Texas legislators are working on laws aimed at giving teachers more discretion to remove students from the classroom if they are repeatedly destructive or violent.
Lawmakers say these bills will help schools attract and sustain educators. Data from Texas Educational Institutions found that over 12% of teachers left their jobs before the 2023-24 grade, and almost half of teachers cited discipline issues as a top workplace issue in 2022.
On April 3, the state senator unanimously passed a bill that expanded teacher disciplinary bodies and increased contract flexibility, and the House Public Education Committee voted 13-1 to fully send a bill that would review the state’s school discipline policies and allow schools to suspend younger students.
“Someone asked me yesterday, ‘What do you think is the most important bill in the session?’ And I said, ‘There are a lot of them, but if I had to choose something that might not always be in the headline… this is it,” House Speaker R-Lubbock Dustin Burrows, spoke of the community’s impact in an interview on April 3rd. “This must be the case. We need to be able to respect teachers in the classroom and restore discipline.”
At a glance
Senate Bill 27 will allow immediate removal from Class A students who say they are “bullying or verbally abusing others,” Bill author Sen. Brandon Clayton said on the Senator’s floor on April 3. The bill also prevents teachers from being fined for breaking contracts due to illness or the transfer of a spouse or live-in partner.
To ensure that teachers have sufficient time to perform their duties during their working hours, SB 27 directs districts and tea and studies how much time teachers spend on non-instructional work and professional development.
The senator passed Clayton’s proposal on April 3rd with a 31-0 vote.
“In a recent teacher survey, safety, classroom management and order were the most important factors for teachers leaving the classroom,” Clayton said. “Senate Bill 27 aims to maintain a classroom environment for learning, an orderly environment, and an equal opportunity for all students.”
Clayton noted that the Senate also passed a law earlier in the session that would increase the pay for teachers with at least three years of classroom experience. He calls the two measures the “teacher’s Bill of Rights” and will help attract and retain educators, he said.
House Bill 6, R-Plano Rep. Jeff Leach overturns a 2017 state law that generally prohibits schools from suspending second- to second-year students. The bill allows schools to remove students from classrooms who repeatedly destroy or threaten the safety of others.
At a committee hearing on March 18, Leach said students who “attack a fellow student or teacher” should not be allowed to stay in the classroom.
The Leach bill would also expand the school’s ability to expel students for certain off-campus acts, such as aggravated assault, sexual assault, murder, and arson.
The HB 6 will be sent to the floor of the house and will be discussed on April 15th.
“When talking to our educators… about why they leave their profession, why they don’t want their families to enter the profession, because they often had experiences of feeling disappointed in the classroom,” Burrows made an impact on the community on April 3rd.
Zoom in
SB 27 requires the teacher’s written consent before students return to the classroom, and instructs tea to create a template for a “return to class plan.” On the Senate floor, Clayton said those plans were not needed if students were sent into the hallway or removed from class “a short time.”
HB 6 did not specifically mandate a return plan to class. Once students return to the classroom, the bill instructs teachers to use classroom management strategies “where students can reasonably expect to improve their behavior” and documents additional behavioral issues.
An earlier version of the bill attempted to remove the time limit for suspensions within schools, allowing schools to use this disciplinary procedure as long as they appear appropriate, but after discussing it at the March 18 hearing, Leach proposed limiting suspensions within schools to “10 days at a time.” Currently, state law provides that students cannot be suspended during their three school days, regardless of whether they are in school buildings or at home.
Some Texans previously told the committee that removing the cap would quarantine students.
“The behavior is really serious and we need to remove them for the health and safety of our students, peers and colleagues, but their removal is not indefinitely,” said Paige Duggins Clay, an attorney for the Association for Cross-Cultural Development Research, a nonprofit in education policy.
Another Senate Discipline Bill, SB 1871, allows schools to allow students to be placed indefinitely in school suspensions. Under that proposal, long-term in-school suspensions will be reviewed at least every 15 days to ensure that suspensions are appropriate and to assess student education advances. The Senate passed SB 1871 on April 10, according to Texas Legislature online.
detail
To fill classroom vacancies, SB 27 will also be exempt from the fees for the first certification exam for future teachers in bilingual and special education.
Another proposal by Creighton will provide scholarships to teacher candidates who complete the educator accreditation program and require the school to pay higher salaries than uncertified teachers with comparable experience to the school. That bill, SB 2253, was approved by the Senate Education Committee on April 9th.
A wide-ranging House proposal, HB 2, will give the district $8,000 a year to help current and future teachers become certified.
HB 2 and SB 2253 each prohibit the district from hiring uncertified educators to teach core subjects such as mathematics, English, social studies and science.
What they are saying
Public school supervisors across Texas testified in support of HB 6 at the March 18 hearing, noting the rise in serious classroom discipline issues in recent years.
“It’s extremely difficult to get an education right now,” Cy-Fair ISD principal Douglas Killian told the House Public Education Committee on March 18.
Some Texans told House committee that expanding the suspension for younger students would be harmful to children’s progress and development.
“The young children make mistakes and they still learn how to behave and self-regulate that they can still be tolerated,” said Adrien Fonseca, a teacher at the Montessori Academy at Dallas ISD. “Suspension only moves us further away from an environment where students can see how to properly interact and act.”
