Teachers’ Bill of Rights to reshape how students are disciplined

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — A new school year is underway for many and new rules this year are giving teachers more authority allowing them to remove disruptive students that officials say will pave the way for constructive collaboration between educators, school leaders, and parents.

The classroom is where educators help shape the minds of the world’s future, but the task can become difficult when students are misbehaving taking away the learning experience from others and the Teachers’ Bill of Rights, now in effect for public schools, will work to eliminate the issue.

Allison King with the Alabama Education Association says schools were not taking enough action against disruptive students but, the new measures she explained will support teachers by giving them more control over their learning environments.

“There had never been anything on the books that specifically required districts to support their teachers through their discipline measures in this way, it gives the teachers a little bit more empowerment in having a say so on how those things are administered,” King said.

The teacher shortage continues to be an issue for many and its multi-layered as to why, but King says disruptive students are part of that and play a role in the inability to retain educators.

“Our research is showing that by in large people are leaving the profession or not coming into the profession because of a lot of matters that are associated around student discipline,” King told News 19.

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Melissa Veasy-Lindsey, Huntsville City Schools’ executive director of prevention and support services, says they will require teachers to create classroom management plans that play off the district’s student code of conduct.

“We really want to put emphasis on the fact that students need to come to school ready to learn and they need to come ready to behave,” Veasy-Lindsey said.

Disobeying teachers, disrupting learning, and using abusive or explicit language toward an educator can get a student removed from class.

The only way they will be allowed back is if school leaders provide documentation as to how the student was disciplined.

“If a student is removed, the principal will talk to the students have conversation with the student and if there’s a problem with the student in the classroom, there may interventions or restorative practices that take place and then the consequences are administered as well,” Veasy-Lindsey explained.

Each school district in Alabama must adopt the policy at their board meetings mapping out how they plan to implement these new measures. Officials say the intent is to ensure each child gets a valuable education without disruptions.

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