Texas House overwhelmingly passes Teacher Bill of Rights bill

(The Center Square) – The Texas House overwhelmingly passed a Teacher Bill of Rights bill with bipartisan support that includes enhanced penalties for public school students who commit violence or threats of violence. The Senate already passed its version.

In response to increased incidents of student misconduct, disruptive behavior, acts of violence or threats of violence, and disrespect toward teachers and staff, state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, filed the bill to revise disciplinary processes and procedures. At a committee hearing held last month on the bill, parents, teachers and school administrators described escalating acts of violence in public school classrooms and the need for reform.

After the bill passed the committee, a committee substitute was filed and passed the House by a vote of 121 to 21.

The bill amends the Texas Education Code to revise the public-school disciplinary process including for suspension, removal, expulsion, threat assessment, and placing students in alternative settings. It also allows for students with a disciplinary history to be excluded from open-enrollment charter schools and authorizes a school district to file a civil action to temporarily place certain students in an alternative educational setting.

After the bill passed, Leach said the “Texas House came together and overwhelmingly passed” it with many of his colleagues “and key stakeholders from all over Texas [having] a big hand in writing and passing it.” The bill will give “educators the tools they need to protect themselves and the students they are charged with caring for, thus creating safe and strong learning environments in classrooms all across Texas,” he said.

State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, led the charge against the bill, saying children as young as five shouldn’t be expelled from school. Leach replied that the sad reality is that there are “kindergartners, second graders, third graders who are assaulting teachers and fellow students” and “maybe what that kid needs more than anything is to go home for a few days.”

Of the many news reports on school violence, KXAN NBC News reported on 20 acts of violence reported in public schools in one month as part of an in-depth analysis on student violence. Students were arrested for making threats on social media, including bomb threats, shooting teachers and blowing up their school. More recently, two teenage girls were arrested and in FBI custody for allegedly planning a mass casualty event targeting Memorial High School in Houston using pipe bombs and guns.

To respond to the most violent students, state Rep. Mike Olcott, R-Fort Worth, filed an amendment, which passed, to place violent students in a disciplinary alternative education program for a minimum of 30 days “if the student engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of assault … or terroristic threat … against an employee of the school district.”

State Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, spoke in favor of the bill, saying, “We need to do something to make sure our schools are safe, our classrooms are safe, and our teachers are safe. And more especially, all the other students are safe.”

State Rep. John Bryant, D-Dallas, agreed, saying, “No matter what the cost is, we must make sure that our schools are a place every child wants to be and every child can find to be a place of learning in a place of growth, in a place of safety. And a place that earns the confidence of the public.”

House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, praised the bill’s passage, saying it was necessary to respond to violence and retain teachers. “Teachers from around the state have pointed to the ability to enforce discipline in the classroom as being as important as compensation when it comes to recruiting and retaining quality educators,” he said. The bill will empower teachers “to defend their learning environments for our students to succeed.”

Gov. Greg Abbott also praised the bill’s passage, saying, “To keep great teachers, we must restore discipline in our schools.” The bill will give “our hardworking Texas educators tools to create safer learning environments in classrooms.”