Texas bill would allow teachers to use deadly force against students

A proposed bill would allow teachers in Texas to use deadly force against students and be protected from any kind of prosecution.

The Teacher’s Protection Act would allow these teachers to use force against students or anyone else on school grounds if they feel threatened. Educators would avoid prosecution for “injury or death that results from the educator’s use of deadly force” under the new legislation.

Texas law already protects teachers from disciplinary measures if they use reasonable force against a student. The law proposed by Republican Rep. Dan Flynn would allow deadly force.

Association of Texas Professional Educators managing attorney Paul Tapp told the Houston Chronicle that teachers in the state already have some legal protections that allow them to use force under reasonable circumstances.

Monty Exter, a lobbyist with the ATPE, told the paper these policies should be determined at the local level.

The bill was filed days before a New Jersey student was caught on video attacking a ninth-grade high school teacher. The video shows the student beating on the teacher and the teacher not fighting back.

Click for more from Houston Chronicle.