Lawmakers want to give schools more leeway to suspend Texas’ youngest and homeless students

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A proposal in the Texas House could make it a lot easier for schools to suspend homeless students and the state’s youngest students.

House Bill 6 — which about a third of House Republicans signed as co-authors in a show of support — would expand school districts’ authority to discipline students for classroom disruptions. The House Public Education Committee is discussing and hearing testimony on the bill Tuesday.

A 2017 state law banned suspensions for pre-K through second grade unless students commit a serious offense like bringing a gun to school. In 2019, Texas enacted similar restrictions on disciplining homeless students, only allowing suspensions when they break rules related to violence, weapons, drugs or alcohol.

In what appears to be a major reversal, HB 6 aims to give teachers and their school districts more authority to respond to class disruptions. The proposal comes at a time when Texas schools are struggling to hire and retain teachers. Ineffective discipline support and poor working conditions were cited as top concerns among educators in a 2023 report from a task force Gov. Greg Abbott created to identify solutions for the state’s critical teacher shortages.

“This bill is about standing with our educators, ensuring that teachers in our classrooms have the support that they need and that they deserve to create a structured and focused learning environment,” said Rep. Jeff Leach, the Plano Republican who authored the bill.

Under HB 6, schools could issue out-of-school suspension to all students when they “engage in repeated and significant disruption of the classroom” or threaten “the immediate health and safety of other students.”

Texas schools use two types of suspensions: in-school suspensions, which require students to learn in a supervised environment outside of their regular classrooms, and out-of-school suspensions, which are used for major infractions and require students to stay off school grounds. When students get an out-of-school suspension, they go to an alternative school. The bill would allow schools to provide virtual learning at alternative schools. The bill would also allow schools to issue in-school suspensions for an indefinite period of time.

Opponents of the legislation say the bill’s broad language could lead to an overreliance on discipline that will push students out of the classroom. They also fear virtual learning could lead the state’s most vulnerable students to become disengaged with their education — as it happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is a pipeline to the prison system,” Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston, said. “If [a student misses school and] fails the third grade, they’ll start making room for a bed.”

Some of the first school leaders to testify on the bill Tuesday described an epidemic of violence in schools, where incidents of disruptions have become more persistent and dangerous. They said working conditions have become unmanageable for many teachers.

Dozens of people were waiting to testify as of Tuesday evening.

This is a developing story; check back for more details.

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