Community Impact

The Texas Senate Education Committee discussed three bills March 25 that senators said would expand public schools’ ability to discipline students who are repeatedly disruptive or violent. Proponents of the measures said they would improve classroom safety and increase support for educators, while critics said the bills would undermine civil rights protections and push students toward the “school-to-prison pipeline.” The committee unanimously advanced Senate Bill 27 by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, to the full Senate on March 25. Creighton’s proposal would give teachers more discretion to remove from the classroom a student who interferes with the teacher’s ability to teach or who bullies or abuses someone.