Teacher protection bill heads to Louisiana Senate

BATON ROUGE, La. (KALB) - A Louisiana senate education committee has pushed through a bill that would shield teachers from criminal charges if a student gets hurt when they break up a fight.

State Representative Valerie Hodges proposed the “Protect Teachers Act.”

The current law already protects teachers, principals and school administrators from civil lawsuits if they act to end a fight.

However, Hodge’s bill would prevent the same employees from facing battery charges, unless the educator was trying to cause bodily harm to the student.

Critics of the bill say unintended consequences could encourage school employees to engage in a fight to break it up, putting them at risk of a lawsuit.

The bill now heads to the full Senate.

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