A Texas Senate panel on Thursday advanced a school discipline bill that increases both the severity of punishment students could face for attacking their teachers and the amount of time schools can use in-school suspensions.
House Bill 6 is the Legislature’s attempt to stem a reported rise of student violence in classrooms since the COVID-19 pandemic, which school leaders say is making working conditions untenable for teachers at a time when they are grappling with high turnover rates. The legislation has already cleared the House. But the Senate education committee made changes Thursday that take a more punitive approach to disciplining students. If the bill passes the Senate, the House will have to agree to the new changes, or lawmakers will have to iron out their differences behind closed doors before the legislation becomes law.
Because the bill would allow schools to use outof school suspensions to discipline all students when they engage in “repeated and significant” classroom disruption or threaten the health and safety of other children, it would make it easier for schools to discipline homeless students and the state’s youngest students. That’s because the bill would reverse state laws from 2017 and 2019 that put limitations on when and how those students could be disciplined. The House already approved that proposed update to current law.
