Texas bill would ban phones from classrooms
HB 1481 would ban cell phones from Texas public school classrooms.
State Rep. Caroline Fairly believes it will help test scores and help combat bullying.
The bill is currently in committee.
There is a bipartisan bill in the Texas House that would ban all cell phones in public school classrooms.
HB 1481, co-authored by State Rep. Caroline Fairly (R-Amarillo), is currently in the House Public Education Committee.
The bill would require classrooms to designate a secure, out-of-sight area to keep phones during instructional times.
FOX 4's Steven Dial talked to Fairley about the bill and the impact it could have on schools.
What they're saying
State Rep. Caroline Fairly: "We have heard from so many teachers who have said, you know, we need the state to kind of have our back on this issue because we're in the classroom picking up phones and ending up being the bad guy when it comes to this policy."
FOX 4's Steven Dial: "Why do you think it's so important to to restrict cell phone access in the classroom?"
Fairly: "There's really three critical issues that are really important when you look at this piece of legislation. First is the student academic outcome. Second is the mental health aspect. And then third is classroom management for our teachers. When you look at all of those across the board, we are targeting being sure that our kids go to school to focus on academics, but we also protect them. You know, the amount of cyberbullying that's being cited in these schools is it's gone up so much more."
Dial: "Some North Texas school districts have implemented or are testing out a cellphone ban. How can the enforcement happen if this becomes law?"
Fairly: "We've been really careful with our legislation to allow for as much local control as possible. I think it's really important to address this. And so you're right, about 20, 25 school districts, to my knowledge, have already started implementing this and they're seeing test scores increase. They're seeing student interactions with the teachers and even other peers is going way better than it was before. But when you talk about enforcement, the reality is, we've allowed in the bill for the school to adopt their own disciplinary policy. And so again, it's back to local control, like we want the school districts to make the best disciplinary policy they see fit."
Dial: "I know it's a rare word in Austin: bipartisan. This bill has bipartisansupport. Can you just talk about why so many lawmakers are saying, hey, we're at a point where this is something that's needed."
Fairly: "When you talk about policy and even politics in Texas, we tend to sometimes see polarization on two different sides and there's a lot of middle ground policy that both parties agree on. I'm encouraged that this is one of them. We have a wide variety of members who have co-authored this bill and I think it's because on both sides, both parties are realizing whether it's the mental health component, whether it's the classroom management, the teachers need support from the state, and also student academic outcomes, both parties agree. I think for the most part, that we want our kids to have the best education in Texas. The 5.5 million kids we have in Texas, we want it to be good."
Dial: "What would your pushback be to a parent who says, I want to be able to contact my child in the event there's an emergency going on?"
Fairly: "When you talk about school shooters, most officers that are experts in this field, we spent a lot of time talking to them. They would say we would suggest that the last thing you want is probably a kid on their phone during a school shooting. Yesterday in testimony, we had a lot of people talk about, even from a parental perspective, that it's as much of an emotional issue, that you want your kid and immediately to talk to them. When you think about a school shooter, as horrible as that is, when 30 7th graders are on the phone calling 911, videotaping, they're creating noise, which is a target for the shooter. So I think that we just have to be mindful of how we address this, because it is important. I'm encouraged that we have another really big priority bill that addresses school shooting. My bill is more about phones being up and away, but there's another piece of legislation that is about schools adopting policy so that next time, if there's a school shooter, we have a plan and process in place."
Dial: "Is there a state funding component to this?"
Fairly: "We have been really mindful. It is very important to me to not have unfunded mandates. I mean, I live in a rural part of Texas, and so there's a lot of issues where bills are passed, and they're not funded, and it's not fair to put that burden on our school districts. So I've been working really closely with Chair of Appropriations to be sure that if we need to allot for some funding, it will be there to be sure if schools want the option to purchase a pouch, that there's some funding provided for them to do that, because, again, this is about allowing school districts to adopt the policy that they see fit for the funds to be up, in a way. Texas is so diverse. I mean, so diverse. I represent a rural district, but when you look at your urban areas, there's thousands of kids that attend school versus mine, maybe a few hundred and so there will be funding provided. If we see that, there's a need to be sure that we do support these school districts. It's really important that we do keep that a priority."
You can watch Texas: The Issue Is on FOX on Sunday nights or anytime on FOX LOCAL.
The Source
Information in this article comes from FOX 4's interview with State Rep. Caroline Fairly (R-Amarillo).
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