House Bill 6 would give schools more grounds to suspend younger students, extend how long students could spend in an in-school suspension and expand a list of off-campus offenses that could lead to a student’s expulsion.
“The bill expands teachers’ ability to maintain order, to safeguard student safety and to uphold academic integrity in the classroom,” bill author Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, said on the House floor. “Classroom discipline [is] becoming a growing problem across the state, in all grades and in all schools.”
House members initially passed HB 6 with a 121-21 vote April 15. The lower chamber must vote on the bill one more time before it can be sent to the Senate.
The background
Over 12% of Texas teachers left their jobs ahead of the 2023-24 school year, according to data from the Texas Education Agency. In 2022, nearly half of teachers cited discipline issues as a top workplace challenge, per the TEA.
In an April 3 interview, House Speaker Dustin Burrows said overhauling school discipline policies was one of his top priorities this year.
“Somebody asked me, ‘What do you think the most important bill of the session is?’ And I said, ‘There's a lot of them, but if I had to pick one that maybe isn't always in the headlines, ... this is it,’” Burrows told Community Impact. “This has to be it. We have to have our teachers being able to be respected in the classroom and being able to restore discipline.”
During a March 18 committee hearing, public school superintendents from across Texas testified in support of HB 6, noting a rise in serious classroom discipline issues in recent years.
“It’s very challenging to be in education now,” Cy-Fair ISD Superintendent Doug Killian told the House Public Education Committee. “This is my 22nd year as a superintendent, and I have so much respect for the teachers in our school district that are doing this day in and day out, because it’s so much harder than when I taught.”
The debate
Leach’s bill would allow schools to suspend students of any age who repeatedly disrupt the classroom or threaten others’ safety, reversing a 2017 state law that generally prohibits schools from suspending students in pre-K through second grade. HB 6 would also expand schools’ ability to expel students for certain off-campus conduct, including aggravated assault, sexual assault, murder and arson.
“This is simply an additional tool in the toolbox,” Leach said April 15. “Our educators and our teachers do not want to kick kids out of school, period.”
On the House floor, Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, said he was concerned the bill would allow schools to overdiscipline students and punish “little kids [for doing] little kid things.”
Wu, an attorney who represents children in court in juvenile delinquency and other cases, said he believes young children should not be suspended unless they commit violent offenses.
“All I’m asking is for little kids—5-, 6- and 7-year-olds—to have a little more mercy, a little more patience with them,” Wu said April 15.
“It is not compassionate for kids not to have consequences,” Leach said. “I promise you that a lot of the problems we see with our kids in high school is because they did not have consequences, none whatsoever, when they were younger. This bill restores the rights of our educators and our teachers, in conjunction with parents, to provide those consequences and to provide the necessary controls.”
More details
Under HB 6, schools would have the option to place students in an in-school suspension for up to 10 days in a row. State law currently stipulates that students cannot be suspended for more than three school days, whether they are inside a school building or at home.
Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons, D-Houston, proposed amending the bill to cap in-school suspensions at 30 days per school year.
“We don't want children ... locked away in a room where they’re not able to engage with their classmates,” Simmons said.
The amendment was voted down.
A Senate proposal would remove the time limit on in-school suspensions, requiring schools to review long-term in-school suspensions every 15 days to ensure the suspension is appropriate and evaluate students’ educational progress. State senators unanimously passed that bill, Senate Bill 1871, on April 10.
Earlier in April, the Senate unanimously approved SB 27, which would expand teachers’ disciplinary authority and give them more flexibility in their contracts. Bills must be approved by both legislative chambers before they can become law.
