Sharpened pencils stand ready in a third grade classroom at Rufino Mendoza Elementary School on Wednesday, July 29, 2026.
Amanda McCoy
FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
A panel of education and law experts met Wednesday in downtown Fort Worth to examine how a new Texas law is reshaping school discipline. They warned that House Bill 6 expands punishment options while leaving deeper classroom and community problems unaddressed.
FULL STORY: It’s easier for Tarrant students to be punished in school. What are the impacts?
Here are key takeaways:
What the law does: House Bill 6, which took effect in the 2025-26 school year, lets teachers remove students from class for a single disruptive instance and eliminates the three-day cap on in-school suspensions. Pre-K through second graders can now receive out-of-school suspensions for repeated or significant disruptions, and students caught with e-cigarettes face at least 10 days of in-school suspension.Discipline numbers: Fort Worth ISD disciplined about 10.6% of students in 2024-25, slightly above the statewide rate of 10.1%. The totals include in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions and placements in outside disciplinary programs.A lawyer’s view: Elvin Houston of Walsh Gallegos said teachers are not adequately compensated, trained or supported, making it hard to expect responses beyond the exclusion options the law provides. He also noted that expanded opportunities for expulsion can trigger mandatory reports to law enforcement.A criminologist’s view: Johnny Nhan, a Texas Christian University professor, said schools are skipping “the helping the kids part” and moving straight to punishment while ignoring underlying poverty and social conditions that shape student behavior.Unequal impact: Jenny Carroll, a former juvenile public defender and a Texas A&M law professor who moderated the panel discussion, said children from lower socioeconomic classes and other vulnerable groups receive court referrals at higher rates, and the school-to-prison pipeline is not applied equally across districts, schools or populations.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.
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Lina Ruiz covers early childhood education in Tarrant County and North Texas for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A University of Florida graduate, she previously wrote about local government in South Florida for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers.