Bill strips some teacher data from public view
Journalists oppose measure, which has gotten early OK.
By Jackie Stone
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, April 24, 2009
An effort to pull identifying information about school employees from public records got initial approval from the Texas House on Thursday.
The bill by Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, would keep confidential information about public school teachers and employees such as home addresses and cell phone numbers.
 Harry Cabluck/ASSOCIATED PRESS Journalists and open records advocates say a bill by Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, left, would prevent them from providing the public with oversight of the people who teach their children. In session on Thursday, Patrick talks with Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands. |
Teachers, principals and other school employees say keeping the records private will protect them from identity theft. But journalists and open records advocates object to what they say is a deal breaker: removing the days and months of birth dates from open records.
Journalists use birth dates to identify people with common names, particularly when comparing lists of public employees with criminal records.
"The full birth date cannot only catch someone, but it can also exonerate someone. And we're afraid without the full birth date, we won't have the same system of checks and balances," said Keith Elkins, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
The Association of Texas Professional Educators applauded the passage of Patrick's bill Thursday.
"All employees, regardless of their professions, deserve to have their confidential information kept private, and educators are no different," said Jennifer Canaday, a lobbyist for the teacher's organization.
Under the latest version of the bill, a school district would have to release conviction information if it finds that an employee was convicted of a sex offense or violent crime.
Ken Whalen, executive vice president of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association, said access to the convictions was a bright spot in a bill that news organizations are still very concerned about.
Patrick said she was told access to birth years would be sufficient to identify state employees. But Elkins and Whalen disagreed.
"The way some of these investigative stories are done, they need the whole birth date or they can't compare to other databases that have the whole birth date," Whalen said.
