I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1103

To provide safer schools and a better educational environment.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 20, 2001

Mr. BRADY of Texas (for himself, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. COX, and Mr. SCHAFFER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To provide safer schools and a better educational

environment.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teacher Liability Pro5 tection Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. TEACHER LIABILITY PROTECTION.

7 The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

8 1965 (20 U.S.C 6301 et seq.) is amended by adding at

9 the end the following:
2

•HR 1103 IH

1 ‘‘TITLE XV—TEACHER LIABILITY

2 PROTECTION

3 ‘‘SEC. 15001. SHORT TITLE.

4 ‘‘This title may be cited as the ‘Teacher Liability Pro5 tection Act of 2001’.

6 ‘‘SEC. 15002. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings:

9 ‘‘(1) The ability of teachers, principals and

10 other school professionals to teach, inspire and

11 shape the intellect of our Nation’s elementary and

12 secondary school students is deterred and hindered

13 by frivolous lawsuits and litigation.

14 ‘‘(2) Each year more and more teachers, prin15 cipals and other school professionals face lawsuits

16 for actions undertaken as part of their duties to pro17 vide millions of school children quality educational

18 opportunities.

19 ‘‘(3) Too many teachers, principals and other

20 school professionals face increasingly severe and ran21 dom acts of violence in the classroom and in schools.

22 ‘‘(4) Providing teachers, principals and other

23 school professionals a safe and secure environment is

24 an important part of the effort to improve and ex25 pand educational opportunities.
3

•HR 1103 IH

1 ‘‘(5) Clarifying and limiting the liability of

2 teachers, principals and other school professionals

3 who undertake reasonable actions to maintain order,

4 discipline and an appropriate educational environ5 ment is an appropriate subject of Federal legislation

6 because—

7 ‘‘(A) the scope of the problems created by

8 the legitimate fears of teachers, principals and

9 other school professionals about frivolous, arbi10 trary or capricious lawsuits against teachers is

11 of national importance; and

12 ‘‘(B) millions of children and their families

13 across the Nation depend on teachers, prin14 cipals and other school professionals for the in15 tellectual development of children.

16 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to pro17 vide teachers, principals and other school professionals the

18 tools they need to undertake reasonable actions to main19 tain order, discipline and an appropriate educational envi20 ronment.

21 ‘‘SEC. 15003. PREEMPTION AND ELECTION OF STATE NON22 APPLICABILITY.

23 ‘‘(a) PREEMPTION.—This title preempts the laws of

24 any State to the extent that such laws are inconsistent

25 with this title, except that this title shall not preempt any
4

•HR 1103 IH

1 State law that provides additional protection from liability

2 relating to teachers.

3 ‘‘(b) ELECTION OF STATE REGARDING NONAPPLICA4 BILITY.—This title shall not apply to any civil action in

5 a State court against a teacher with respect to claims aris6 ing within that State if such State enacts a statute in ac7 cordance with State requirements for enacting

8 legislation—

9 ‘‘(1) citing the authority of this subsection;

10 ‘‘(2) declaring the election of such State that

11 this title shall not apply, as of a date certain, to

12 such civil action in the State; and

13 ‘‘(3) containing no other provisions.

14 ‘‘SEC. 15004. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY FOR TEACHERS.

15 ‘‘(a) LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR TEACHERS.—Ex16 cept as provided in subsections (b) and (c), no teacher in

17 a school shall be liable for harm caused by an act or omis18 sion of the teacher on behalf of the school if—

19 ‘‘(1) the teacher was acting within the scope of

20 the teacher’s employment or responsibilities related

21 to providing educational services;

22 ‘‘(2) the actions of the teacher were carried out

23 in conformity with local, State, and Federal laws,

24 rules and regulations in furtherance of efforts to
5

•HR 1103 IH

1 control, discipline, expel, or suspend a student or

2 maintain order or control in the classroom or school;

3 ‘‘(3) if appropriate or required, the teacher was

4 properly licensed, certified, or authorized by the ap5 propriate authorities for the activities or practice in

6 the State in which the harm occurred, where the ac7 tivities were or practice was undertaken within the

8 scope of the teacher’s responsibilities;

9 ‘‘(4) the harm was not caused by willful or

10 criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless mis11 conduct, or a conscious, flagrant indifference to the

12 rights or safety of the individual harmed by the

13 teacher; and

14 ‘‘(5) the harm was not caused by the teacher

15 operating a motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or other

16 vehicle for which the State requires the operator or

17 the owner of the vehicle, craft, or vessel to—

18 ‘‘(A) possess an operator’s license; or

19 ‘‘(B) maintain insurance.

20 ‘‘(b) CONCERNING RESPONSIBILITY OF TEACHERS

21 TO SCHOOLS AND GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES.—Nothing

22 in this section shall be construed to affect any civil action

23 brought by any school or any governmental entity against

24 any teacher of such school.
6

•HR 1103 IH

1 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS TO TEACHER LIABILITY PROTEC2 TION.—If the laws of a State limit teacher liability subject

3 to one or more of the following conditions, such conditions

4 shall not be construed as inconsistent with this section:

5 ‘‘(1) A State law that requires a school or gov6 ernmental entity to adhere to risk management pro7 cedures, including mandatory training of teachers.

8 ‘‘(2) A State law that makes the school or gov9 ernmental entity liable for the acts or omissions of

10 its teachers to the same extent as an employer is lia11 ble for the acts or omissions of its employees.

12 ‘‘(3) A State law that makes a limitation of li13 ability inapplicable if the civil action was brought by

14 an officer of a State or local government pursuant

15 to State or local law.

16 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON PUNITIVE DAMAGES BASED ON

17 THE ACTIONS OF TEACHERS.—

18 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—Punitive damages may

19 not be awarded against a teacher in an action

20 brought for harm based on the action of a teacher

21 acting within the scope of the teacher’s responsibil22 ities to a school or governmental entity unless the

23 claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence

24 that the harm was proximately caused by an action

25 of such teacher which constitutes willful or criminal
7

•HR 1103 IH

1 misconduct, or a conscious, flagrant indifference to

2 the rights or safety of the individual harmed.

3 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph (1) does not

4 create a cause of action for punitive damages and

5 does not preempt or supersede any Federal or State

6 law to the extent that such law would further limit

7 the award of punitive damages.

8 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The limitations on the li10 ability of a teacher under this title shall not apply

11 to any misconduct that—

12 ‘‘(A) constitutes a crime of violence (as

13 that term is defined in section 16 of title 18,

14 United States Code) or act of international ter15 rorism (as that term is defined in section 2331

16 of title 18, United States Code) for which the

17 defendant has been convicted in any court;

18 ‘‘(B) involves a sexual offense, as defined

19 by applicable State law, for which the defendant

20 has been convicted in any court;

21 ‘‘(C) involves misconduct for which the de22 fendant has been found to have violated a Fed23 eral or State civil rights law; or

24 ‘‘(D) where the defendant was under the

25 influence (as determined pursuant to applicable
8

•HR 1103 IH

1 State law) of intoxicating alcohol or any drug at

2 the time of the misconduct.

3 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in

4 this subsection shall be construed to effect sub5 section (a)(3) or (d).

6 ‘‘SEC. 15005. LIABILITY FOR NONECONOMIC LOSS.

7 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In any civil action against a

8 teacher, based on an action of a teacher acting within the

9 scope of the teacher’s responsibilities to a school or gov10 ernmental entity, the liability of the teacher for non11 economic loss shall be determined in accordance with sub12 section (b).

13 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF LIABILITY.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each defendant who is a

15 teacher, shall be liable only for the amount of non16 economic loss allocated to that defendant in direct

17 proportion to the percentage of responsibility of that

18 defendant (determined in accordance with paragraph

19 (2)) for the harm to the claimant with respect to

20 which that defendant is liable. The court shall

21 render a separate judgment against each defendant

22 in an amount determined pursuant to the preceding

23 sentence.

24 ‘‘(2) PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSIBILITY.—For

25 purposes of determining the amount of noneconomic
9

•HR 1103 IH

1 loss allocated to a defendant who is a teacher under

2 this section, the trier of fact shall determine the per3 centage of responsibility of that defendant for the

4 claimant’s harm.

5 ‘‘SEC. 15006. DEFINITIONS.

6 ‘‘For purposes of this title:

7 ‘‘(1) ECONOMIC LOSS.—The term ‘economic

8 loss’ means any pecuniary loss resulting from harm

9 (including the loss of earnings or other benefits re10 lated to employment, medical expense loss, replace11 ment services loss, loss due to death, burial costs,

12 and loss of business or employment opportunities) to

13 the extent recovery for such loss is allowed under ap14 plicable State law.

15 ‘‘(2) HARM.—The term ‘harm’ includes phys16 ical, nonphysical, economic, and noneconomic losses.

17 ‘‘(3) NONECONOMIC LOSSES.—The term ‘non18 economic losses’ means losses for physical and emo19 tional pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical im20 pairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of en21 joyment of life, loss of society and companionship,

22 loss of consortium (other than loss of domestic serv23 ice), hedonic damages, injury to reputation and all

24 other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or nature.
10

•HR 1103 IH

1 ‘‘(4) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ means a pub2 lic or private kindergarten, a public or private ele3 mentary school or secondary school (as defined in

4 section 14101, or a home school.

5 ‘‘(5) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of

6 the several States of the United States, the District

7 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the

8 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American

9 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

10 Islands, any other territory or possession of the

11 United States, or any political subdivision of any

12 such State, territory, or possession.

13 ‘‘(6) TEACHER.—The term ‘teacher’ means a

14 teacher, instructor, principal, administrator, or other

15 educational professional that works in a school, a

16 local school board and any member of such board,

17 and a local educational agency and any employee of

18 such agency.

19 ‘‘SEC. 15007. EFFECTIVE DATE.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—This title shall take effect 90

21 days after the date of the enactment of the Teacher Liabil22 ity Protection Act.

23 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—This title applies to any claim

24 for harm caused by an act or omission of a teacher if that

25 claim is filed on or after the effective date of the Teacher
11

•HR 1103 IH

1 Liability Protection Act, without regard to whether the

2 harm that is the subject of the claim or the conduct that

3 caused the harm occurred before such effective date.’’.

Æ