Appeals to the Commissioner of Education — Hearings and Appeals Division

2024 Independent Hearing Examiner

The Texas Education Agency is seeking qualified attorneys to act as independent hearing examiners in local school district employment hearings. The independent hearing examiner will preside over hearings involving a nonrenewal or termination of educator employment contracts. The examiner will issue a recommendation for the school district’s board of trustees to consider. Hearing requests are assigned on a regional basis. Hearing Examiners are paid by the school district and may charge $125 an hour up to $10,000, plus allowable expenses. The number of assignments an examiner will receive varies from year to year and region to region. There is one mandatory training session that will be held via webcast for qualifying attorneys. To be considered as an independent hearing examiner you are required to complete specific continuing legal education requirements throughout the year. Selected hearing examiners will be required to submit to a national criminal history check as a condition of continued certification. For additional information, interested attorneys may review TEC Chapter 21, subchapter F, and 19 TAC Chapter 157, specifically Subchapters D and DD. The application must be submitted by Tuesday, November 1, 2023, no later than 5:00 p.m. Applications may be emailed or mailed. Email submission is strongly encouraged. The email address to send your application is Christina.Eischens@tea.texas.gov. For questions, you may contact Mrs. Eischens at (512) 463-0489 or email Christina.Eischens@tea.state.tx.us.

Educators that received a notice of proposed contract termination, non-renewal, suspension without pay, and persons aggrieved by actions or decision of any school district board of trustees' grievance decision that violates the school laws of this state or a provision of a written employment contract between the school district and the school district employee may appeal to the Commissioner of Education.

Submitting a complaint to TEA Complaints Management after you have exhausted the local grievance process (Levels One-Three) does not meet requirements of an Appeal to the Commissioner of Education under Texas Education Code § 7.057. To appeal a grievance please refer to the instructions for filing a 7.057 Appeal.

The Division of Hearings and Appeals does not hear appeals related to educator certifications. All matters related to educator certification should contact TEA's Educator Certification Division.

All matters related to a complaint should be directed to TEA's Complaint Management Division at (512) 463-3544 or email ComplaintsManagement@tea.texas.gov.

Contact Information

For questions, please contact Christina Eischens, Office of the General Counsel, Division of Hearings and Appeals at Christina.Eischens@tea.texas.gov or (512) 463-0489.