AUSTIN – Today, the Texas Senate resoundingly approved House Bill 6, a landmark school discipline bill by a 29-2 vote. House Bill 6 includes provisions that will protect teachers against student violence, allowing them to more effectively manage classroom behavior, while ensuring due process for students involved in disciplinary proceedings with the goal of minimizing the learning losses that occur when students are removed from class.
With S.B. 6’s passage, State Senator Royce West had the following statement:
“Today, the Texas Senate passed H.B. 6 to ensure that teachers and school districts are equipped with all the tools in the toolbox needed to effectively manage classroom behavior. Unfortunately, we have seen an unacceptable increase in violent behavior towards our teachers. It is urgent that we continue to ensure the safety of teachers, while we safeguard the ability to deliver the quality education our children need and deserve.
I was able to work closely with fellow Senators Charles Perry, Paul Bettencourt, Jose Menendez, Chairman Brandon Creighton and Representative Jeff Leach, to make certain that H.B. 6 balances the needs of both teachers and students. As part of our discussions, I offered an amendment that ensures students sent to in-school-suspension (ISS) receive instruction comparable to their peers in the standard classroom setting. The goal is to prevent students from falling behind in their studies during their removal from class for disciplinary reasons. With the amendments adopted, H.B. 6 represents a true bipartisan effort to protect students and teachers from harm and mitigate the identified learning losses suffered
when student behavior warrants their placement in an alternative learning environment. I am proud to have had a role in support of this important legislation.
I thank my legislative colleagues, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and our collective staff for their dedication and hard work to ensure H.B. 6 is good public policy.”
For more information, please contact LaJuana Barton or Kelvin Bass at 512-463-0123.
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