DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200
A proposed law in TX would make it a criminal offense to miss a parent-teacher meeting.
80R486 SLO-D
By: Smith of Harris H.B. No. 557
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the failure of a parent to attend a public school
parent-teacher conference; providing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 26, Education Code, is amended by adding
Section 26.014 to read as follows:
Sec. 26.014. FAILURE TO ATTEND PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE.
(a) A parent of a student commits an offense if:
(1) the parent receives written notice by certified
mail of at least three proposed dates from which the parent can
choose for scheduling a parent-teacher conference between the
parent and the student’s teacher;
(2) the parent:
(A) fails to respond to the notice; or
(B) schedules a parent-teacher conference on one
of the dates proposed in the notice or on an alternative date agreed
to by the parent and teacher and fails to:
(i) attend the scheduled conference; or
(ii) before the scheduled conference,
notify the teacher or an administrator of the campus to which the
teacher is assigned that the parent will be unable to attend the
conference; and
(3) in the case of a student with more than one parent,
another parent of the student does not attend a parent-teacher
conference scheduled in accordance with this subsection.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(c) An offense under this section may be prosecuted in a
court in which an offense under Section 25.094(b) may be
prosecuted.
(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
section that the parent had a reasonable excuse for failing to
attend the parent-teacher conference.
(e) The clerk of the court in which an offense under this
section is prosecuted shall transfer the proceeds of any fine
collected by the court under this section to the school district
that employs the teacher with whom the parent was scheduled to meet
in the parent-teacher conference. The district may use funds
collected under this section only to:
(1) provide additional compensation to classroom
teachers in the district; or
(2) purchase school supplies other than textbooks as
defined by Section 31.002.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
7 Responses to “DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200”
Comment by Stephanie January 24th, 2007 at 8:48 am |
If this flies, I’ll eat my hat. |
Comment by Karen E January 24th, 2007 at 8:55 am |
Nothing about prosecuting a teacher if they fail to show up? I’m sure the unions would love that. |
Comment by christine January 24th, 2007 at 9:38 am |
Well, dang. That’s encouragement to keep sending your kids to public school in Texas. |
Comment by Darren January 24th, 2007 at 10:12 am |
Hey, if this goes through, could Mom get Dad prosecuted if he misses their date that she had set up a week before? 🙂 |
Comment by Mary January 24th, 2007 at 2:44 pm |
Obviously, the authors have never attended a parent-teacher conference. I noticed one shortcoming – no security for the teacher. |
Comment by Valerie January 25th, 2007 at 4:58 pm |
In the military, a parent-teacher conference can be considered a soldier’s (temporary) place of duty. Also, I grew up with my dad lecturing me about not mesing up because it would be his neck on the chopping block, so the military rules over the family are nothing new. (I also had to put up with a neighbor brat who kicked my house — yeah, he kicked the house — and told me I couldn’t do anything about it because the house belonged to the Air Force. Such are the trials of military Bratdom. ;> Of course, the military community is much smaller, and the community commander is responsible for ‘maintaining order and discipline,’ so it can be stretched to be relevant. Still, the usual consequences in the cases of unruly family members amounts to banishment from miltary areas, not prosecution. But giving the schools’ conferences the weight of law … against the parent for being ‘truant?’ Wow. |
Comment by COD January 25th, 2007 at 9:05 pm |
I too grew up under the threat that my conduct and grades could be reflected in my father’s career. It’s a fairly effective ploy. However, as I remember it, parent teacher conferences were more of an exception basis. If your parents were going to one, you were already screwed. I don’t remember it as an annual thing for all students. |