Once again, Texas is top dog on a new rankings list . . . but Rick Perry won't be flying to California to lure people to the Lone Star State for this one.

While reporting on yet another high school sex scandal — this one involving a Spring Branch instructor with a penchant for "pot parties" — KHOU Ch. 11 discovered that Texas is No. 1 in the nation for inappropriate student-teacher relationships.

Terry Abbott, a former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education, explains in the story that more than 200 similar cases have been reported in the media since the start of the year. A quarter of those happened in Texas.

And in recent years, the numbers have spiked, according to KHOU. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) opened 86 case during the 2007-08 school year. For the 2011-12 session, those numbers rose to 156.

Abbott calls the situation an epidemic and offers up some advice for school districts like HISD, which permits teachers to communicate to students via social media for school-related issues.

"Stop teachers from texting with kids, and stop teachers from interacting with kids on Facebook," he warned. "That leads to serious problems."

To explain proper conduct, the TEA website has video series called The Campus, which explores ethical dilemmas for Texas teachers in the "comedic style of the hit television show The Office." Unfortunately, the webisodes only can be viewed by those with a TEA login.