New School Discipline Law Could Lead to Longer Suspensions
By Jasmine Wright
Reporting Texas
Texas schools this fall will be able to extend in-school student suspension indefinitely after the Legislature approved a law aimed at improving school discipline despite criticism that it could heap punishment on students already at risk of being left behind in the education system.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 6 into law on June 24, giving schools more power to remove disruptive students from the classroom. Previously, students could receive up to three days of in-school suspension, but now school administrators can keep students in a separate classroom for as long as they deem necessary.
Bill sponsor Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen, called his legislation a Teachers’ Bill of Rights and said it is designed to “strengthen the authority of our educators’ ability to manage classroom discipline.” In sponsoring the bill in the Senate, Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, told KSST radio that “disruptions are impeding both the ability of teachers to teach and the ability of students to learn.”
The bill reverses limitations on student suspensions enacted by the Legislature in 2017 under House Bill 674. Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, had authored the earlier bill and argued that “the idea is that at a very young age, kids start to become labeled as problem children and it leads them to … internalizing that belief..and putting them on a path to incarceration, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
The Texas Education Agency has reported that nearly 50% of Texas teachers identified discipline and lack of safe work environments as a top concern in 2022, according to Spectrum News.
However, some Texas educators opposed the new bill. Carrie Griffith, a government relations and policy specialist with Texas State Teachers Association, said House Bill 6 “is not doing enough to actually fund preventative solutions to behavior challenges, such as having lower teacher student ratios, more special educators and mental health supports. ”
Griffith said it would be more helpful to receive state-funded sources, such as online modes of learning designed for disciplinary action which has gained significant popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said the bill does not require that people monitoring suspended students to be licensed teachers. Griffith is most concerned that “the students are given busy work, so there’s not typically teaching or learning happening in the in-school suspension classroom.”
In the 2023-24 school year, TEA recorded 470,000 in-school suspension cases, a significant decrease from the 9 million in-school suspension cases reported in 2022-23. Overall, HB 6 would give schools the power to use out of school suspensions for repeated and severe cases, but Griffith argues, “it targets traditionally marginalized populations like students of color and those with unstable living conditions.”
According to Steve Zipkes, principal of Cedars International Next Generation Academy, a public charter school in Austin, many Texas teachers are unaware of the bill and are more concerned about keeping students in the classroom. He said the new policy will give school administrators the flexibility to deal with behavioral issues individually, but that might be more difficult a larger school. So, he said, there is still a need for alternative support.
“While it’s not ideal for a student to sit alone for 10 days, at least here, I have some control over what they’re doing so they aren’t home alone, roaming the streets or watching TV until the siblings get home,” Zipkes said.