Dallas News

Educators have long urged lawmakers to revamp school discipline laws, detailing horror stories about suffering injuries on the job from violent students. In a poll cited by the state’s 2023 Teacher Vacancy Task Force report, nearly half of educators listed discipline and safe working conditions as a top concern. Education justice advocates cautioned against a return to zero-tolerance discipline that led to disproportionately high numbers of Black children and those with disabilities being punished – saying that exclusionary discipline is detrimental to a child’s development as well as the school climate. The new law would make it easier to kick young children out of class by allowing for students below third grade to be removed for “conduct that results in repeated or significant disruption to the classroom.” This comes nearly a decade after lawmakers banned out-of-school suspensions for these littlest learners, except for serious offenses such as bringing a gun or marijuana to class.