional act committed by the employee but by acts of coverup that we know are happening,” he said.
Little noted that multiple states have similar laws, including California, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
“I think there’s a societal lurch toward license in this area,” he told committee members, adding that our school systems’ retreat from traditional values has allowed sexual predators to thrive.
State Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Allen), who chairs the committee, attributed the “increasingly prevalent” problem in part to students communicating directly with educators outside of school hours via cell phones and social media.
Leach cited a Texas Education Agency report indicating there are “thousands of instances every single year in public schools across the state, where intentional torts are committed upon our public school students by public school employees.”
“An improper student-teacher relationship is not the right way to put it,” added Leach. “This is child abuse. This is sexual abuse, and we should call it what it is. If a teacher sexually abuses a student… the only justice whatsoever is if the local prosecutor has to prosecute that educator.”
“And I’m going to tell you, as we know, that many, many of these cases end up [that] nothing really happens other than that educator kind of quietly going away, getting out of the teaching profession,” he said. “So in many cases, there is no justice served whatsoever, much less compensation for the victim.”
State Rep. Mike Schofield (R–Katy) noted that under Little’s proposal, taxpayers bear the cost, and he questioned whether that was an effective deterrent.
Schofield suggested that administrators who know about and cover up sex crimes against students should be permanently ineligible to work in public schools and have their pensions revoked.
“That would stop it,” he said. “We have to make sure we’re hitting what we aim at.”
Little responded that HB 4623 “allows the judicial system to be a check and balance on a school system that is really not subject to many checks, and my belief is that if you create this potential liability for the school district, they’ll solve the problem for you.”
During public testimony, Association of Texas Professional Educators lobbyist Monty Exter said any school employee guilty of sexual misconduct “should certainly be removed from the education field as quickly as possible,” but he objected to an “extraordinarily expansive” provision allowing students to sue for acts “beyond the sexual misconduct issues that we’re talking about here today.”
Little agreed the language could be considered overbroad.
Multiple victims, parents, and advocates testified in favor of HB 4623.
“Texas has 5.5 million students that are at risk right now,” testified Tami Rodriguez Brown, director of policy for anti-trafficking organization Jaco Booyens Ministries.
Brown cited Texas Education 911’s analysis of TEA data showing that 6,888 educator misconduct reports filed in recent years involved sexual or violent offenses, ranging from sexual harassment and grooming to abuse and assault.
“These are not isolated incidents. They are systemic failures,” she said.
Brown told the committee that every member of the Texas Legislature had received data showing the number of educator misconduct complaints in their specific district.
“This committee alone represents over 3,986 educators with complaints against them,” she said, adding that abusers average 20 victims before they are caught.
“These are not abstract numbers. These are real Texas children,” said Brown. “Texas law currently grants governmental immunity to districts and staff, even when they fail to report or act on abuse. This is not justice. This is abandonment.”
She noted that more than 20 states are considering legislation similar to HB 4623.
Texas Education 911 President Aileen Blachowski told the committee there is no due process in a Texas public school.
HB 4623 is one of the top legislative priorities for Texas Education 911, an independent network of parent advocates who help families resolve problems with their local school districts.
Blachowski testified that 90 percent of parents who appealed school complaints to the TEA were denied.
“Yes, the state is complicit,” she said. “That’s why we call it state-sponsored child abuse. The TEA has known that this has been a growing problem for quite some time.”
Blachowski added that TEA Commissioner Mike Morath just gave the State Board of Education updated information about abuse reports for the fiscal year 2024: “886 reports of sexual misconduct in 2024 in our schools; 738 reports of physical abuse.”
“Business is booming in our investigations department,” Morath told SBOE members during a Wednesday meeting. “It’s deeply problematic what we’ve seen.”
Morath said TEA has asked the legislature for more resources for investigations “because the volume of inbound complaints just continues to rise.”
Attorney Heather Long, who represents a Kerrville school sexual abuse victim, confirmed to the House committee that complaints are increasing. Long said she had “12 calls last week of educator sexual misconduct cases, people seeking lawyers.”
Long testified that Kerrville ISD didn’t view their problem as educators committing sexual misconduct; they believed they had “an image problem.”
“As horrible as all of the testimony has made this problem appear to everyone on the committee, it’s actually much, much worse,” attorney Stuart Baggish testified.
Baggish described school districts’ complaint administration process as an “impenetrable barrier that parents and families of sexually molested children have to deal with.”
He said families face “a labyrinth of rules” including having to file a complaint with the school district that employs their child’s abuser within 10 days.
“Ten days just isn’t enough time for a statute of limitations on something as serious as sexual abuse of a child that the school district is responsible for [placing] alongside the abuser.”
“Everything’s bigger in Texas, and that includes our pedophiles-in-schools problem,” testified Callie McDonald, who was sexually abused by a coach when she was a student.
“It is not easy to come forward and testify, and it should not be the responsibility of the students who have gone through this to make these testimonies,” she told the committee. “We say we don’t want to bankrupt the taxpayers, but you’re looking at a taxpayer. No one had an issue bankrupting me.”
“We have a responsibility to do the right thing, even if it’s the harder thing to do, even if it’s self-sacrificing. That means a superintendent has the responsibility—if not as a superintendent, just as a decent human—to tell the truth to the police when a child is being abused,” said McDonald, adding that “the superintendent who lied to the police about me is making about $200,000 a year as a superintendent in another school [district].”
McDonald said Texas needs to lead on this issue and establish clear guidelines and training for preventing and reporting abuse.
“We’ve got to do more. Leaving it like it is, is telling the kids that are being abused that they are responsible,” concluded McDonald.
“We let our kids spend the majority of their time in schools. Why would we strip their protection when they’re away from their parents the most?” asked Charlie Ginn, vice president of legislative affairs for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
Ginn cited statistics showing that 42 percent of sexual misconduct incidents happened in high school, 34 percent were in middle school, and 24 percent were in elementary school.
He testified that teachers are in a position to build strong relationships with students, which enables them to groom students without any accountability.
“To effect change, you have to have accountability,” Gina said. “If you want to motivate our school districts, give them a reason to care about what’s happening. Because when you look at the numbers and you look at the damage that is being caused to our children, it is clear that there is not much motivation.”
“We are in a crisis,” former teacher and Texas GOP activist Christin Bentley told the committee. “It is so hard to see what’s happened to my profession.”
Bentley said there are two reasons why Little’s solution makes sense: monetary damages will help abused children get the help they need, and the threat of payouts will act as a deterrent that motivates school districts to better screen new hires.
Georgetown ISD mom Ami Glover told the committee she supports HB 4623 “because right now our kids are at risk in the system that hides misconduct while they continually put out press releases and statements that the safety and well-being of the children are their top priority.”
Glover was targeted by her school district for posting concerns in a private online forum. She recounted a long list of unresolved complaints within the district.
“Even with the evidence, parents cannot win,” she added. “Immunity blocks us in court.”
“Choosing accountability over immunity is the kind of leadership that we need from all of you,” said Shannon Ayres, an education advocate with Citizens Defending Freedom.
Ayres noted that there are no standard hiring practices for teachers beyond a background check.
“I’m hearing anger and righteous indignation from this committee, and that’s great, but it’s not enough,” she added. “You have the power to fix this, to do something. Parents and victims are watching you to see not what you say, but rather what you do.”
“House Bill 4623 is critical,” testified Kathryn Sartor, the mom of a Lake Travis ISD student whose abuse at school was caught on video. “It removes the legal immunity that shields the public schools and staff when children are harmed due to negligence or outright abuse. It gives families like mine a clear path to justice when the system fails us.”
“Please pass this bill for my son, for all the children who suffer in silence, and for every parent who believes their child should be safe at school.”
The regular legislative session ends on June 2.