Teachers would have more authority to suspend students under bill greenlit by Texas House

Texas House lawmakers initially approved legislation April 15 that would give public school teachers more discretion to remove from the classroom any student who is repeatedly disruptive or threatens the safety of others.

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.