New Texas school truancy law is a step in right direction

Of the many new Texas laws that went into effect this fall, one in particular will force school leaders to be more proactive rather than punitive in their approach to combating truancy among students. HB 2398 was passed during the 84th Texas Legislative Session and signed into law on June 18, effectively decriminalizing school truancy policies that some felt overstepped in their aggressive approach.

Under the old law students as young as 12 years old could be brought into truancy court for three unexcused absences, and schools were required to file misdemeanor charges if students had more than 10 absences within a six month period. Unpaid fines could land some students behind bars in an adult jail once they turned 17. The new law eliminates criminal court hearings and referrals to adult jails, requiring schools to do more to proactively address chronic absenteeism.

More states need to follow Texas’ example.

{mosads}The scenario is typical enough and one that I encountered myself during my brief time as a high school teacher. Juan regularly arrived late to my class and was also chronically absent. A school administrator charged with managing attendance took notice and issued successive warnings until a parent or guardian was brought in for questioning or a truant officer visited the home. The behavior continued and next thing you know the parent and/or student was issued a citation or brought before a truancy court where a judge issued fines or worse.

But consider this: African-American and Hispanic students are disproportionately represented in the number of truancy court referrals compared to their representation in the student body, according to recent data gathered from the Texas Education Agency. In the 2013-14 school year, almost 20 percent of truancy court referrals statewide involved African-American students and 64 percent involved Hispanic students. But they represent only 13 and 52 percent of the student body, respectively.

These trends point to a troubling narrative suggesting that we are pushing these students away, systematically finding legal means to push them out of our classrooms because they are disruptive, out of our schools because they are a threat to others, or out of our communities because they are beyond rehabilitation. It’s a vicious cycle that inherently ignores the underlying structural and economic challenges facing students and families in these situations, challenges that belie simple fixes or misplaced incentives.

Not all are convinced that decriminalizing truancy will help. In a recent conversation with local school administrators, some lamented the loss of a legal strategy that they felt “worked’ to incentivize chronically absent students. They acknowledged the loss of yet another tool in their arsenal to combat a chronic challenge that disproportionately affects high-poverty, high-minority schools. Some even foresee that the new law may cause high school dropout rates to rise at such schools, but there is no clear evidence to this effect. Indeed, these anxieties are rooted in a deficit perspective of the value of these youth within our schools and communities. 

Instead, schools faced with chronic absenteeism should consider more proactive strategies to changing student behavior and enhancing the overall school climate. Organizations like Texas Appleseed and others have consistently advocated for restorative justice approaches or Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), strategies that empower students to address the root causes of their self-destructive behavior patterns.

Public schools in Texas are now faced with an opportunity to rewrite the narrative around truancy in favor of one that is more equitable, restorative, and proactive rather than punitive. Such an enlightened approach will not only go a long way towards decriminalizing truancy in Texas, but it may also lead to thoughtful reflection and validation of the needs of these marginalized students across the nation.

In reviewing their truancy policies, states and school leaders can also be bold in rewriting a destructive deficit narrative for students of color: from a narrative of criminals to a narrative of change agents. Students with truancy challenges are not all indifferent to their education, so perhaps our schools should not be indifferent to these students’ economic or family circumstances.

Let’s use the opportunity that this new law provides us to liberate our thinking and reframe how we value all of our students, including those hardest to reach, and especially those hardest to educate. After all, that is our call as educators.

Saenz is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin, a faculty affiliate with the Center for Mexican American Studies, and a faculty fellow with the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. He is also a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project.