Equality Texas' Anti-Bullying Bill - HB 1323 - is going to be voted upon by the full Texas House of Representatives.  The bill is #182 out of 310 bills on Monday's Supplemental House Calendar.

Texas needs HB 1323. It takes real steps to acknowledge & address the problems of cyberbullying and bullying/harassment.

Equality Texas needs your help to get it passed!

If your State Representative is one of the bill's 17 authors listed here, thank them for supporting it.

If your State Representative is NOT listed as an author, we need you to make the ask!
Act Now: ask your State Rep. to vote "FOR" HB 1323. 

Subject: Real solutions to reduce bullying/harassment: Vote "FOR" HB 1323

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

Texas needs HB 1323 by Rep. Strama.

House Bill 1323 will not end bullying and harassment in Texas schools. It is, however, a step toward acknowledging the existence of serious problems and initiating steps to deal with them.

HB 1323:

(i) Provides for the movement of the perpetrator to another classroom or campus, at the discretion of school administration. Under current law, the victim is required to move to another classroom or campus in order to escape the perpetrator;

(ii) Expands the definition of bullying to include cyber-bullying by electronic means such as computers, cell phones, text messaging, and instant messaging;

(iii) Requires notification of the parents or guardians of both the victim and the student who is bullying or sexually harassing another student;

(iv) Expands the mandatory sexual harassment policy that school districts are required to have to include bullying;

(v) Expands the state's Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) reporting requirement to include incidents of bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment. Currently, the state does not know the magnitude of the problem. The only way to assess the magnitude of this problem is to collect data on the frequency and nature of occurrence.

HB 1323 is supported by the Texas State Teachers Association, the Association of Texas Professional Educators, Texas Network of Youth Services, Texas AFT, the National Association of Social Workers - Texas Chapter, Legacy Community Health Services, and Equality Texas.

Rep. Strama's bill provides concrete measures to acknowledge and address the serious problem of bullying and harrasment in today's technological environment.

HB 1323 provides real tools to assess the magnitude of this problem, and enables school administrators, teachers, parents, and students to respond more effectively to this problem.

I urge you to support Rep. Strama's efforts to address bullying and harassment in today's technological environment.

I ask you to please vote "FOR" House Bill 1323.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]