I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1844

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide

teachers, principals, and other school professionals the tools they need

to undertake reasonable actions to maintain order, discipline, and an

appropriate educational environment.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 15, 2001

Mr. GRAVES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965 to provide teachers, principals, and other school

professionals the tools they need to undertake reasonable

actions to maintain order, discipline, and an appropriate

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. SCHOOL DISCIPLINE AND TEACHER LIABILITY

4 PROTECTION.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Elementary and Secondary

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C 6301 et seq.) is amend7 ed by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘TITLE XV—SCHOOL DISCIPLINE

2 AND TEACHER LIABILITY

3 PROTECTION

4 ‘‘SEC. 15001. SHORT TITLE.

5 ‘‘This title may be cited as the ‘Teacher Protection

6 Act of 2001’.

7 ‘‘SEC. 15002. PURPOSE.

8 ‘‘The purpose of this title is to provide teachers, prin9 cipals and other school professionals the tools they need

10 to undertake reasonable actions to maintain order, dis11 cipline, and an appropriate educational environment.

12 ‘‘SEC. 15003. PREEMPTION AND ELECTION OF STATE NON13 APPLICABILITY.

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

15 any State to the extent that such laws are inconsistent

16 with this title, except that this title shall not preempt any

17 State law that provides additional protection from liability

18 relating to teachers.

19 ‘‘(b) ELECTION OF STATE REGARDING NONAPPLICA20 BILITY.—This title shall not apply to any civil action in

21 a State court against a teacher in which all parties are

22 citizens of the State if such State enacts a statute in ac23 cordance with State requirements for enacting

24 legislation—

25 ‘‘(1) citing the authority of this subsection;
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1 ‘‘(2) declaring the election of such State that

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

3 such civil action in the State; and

4 ‘‘(3) containing no other provisions.

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

6 ‘‘(a) LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR TEACHERS.—Ex7 cept as provided in subsections (b) and (c), no teacher in

8 a school shall be liable for harm caused by an act or omis9 sion of the teacher on behalf of the school if—

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

11 the teacher’s employment or responsibilities related

12 to providing educational services;

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

14 in conformity with local, State, or Federal laws,

15 rules or regulations in furtherance of efforts to con16 trol, discipline, expel, or suspend a student or main17 tain order or control in the classroom or school;

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

19 properly licensed, certified, or authorized by the ap20 propriate authorities for the activities or practice in

21 the State in which the harm occurred, where the ac22 tivities were or practice was undertaken within the

23 scope of the teacher’s responsibilities;

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

25 criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless mis-
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1 conduct, or a conscious, flagrant indifference to the

2 rights or safety of the individual harmed by the

3 teacher; and

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

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

6 vehicle for which the State requires the operator or

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

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

9 ‘‘(B) maintain insurance.

10 ‘‘(b) CONCERNING RESPONSIBILITY OF TEACHERS

11 TO SCHOOLS AND GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES.—Nothing

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

13 brought by any school or any governmental entity against

14 any teacher of such school.

15 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS TO TEACHER LIABILITY PROTEC16 TION.—If the laws of a State limit teacher liability subject

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

18 shall not be construed as inconsistent with this section:

19 ‘‘(1) A State law that requires a school or gov20 ernmental entity to adhere to risk management pro21 cedures, including mandatory training of teachers.

22 ‘‘(2) A State law that makes the school or gov23 ernmental entity liable for the acts or omissions of

24 its teachers to the same extent as an employer is lia25 ble for the acts or omissions of its employees.
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1 ‘‘(3) A State law that makes a limitation of li2 ability inapplicable if the civil action was brought by

3 an officer of a State or local government pursuant

4 to State or local law.

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

6 THE ACTIONS OF TEACHERS.—

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

8 not be awarded against a teacher in an action

9 brought for harm based on the action of a teacher

10 acting within the scope of the teacher’s responsibil11 ities to a school or governmental entity unless the

12 claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence

13 that the harm was proximately caused by an action

14 of such teacher which constitutes willful or criminal

15 misconduct, or a conscious, flagrant indifference to

16 the rights or safety of the individual harmed.

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

18 create a cause of action for punitive damages and

19 does not preempt or supersede any Federal or State

20 law to the extent that such law would further limit

21 the award of punitive damages.

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

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The limitations on the li24 ability of a teacher under this title shall not apply

25 to any misconduct that—
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1 ‘‘(A) constitutes a crime of violence (as

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

3 United States Code) or act of international ter4 rorism (as that term is defined in section 2331

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

6 defendant has been convicted in any court;

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

8 by applicable State law, for which the defendant

9 has been convicted in any court;

10 ‘‘(C) involves misconduct for which the de11 fendant has been found to have violated a Fed12 eral or State civil rights law; or

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

14 influence (as determined pursuant to applicable

15 State law) of intoxicating alcohol or any drug at

16 the time of the misconduct.

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

18 this subsection shall be construed to effect sub19 section (a)(3) or (d).

20 ‘‘SEC. 15005. DEFINITIONS.

21 ‘‘For purposes of this title:

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

23 loss’ means any pecuniary loss resulting from harm

24 (including the loss of earnings or other benefits re25 lated to employment, medical expense loss, replace-
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1 ment services loss, loss due to death, burial costs,

2 and loss of business or employment opportunities) to

3 the extent recovery for such loss is allowed under ap4 plicable State law.

5 ‘‘(2) HARM.—The term ‘harm’ includes phys6 ical, nonphysical, economic, and noneconomic losses.

7 ‘‘(3) NONECONOMIC LOSSES.—The term ‘non8 economic losses’ means losses for physical and emo9 tional pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical im10 pairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of en11 joyment of life, loss of society and companionship,

12 loss of consortium (other than loss of domestic serv13 ice), hedonic damages, injury to reputation and all

14 other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or nature.

15 ‘‘(4) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ means a pub16 lic or private kindergarten, a public or private ele17 mentary school or secondary school (as defined in

18 section 14101, or a home school.

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

20 the several States of the United States, the District

21 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the

22 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American

23 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

24 Islands, any other territory or possession of the
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1 United States, or any political subdivision of any

2 such State, territory, or possession.

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

4 teacher, instructor, principal, administrator, or other

5 educational professional that works in a school, a

6 local school board and any member of such board,

7 and a local educational agency and any employee of

8 such agency.’’.

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title XV of the Elementary

11 and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as added by

12 subsection (a), shall take effect 90 days after the

13 date of the enactment of this Act.

14 (2) APPLICATION.—Title XV of the Elementary

15 and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as added by

16 subsection (a), applies to any claim for harm caused

17 by an act or omission of a teacher if that claim is

18 filed on or after the effective date specified in para19 graph (1), without regard to whether the harm that

20 is the subject of the claim or the conduct that

21 caused the harm occurred before such effective date.

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