Texas education rules limit teachers' paperwork responsibilities during COVID-19 crisis

Many professions have seen increased workloads due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and teachers are no exception. School districts around the nation have increased the amount of documentation that educators are required to fill out.

Section 11.164 of the Education Code of Texas, however, places a limit on the amount of paperwork that is required of teachers.

“The board of trustees of each school district shall limit redundant requests for information and the number and length of written reports that a classroom teacher is required to prepare,” the code states.

In addition the code notes “the board of trustees shall review paperwork requirements imposed on classroom teachers and shall transfer to existing non-instructional staff a reporting task that can reasonably be accomplished by that staff.”

Tera Collum, executive director of the Travis Institute of Educational Policy in Bedford, Texas, said by e-mail that limiting the amount of paperwork enables teachers to devote more time to educating students.

“The state of Texas only gives a teacher 450 minutes of planning for a 10-day period," she said. "Teachers do not want to use that limited time to duplicate paperwork.” 

The Travis Institute in an article on its website indicated additional violations of the code can possibly occur during this pandemic time. Teachers should not bolster their students’ grades so the school looks better, and schools should not get expel troubled students. The institute also stated that this is not the time to get rid of teachers.

Collum said although the law is broken with too much paperwork being required of teachers, some administrators may retaliate if educators speak up. The grievance protocols in place state that the identities of teachers are protected should they file a grievance.

Limiting the amount of documentation required of teachers will undoubtedly enable them to be more impactful in the classroom and devote more time to their students.

“They will not be wasting their time duplicating paperwork, such as turning in grade sheets that can be found in an online gradebook," Collum said. "Or creating lesson plans that are very detailed, but the education code only requires a very basic lesson plan. Teachers are already overwhelmed with work and have a very limited time to do it.” 

The article on the Travis Institute’s website assures teachers that they are not hopeless in this issue.

“Please do not fear the district; if you feel that your district is targeting you for you standing up for your rights, please let me know," the article noted. "[We] know several lawyers that would love to work with teachers to protect them from districts.”