Oklahoma Senator David Bullard won committee approval for legislation that would establish a Teachers’ Bill of Rights outlining workplace protections for educators across the state.
The Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 1237, which details rights for schoolteachers, administrators and support staff while on school property.
“In Tinker v. Des Moines, the U.S. Supreme Court famously said that students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gates,” Bullard said. “That same principle also applies to teachers. Educators do not lose their citizenship or their First Amendment rights when they choose this profession. The Teachers’ Bill of Rights is about making sure these hardworking professionals are protected in their rights to free speech and religious liberty, allowing them to focus on what they do best — educating students.”
The measure affirms educators’ rights to free expression of religion, speech and peaceful assembly. It also outlines protections against verbal or physical abuse in the workplace, calls for a safe working environment and affirms teachers’ authority to exercise appropriate student discipline.
The legislation further addresses medical privacy, including the ability to refuse vaccinations or mask requirements, decline participation in certain trainings and, if authorized under existing law, carry and use a firearm.
Under the proposal, local school boards would be required to create a formal due process procedure allowing staff to report alleged violations of their rights.
“The lack of discipline and physical and verbal abuse in the classroom are among the main reasons educators are leaving the profession,” Bullard said. “Teaching is, in my opinion, the greatest profession ever created. No teacher should have to endure conditions in school that no other working professional would be expected to endure in their workplace.”
Senate Bill 1237 is now eligible for consideration by the full Senate.
