(The Center Square) – The Texas Education Agency has a new director dedicated to ensuring the safety of students in the state’s public school system.
Levi Fuller has been selected as the TEA’s first inspector general for Educator Misconduct to oversee the enforcement of educator misconduct policies and processes and enforce new laws now in effect. The role was created by TEA Commissioner Mike Morath to ensure safe learning environments for Texas’ nearly 5.5 million public school students.
“With more than a decade of experience holding bad actors accountable, Levi will help root out the flawed few that sow distrust among families and school communities while helping to restore confidence in the teaching profession,” Morath said in a statement.
Fuller will spearhead agency response to allegations of educator misconduct, working in concert with TEA’s Educator Investigation Division. The division is responsible for responding to thousands of complaints that have been filed against public school teachers through the state’s Educator Misconduct Reporting Portal.
The division oversees educator misconduct investigations, including making the decision to impose certification sanctions, place individuals on the Do Not Hire (DNH) Registry, oversee settlements and close cases. The role also involves Fuller providing regular policy and process guidance and recommendations to the State Board for Educator Certification, Commissioner of Education, Office of the Governor and state legislature.
“I know the positive impact my teachers had on my life, and I want all students in our public schools, including my own children, to have that same experience,” Fuller, who is a product of the public school system, said. “My mandate from Commissioner Morath is to do everything in the TEA’s power to ensure a safe learning environment for all Texas students, and I intend to see that mandate fulfilled.”
A Lufkin native and U.S. Army veteran, Fuller’s career is marked by public service. He served 15 years in the U.S. Army and Army National Guard as a Judge Advocate, infantryman and artilleryman. As a JAG, he worked with the U.S. Senate, Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office and the Army Office of the Staff Judge Advocate to revamp the Army’s response to sexual assault allegations.
He next served as assistant attorney general in Texas as a special prosecutor for the Election Integrity Division. He was also a litigator in the Special Litigation and Non-Profit Enforcement Team of the OAG’s Consumer Protection Division where he prosecuted nonprofits allegedly involved in human smuggling. He next served as chief of staff for state Rep. Andy Hopper, R-Decatur. He’s a graduate of Texas A&M and South Texas College of Law. His children attend public schools.
Hopper was one of roughly 20 new House Republicans who ousted Republican incumbents in 2024 vowing to vote for school choice. Last year he voted for Texas’ first school choice bill, Texas’ first Parental Bill of Rights and Texas’s first Teacher Bill of Rights, all signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott and now in effect, The Center Square reported.
Hopper’s former chief of staff is now leading the effort to enforce the laws Hopper helped enact.
“I’m incredibly glad that the TEA has prioritized protecting Texas kids by naming Levi Fuller as Inspector General. Last session, we were incredibly blessed to have Levi, a former combat veteran, Army JAG, and Assistant Attorney General, serve as Chief of Staff of my House District 64 office. Levi is exactly the sort of tough-as-nails attorney that this post requires, and those who aim to mess with Texas kids should be quaking in their boots right now,” Hopper told The Center Square.
Hopper was also a cosponsor of a bill filed by state Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, HB 4623, enabling parents to sue public schools and their employees for sexual misconduct involving students, The Center Square reported.
From September 2021 to July 2024, “there were 6,888 reports of sexual and violent misconduct by public school employees perpetrated on students in Texas schools and that by July 2024, the vast majority of those reports were left unresolved,” the bill analysis explains. The new law allows civil claims to made against independent school districts or open-enrollment charter schools for employees that commit sexual misconduct or if schools fail to report suspected child abuse or neglect.
Another law Fuller will be enforcing is SB 571, filed by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, which expands offenses for teachers to be added to the DNH registry, expands mandatory employment termination and loss of certification to include additional criminal convictions, strengthens mandatory reporting requirements among other provisions.
The bills were passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
