DF Legislature Sets Vote on Mandatory Classroom Cameras After Quorum Lapse

Overview

• Bill PL 944/2024, authored by deputies Roosevelt and Thiago Manzoni (PL), would require a Monitoring and Activity Recording System with continuous audio and video capture in all public school classrooms, including early-childhood facilities.
• The text limits access to classroom recordings to court orders, the Public Prosecutor’s Office or security agencies for investigations, and allows teachers to request footage to document assaults or refute accusations.
• Opposition lawmakers and the Sinpro-DF teachers’ union argue the proposal criminalizes educators and undermines classroom autonomy, as teachers protested during the October 14 session.
• The Education Secretariat’s culture-of-peace office says the government lacks a unified policy on school cameras and does not keep centralized data on violence in the public school network.
• Some schools already use cameras at principals’ discretion with PDAF funds, and the union is mobilizing members to attend the October 21 vote.