In one year, Texas teacher misconduct reports triple, most added to Do Not Hire Registry

After a new accountability and transparency law was implemented, in one year the number of teacher misconduct reports has tripled and the number of teachers added to Texas' Do Not Hire Registry (DNHR) has reached an all-time high.

According to the Texas Education Agency’s Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard, a record 19,766 misconduct reports were filed during the 2026 fiscal year, a monthly average of 1,647. The TEA fiscal year goes from Sept. 1 through August 31.

The number is up from 16,000 in June, The Center Square reported. It’s also more than three times the number reported in fiscal 2025 of 6,456, according to the dashboard.

The number of reports account for roughly 6% of public school teachers in Texas.

According to TEA data, Texas public schools employ more than 320,000 teachers and more than 80,000 professional staff, including principals, administrators and others.

The dashboard is organized in four sections: all reports of educator misconduct received by TEA and all fingerprint-based criminal history alerts from the Texas Department of Public Safety and FBI; active educator misconduct investigations; State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) sanctions; and those placed on the DNHR.

Educator misconduct reports come from several sources, including school system administrators, like superintendents, other state agencies, members of the public and law enforcement agencies outside of Texas.

The majority of misconduct reports, 74%, were referred by school superintendents; 14% were referred by Texas Department of Family and Protective Services; 10% filed in general complaints and the remainder by law enforcement agencies.

The majority of complaints were filed against noncertified teachers after schools have increasingly hired them, The Center Square reported. According to TEA data, the number and percentage of uncertified teachers in Texas exponentially increased over the past five school years. The increase directly correlates to worsening student achievement, education experts argue. A new law requires changes to be made by the 2029-2030 school year.

Of the 13,688 educator investigations launched in fiscal 2026, 8,610 were referred to law enforcement, according to the dashboard data.

More than half of the investigations, 7,288, relate to teachers committing violence/injuring a child on school property. This includes physical abuse, improper restraint and neglect.

Sexual misconduct allegation investigations total more than 3,000. They include 2,094 related to a teacher’s inappropriate sexual/romantic relationship with a student, including grooming and inappropriate communications; 692 related to sexual abuse and assault of a student by a teacher; and 254 related to sexual crimes teachers allegedly committed outside of school property.

Other investigations relate to teachers using drugs or alcohol, 722, committing fraud like falsifying records, 176, theft and burglary on school property, 116, and a range of miscellaneous crimes allegedly occurring off campus, 941, including arson, criminal trespass, bribery, among others.

According to the dashboard, 1,114 teachers were sanctioned by the SBEC and 1,079 were added to the DNHR.

Since the DNHR was launched in 2020, 5,268 teachers have been added to it, with the most added in fiscal 2026.

Since 2020, 3,811 teachers were added to the DNHR based on SBEC sanctions; 1,457 were noncertified employees or contractors.

According to the dashboard data, the TEA received 27,655 fingerprint-based criminal history alerts in fiscal 2026, up from 23,369 alerts received in fiscal 2025.

The dashboard and additional information being disclosed are an outworking of a new bipartisan law, SB 571, filed by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston. It strengthened reporting requirements, mandated the dashboard for transparency and established a new inspector general for education misconduct office, The Center Square reported. It also requires the TEA to temporarily suspend teacher certification and/or add them to the DNHR when they are arrested for certain felonies until their case is resolved.

Additional information about disciplinary actions taken against school staff by the TEA and SBEC can be found on a new TEA Student Protection Resource Center website.

“Educators, school employees, parents, students, service providers, and community members can use this page to understand their legal responsibilities, how to report misconduct, the roles of schools and state agencies, and where to find required training, tools, and public resources related to protecting students,” the TEA says.

The center provides resources on how to recognize abuse and misconduct, reporting duties for suspected abuse, administrator responsibilities, information about educator misconduct investigations and background checks, fingerprinting and hiring compliance requirements.