Bill

SB 1169

84(R) - 2015
Senate Education
Senate Education
Education

Vote Recommendation

Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral

Author(s)

Donna Campbell

Bill Caption

Relating to suicide prevention training for educators in public schools.

Fiscal Notes

No significant fiscal impact to the State.

Local Government

There could be administrative costs to provide the training annually, and districts may require the use of substitutes. The administrative costs would vary from district to district depending on how many employees would need to be trained annually and whether the training was offered online or in person.

Bill Analysis

SB 1169 would require that staff development for educators in public schools include two hours of in-service training on suicide prevention annually through a best practice-based program recommended by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) in coordination with the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

Vote Recommendation Notes

Teachers go through training on a variety of subjects during their in-service training days. While suicide prevention is important, it is our view that teachers should focus primarily on teaching. Whether there is any substantive value in having teachers learn a little bit about a topic outside of their core competency is debatable. However, this bill has no discernible connection to our liberty principles, therefore we are neutral on SB 1771.