IDRA 2025 Policy Digest for Texas
Schools should be safe and supportive environments for all students to learn, play and grow.
Every student should enter their classroom in an environment that affirms their culture, supports their individual dignity and rights, and protects them from bullying, harassment and physical violence. To achieve this, the Texas Legislature must prohibit corporal punishment as student discipline and prioritize investments in the people and programs that build strong campus climates and foster relationships of trust, respect and accountability.
Texas must reduce reliance on harmful discipline practices that hurt students and don’t improve outcomes
Decades of research have shown that “zero tolerance” approaches to student behaviors and harmful discipline and policing practices push students out of school, undermining their academic success and mental health.
Unfortunately, Texas is one of 20 states that still allows corporal punishment of students across 468 districts. Corporal punishment policies authorize school administrators to hit, paddle, spank and slap students as a form of classroom discipline, despite abundant evidence about its inefficacy as a discipline method and harmful impact on students and school communities.
School discipline practices that remove students from schools do not contribute to safer schools. For example, Texas has implemented disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEPs) for 30 years with little evidence that they are effective for student success. Black students experience an extremely disproportionate DAEP placement, making up nearly 24% of all placements despite only representing 13% of the student population. This trend has persisted since the Texas Safe Schools Act was adopted in 1995.
Students and families need support and transparency from schools
Exclusionary discipline measures do not address the root causes of challenging student behaviors. Students, families and educators can have safer schools with investments in classroom teachers and support staff and with proven strategies that support students’ behavior and learning. This means funding evidence-based strategies that improve school climate, such as family engagement programs, positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS), multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), restorative practices, and mental and behavioral health resources.
School discipline policies and procedures can be difficult for families to access and understand. Many students and families get caught up in discipline proceedings without meaningful due process, transparency, or communication from school administrators. The new state law requiring police officers and other security personnel on school campuses escalates the need for more robust data collection and transparency relating to the role and impact of school-based police on students and school communities.
To empower students to take appropriate accountability for misconduct and bolster parents’ roles as partners in their child’s education, the legislature should strengthen due process, transparency and accountability for schools relating to the administration of discipline and supportive measures for students.
What Texas Needs the Legislature to Do
• Eliminate school officials’ use of corporal punishment as a discipline strategy for students in schools.
• Invest in effective alternatives to exclusionary discipline that address root causes of challenging behavior.
• Increase due process and transparency for students and families in school discipline cases.
• Collect and assess comprehensive data to better identify and address disparate disciplinary outcomes.
Contact Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., IDRA Deputy Director of Policy at chloe.sikes@idra.org
Craven, M., & Sanchez, J. (2023). Hitting Hurts – The Case for Ending Corporal Punishment in Texas, Issue Brief. IDRA.
IDRA. (2022). Zero Tolerance Policies in Texas Push Black Students in Latino Students Away from School, web story.
Lyons, M., Duggins-Clay, P., & Craven, M. (June-July 2022). A Policy Roadmap – School Safety for All Students. IDRA Newsletter.
TEA. (August 2024). Enrollment in Texas Public Schools 2023-24. Texas Education Agency.
TEA. (2024). Statewide Discipline Reports, School Year 2023-24. Texas Education Agency.
