A new public dashboard from the Texas Education Agency shows 153 Do Not Hire Registry placements in May, up from 112 in April and 97 in March, bringing the fiscal year 2026 total to 648.
The numbers are part of a broader push by the Texas Education Agency and Commissioner Mike Morath to strengthen enforcement of educator misconduct and make the process more visible to the public.
The registry is larger than many Texans may realize. It currently holds 4,837 names: 3,564 tied to sanctions from the State Board for Educator Certification, and 1,273 involving non-certified employees or contractors.
Much of the momentum traces back to February, when Morath appointed Levi Fuller as the agency’s first Inspector General for Educator Misconduct, a new role created to strengthen enforcement against educator misconduct and boost student safety.
“With more than a decade of experience holding bad actors accountable, 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,” Morath said when announcing Fuller’s appointment.
Fuller Leads New Enforcement Push
Fuller oversees enforcement of educator misconduct policies, working alongside TEA’s Educator Investigation Division on sanctions, registry placements, settlements, and case closures.
Shortly after his appointment, the agency launched two new public tools: the Educator Misconduct Dashboard and a Student Protection Resource Center. Together, they give parents, school leaders, and taxpayers a direct look at misconduct reports, active investigations, SBEC sanctions, and the Do Not Hire Registry.
“These resources reflect our commitment to transparency and fostering trust in our schools,” Fuller said when TEA first introduced the dashboard and resource center. “The dashboard gives communities access to critical information, while the resource center brings together the tools and guidance school systems need to respond quickly and appropriately when concerns arise.”
The numbers behind those tools tell a significant story.
The updated dashboard shows 15,656 educator misconduct reports received in fiscal year 2026, including 11,881 superintendent reports, 1,986 reports from the Department of Family and Protective Services, 1,700 general complaints, and 89 referrals through NASDTEC, the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification.
The dashboard also shows 11,318 educator investigations in fiscal year 2026, with 6,067 confirmed reports to law enforcement or DFPS. Not every report results in a formal sanction. Many remain pending, do not meet the threshold for investigation, or are resolved through other means.
SB 571 Expanded Registry Authority
Not every case moves through the same process, TEA spokesman Jake Kobersky told The Dallas Express. It depends on whether the person involved holds a teaching certificate. For certified employees, TEA investigates and sends its findings to SBEC, which makes the final call on sanctions. For uncertified staff, that final decision goes to the commissioner of education.
That distinction matters more now than it used to, as Senate Bill 571 expanded that authority by giving the commissioner power to place non-certified employees and third-party service providers on the Do Not Hire Registry after a qualifying arrest, tightening reporting requirements, and shortening the timeline for superintendents to report misconduct allegations to TEA or SBEC.
For Kobersky, that is exactly the point.
“TEA is committed to transparency for parents, families, school leaders and taxpayers, and the Do Not Hire Registry is a tangible example of that commitment,” Kobersky told DX. “At its core, the DNHR helps prevent bad actors from finding their way back into schools by providing the public with a comprehensive, easy to access registry of individuals rendered ineligible for employment in our schools. This helps keep students safe.”
Registry Tracks Who Cannot Work In Schools
The Do Not Hire Registry is not limited to certified teachers. TEA designed it as a statewide tool to help keep individuals deemed ineligible from working in Texas public schools.
Of the 648 placements this fiscal year, 66.2% are classified as “Not Eligible for Hire,” while 33.8% are listed as “Temporarily Not Eligible for Hire.”
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, TEA added 21 individuals to the registry in May following arrests involving criminal allegations. Under SB 571, a qualifying arrest can trigger registry placement for non-certified employees and third-party service providers while criminal cases remain pending.
Beyond the registry, SBEC issued 703 sanctions in fiscal year 2026: 198 reprimands, 190 indefinite suspensions, 170 suspensions, 81 voluntary surrenders, and 64 revocations.
TEA cautions that allegation codes are not findings of guilt. The agency’s report legend says TEA uses those codes for categorization and that readers should not treat them as findings that someone violated the law or a board rule.
