A piece of legislation that would change the teacher termination process in Connecticut passed out of the Senate Tuesday afternoon on a 27-8 vote.

Senate Bill 1371 would now require a valid reason, or a “showing of just cause,” for why a teacher would be facing termination. It also removed language in current state statute that allows a board of education subcommittee to uphold the termination and would instead now require local boards to hire an impartial hearing officer to make the final decision.

Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday that the proposed bill would better protect educators from political bias.

“Currently, we are in the position where we have teachers who could be terminated by a decision of board of education, and in these very politicized times, that might not be neutral, and impartial, and a fair process,” said Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, who championed the legislation.

Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, added that teachers have more commonly come “under assault” across the country both online and from parents.

“Because of social media, people are able to organize and talk and then pounce on teachers,” Duff said on the Senate floor. “There’s a lot of pressure to get rid of them if they don’t agree and it’s not because they’re not doing the job that they’re supposed to do … it’s because of the fact that maybe somebody doesn’t like their political views or that maybe a teacher put up a certain flag that is offensive to somebody.

“When we see teachers getting attacked for various views, or perceived views that they may have, we need to offer them a little more protection,” Duff continued. “We need to say that we’re standing with our teachers because of the work that they have done for our children decade upon decade.”

The bill was supported by the entire Democratic caucus. Senate Republicans broadly rejected the legislation, except for Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, who said the measure was “appropriate, right, fair and a part of what I would consider due process.”

Other Republicans, including Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, argued that the bill was overstepping on local control.

“If this becomes law, you will lose a say that you have right now as a citizen in the great state of Connecticut. You will lose the ability to have a say over whether a teacher is fired or not. You lose that right,” Sampson said Tuesday. “I would much rather have communities having their own boards of education that are responsible to their constituents … making the decisions.”

Sampson raised two amendments Tuesday. One measure proposed keeping the new just cause standard, but eliminating the second part of the bill that said termination decisions would be determined and finalized by an impartial hearing officer. Another amendment called for a task force to study school discipline.

“We have other problems in education. The quality of education is at stake and that is what we ought to be doing here today — is finding ways to actually hold institutions of education more accountable to providing a quality education and not protecting what could be teachers that are failing at their job,” Sampson said, adding that though he has “tremendous respect for this noble profession,” he was fearful the legislation would protect “bad teachers.”

Both amendments failed.

“The focus on this bill is much less about teachers and protecting teachers and protecting good teachers from being terminated and it’s more about advancing the cause of organized labor,” Sampson said.

“My personal frustration is that I’m going to be on the record at the end of the discussion voting against this bill, and really, it’s not fair because I’m somebody who supports teachers … but I think this is bad policy and deprives the local community of the control of making sure of the status of teachers in their district and handing it over to a binding arbitrator,” Sampson added.

S.B. 1371 didn’t define what “just cause” was, but an Office of Legislative Research bill analysis said “‘just cause’ is a concept developed in case law that involves a termination for employee misconduct that is so serious that it (1) violates an essential condition of employment, (2) breaches the trust or faith inherent in the working relationship, or (3) is fundamentally or directly inconsistent with the employee’s obligations to the employer.”

Kushner said Tuesday that “every unionized employee for the state and municipality have this right guaranteed,” and that it was “long overdue” for the protection to be extended to educators.

At the bill’s public hearing in February, it received overwhelming support from educators across the state.

“Increasingly, decisions to terminate a teacher are driven by politics, not justice. The result is good teachers leaving the classroom and new and aspiring educators seeking different career paths. SB 1371 would take politics out of discipline and reduce the intensifying climate of political fear in schools,” Connecticut Education Association Union President Kate Dias wrote in public testimony.

The only written opposition for the bill came from the commissioner of the state Department of Education, who echoed some of Sampson’s concerns.

“Currently, the arbitrator makes factual findings — which are binding on the school board — but only recommends appropriate discipline, which the board can accept or reject. This change would give the arbitrator the unilateral power to determine discipline, and the school board would be bound by it,” wrote Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker. “This would remove the right of local and regional school boards to make the fundamental determination as to the qualifications of individuals who teach in their systems and interact with their students.”

The bill next faces a vote in the state House of Representatives.