Texas law on charter schools has big loophole
By ERICKA MELLON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
May 12, 2010, 9:03PM
A Harris County charter school teacher caught on video beating up a student last month could face criminal charges, but she will not lose her teaching certificate.
That's because Sheri Lynn Davis, 40, doesn't have one.
As a science teacher at a charter school, she didn't need to be certified. Texas law requires charter schools to hire certified teachers only in the areas of bilingual and special education.
The state's charter school law is designed to give the campuses more freedom in hiring, but Davis' case illustrates a little-discussed loophole: If teachers aren't certified by the state, then the state has no power to sanction them. Their records are clean if they apply for other teaching jobs. In fact, they don't have a record at all with the State Board for Educator Certification.
Any punishment would have to come through the court system, said Debbie Ratcliffe, spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office is investigating allegations against Davis, who was fired this week from Jamie's House Charter School in north Harris County. A cell phone video, shot by a student, shows the teacher dragging a 13-year-old boy across the floor, apparently kicking him in the back, slapping his face and slamming his head against a classroom wall.
Davis has not made any public comments.
Jamie's House Charter School did not respond Wednesday to questions about Davis' qualifications but said she had worked there for three years without any complaints. Her 10-month salary was $32,000.
‘Got to be a way'
State Rep. Rob Eissler, who chairs the House Public Education Committee, said he will ask his colleagues to study whether there's a way to ensure that non-certified teachers who get in trouble can't hide in the system.
“There's got to be a way to prevent that,” he said.
The Republican from The Woodlands noted that a 2007 state law requires all Texas public schools, including charters, to fingerprint and conduct national criminal background checks on all teaching applicants. If a noncertified teacher were charged with a crime, the school should be alerted through the check.
State Rep. Scott Hochberg, a Houston Democrat, suggested another solution: Require charter schools to hire certified teachers, just like traditional public schools.
“There are so many avenues available to become certified that I don't think we should be allowing noncertified teachers to teach,” he said.
High school diploma
To get certified in Texas, a candidate must have a bachelor's degree, complete an educator preparation program (through a