Educational carriers could be looking at a heavy claims season in Texas. Reports of teachers in the state having inappropriate relationships with students are currently on pace to beat last year’s record total, according to an MSN report.
Between Sept. 1 and May 31, the Texas Education Agency launched 162 investigations of alleged inappropriate relationships between teachers and students, according to MSN. The agency conducted 188 investigations last fiscal year, making fiscal 2015 the fifth straight year of growth.
Texas hit the news for the issue after revelations that a Houston-area teacher, 24-year-old Alexandria Vera, had been impregnated by a then-13-year-old former student, MSN reported.
The Texas state Senate held a hearing on the issue in December, and the state House Public Education Committee considered it last month, MSN reported. At the House hearing, lawmakers and experts placed the blame on social media.
“In the past, you might not have had students choosing to interact socially with a teacher,” said Kathy Tortoreo, director of crisis services at Family Support Services in Amarllo, Texas. “Now they’ll friend them on Facebook or they’ll reach out to them on Snapchat. The adult is supposed to understand the boundary, and the adult is supposed to uphold the boundary.”
