LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Gov. Greg Abbott visited Lubbock on Tuesday, the day before the start of the school year for many students, to announce a new initiative targeting educators who engage in inappropriate relationships with students.

Abbott said there were more than 1,600 allegations of inappropriate relationships between educators and students in Texas last year - nearly triple the number from the year prior."Well, with literally thousands of violations in just the past two years, clearly the message has not been received to stop assaulting students in our schools," Abbott said.

Proposed changes to state lawAbbott said state legislators have made recent changes to laws punishing teachers who enter inappropriate relationships with students, but said those changes have not gone far enough."In the past, some teachers have had sex with students and got only probation. Not anymore in Texas," Abbott said.