Passion fueling push toward truancy reform
Advocates from both parties hope to pass bill before Sunday deadline.
With most bills ending the legislative session in the trash heap instead of the Texas legal codes, passion often can make the difference between success and failure.
That’s one reas on the long-thwarted advocates of decriminalizing truancy — pushing for a focus on programs that keep students in school and out of courtrooms or jail — are in a prime posi- tion to celebrate even though Sunday’s deadline for action is looming.
In nearly simultaneous smackdowns Tuesday on the House and Senate floors, Democratic Sen. John Whitmire and Republican Rep. James White aggressively challenged
colleagues who had raised questions about proposals to reform the state’s truancy laws.
Take this exchange between White, of Woodville, and Rep. Ed Thompson, R-Pearland, who complained that it was “a little late” to discuss sweeping truancy reforms.
“No it’s not,” White shot back. “People have talked about this issue for four years — study after study after study. People have stood at the courthouse door blocking reform.”
Across the Rotunda in the Senate, Whitmire, of Houston, showed his own passion for truancy reform during an animated and testy debate with Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano.
Taylor repeatedly pressed Whitmire to explain elements of three truancy bills that had been rolled into House Bill 1490.
The most critical change, Whitmire replied, was that judges and justices of the peace no longer would be able to issue fines or order jail time to students charged with skipping school. Instead, efforts would focus on programs designed to deal with problems that keep students out of class, including mental health issues, poverty, bullying and alcohol and drug abuse.
Students who fail to follow a judge’s orders to attend class or complete programs could be found in contempt of court — but their cases then would be transferred to juvenile court, where a wider range of counseling and programs are available without subjecting students to a possible criminal record, he said.
But Whitmire’s temper was on a short leash.
“You’re getting a little silly,” he told Taylor as the questioning continued. “I don’t really play games down here; I try to solve problems. I’ve gone over this at least three times with you. ... It is a well-thought-out piece of legislation that the governor is going to support.”
Whitmire said he met with Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht earlier in the day to work out the final details of truancy reform. The meeting ended with Whitmire and White agreeing to add two amendments requested by Abbott — one designed to keep families intact if an adult or guardian is found to be the cause of a student’s truancy, the other to notify truants if their criminal record is expunged.
Taylor asked for more time to study the bill.
Whitmire flatly declined, saying HB 1490 had been so thoroughly vetted by legislators and interested organizations that it had gained support from the Texas Association of School Boards, Texas Association of School Administrators, Justices of the Peace and Constables Association of Texas, Texas PTA and the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
“This is a huge problem that we’re trying to fix,” Whitmire said.
Fueling many legislators’ appetite for reform was a March report that said Texas is out of step with other states, prosecuting children for skipping school at double the rate of all 49 other states combined.
Treating school truancy as a crime also saddles more than 100,000 Texas students a year with criminal records — endangering future job, college and military prospects with a policy that doesn’t improve attendance rates, said the study, titled “Class, Not Court,” from the nonprofit legal advocacy group Texas Appleseed.
Final work on truancy reform will be done in conference committee, and White and Whitmire said they were confident an agreement will be reached quickly and approved by both chambers.
“This is going to happen,” Whitmire said. “This is why I get up in the morning and come to work.”