The Colorado Senate passed legislation Thursday to protect educators from doxxing, sending the bill to the House of Representatives for consideration.

If enacted, Senate Bill 171 would add educators to the list of people who can request to have their personal information removed from government websites after they or their family receive threats to their safety. Personal information includes home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.

“We shouldn’t have to pass this bill. Unfortunately, today, we do,” said bill sponsor Sen. Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village. “We have a coarsening of the political dialogue in this country and somehow teachers have ended up in the crosshairs. They should never feel threatened for doing their job for our kids.”

Bridges said the bill was inspired by recent events in Douglas County, during which the identities of hundreds of teachers faced potential exposure after participating in a protest. 

In February, as many as 1,500 teachers from the Douglas County School District took part in a sick out in support of former Superintendent Corey Wise, after he was fired in a controversial move by the new school board. Afterwards, some teachers who participated in the protest found fliers on their cars telling them to “get out and leave.” An unknown person also made a records request for the names of the teachers absent on the day of the protest.

During a committee meeting on the bill, several teachers from the district testified in support, saying they live in fear of their personal information being released online and of being followed home from school.

The state Senate approved the bill in a 25-9 vote on Thursday. All nine opponents are Republicans, some of whom raised issue with a portion of the bill that would update Colorado’s open records law to prohibit the public from accessing the specific dates an educator is absent from work. Under the bill, the total number of days absent would still be open to the public, but not the dates.

“Because they work for the people, they should be visible and accountable to the people,” said Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, who voted against the bill. “This idea of obfuscating, hiding political communication by a class of individuals who work for the public, I’ve got a problem with that.”

This part of the bill was added in direct response to the records request that asked for the names of the Douglas County teachers absent on the day of the sick out, Bridges said. The district initially agreed to release the names of the teachers who took off work, though it later decided against doing so and said the request had been withdrawn.

Lundeen introduced a failed amendment to remove this section of the bill on Wednesday, arguing that the teachers’ “political speech” in support of the superintendent needs to be open to the public.

The newly conservative majority school board questioned the superintendent’s role in creating masking policies and in the district’s decision in October to sue other county authorities to keep those mask rules in place. The board’s minority members countered that the decision to fire Wise is disastrous, warning it would lead to educators leaving the district and to “the Dark Ages.”

“What we saw happen in Douglas County was an attempt to use the date the teachers had taken their sick leave as a way to create what this bill is designed to protect: an imminent and serious threat,” Bridges said. “I can’t conceive of a use for the exact date that a teacher was out that is not to the purpose of creating a serious and imminent threat.”

Bridges added that not all teachers who were absent on the day of the protest were participating in it, with some missing school for other reasons like being sick with COVID-19.

During testimony on the bill, several teachers described a dire state of public education in Colorado, saying many are leaving due to the kind of harassment that occurred in Douglas County. Teachers said they receive threats not only for political protests, but also for enforcing face mask mandates or teaching about evolution and equity.

A survey of the 39,000 members of the Colorado Education Association found that nearly 67% of the educators are considering retiring or resigning at the end of this school year. This comes as Colorado and the nation have been experiencing a teacher shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bill’s other sponsor Sen. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, said his brother-in-law is retiring from teaching in Jefferson County just two years short of his 30-year goal because of the stress the pandemic has put on the profession.

“I think we need to also be cognizant of how this bill … will hopefully help teachers when they’re making those decisions,” Priola said. “Give them just a little peace of mind.”

Other professions, including peace officers and public defenders, already enjoy privacy protections in Colorado. Last month, House Bill 1041 was signed into law to also add health care workers, code enforcement officers, child representatives and animal control officers to the list.