Cellphones, vaccines, the Ten Commandments: Here are education bills to watch this session – NOLA.com

When the curtain rises Monday on this years regular legislative session, education will take center stage.

Gov. Jeff Landry, the states new Republican leader, has promised to make schools a top priority, along with crime and the economy. Lawmakers are equally focused on schools: They've already filed nearly 100 education-related bills and more are expected before the session ends June 3.

The bills pursue a wide range of conservative policy objectives, from forbidding lessons on gender and sexuality to prohibiting COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Other proposals are less partisan, such as providing intensive tutoring to struggling students or banning cellphones in school.

The Legislature passed some of the measures such as the restriction on lessons about sexual orientation, which critics call a Dont Say Gay bill in previous sessions, but former Gov. John Be Edwards vetoed them. Now, with Republicans controlling the Legislature and governors office, such bills are almost certain to become law.

This is our time, Landry said during a conservative policy conference Thursday, which many state lawmakers attended. This is our opportunity.

Here are some education proposals to watch:

SB 207: Requires students to stow away their cellphones during school.

SB 358: Lowers the age when students can be expelled for bringing guns or drugs to school from 16 to 13.

HB 322: Protects teachers who discipline students for violating school rules or disrupting class.

SB 262: Forbids schools to teach that students are either oppressors or oppressed due to their race.

HB 121: Requires parental permission for students to use a name or gender pronoun other than whats on their birth certificates.

HB 122: Prohibits educators from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity beyond whats in the state standards. Educators also may not discuss their own gender or sexuality with students.

HB 8: Prohibits the state board of education from creating an appeals process to allow students to still graduate if they fail a mandatory state test. The board briefly established such a process last year, but Landry promptly repealed it after taking office.

HB 264: Requires students to pass a computer science course to graduate.

HB 66: Creates a voucher-like program, called an education savings account, for families of children with disabilities. The program gives eligible families public money to pay for private school and other approved education expenses.

HB 191: Creates an education savings account program for families of children who have been bullied.

TBD: An education savings account program that will eventually be open to all families is expected to be filed early in the session.

HB 71: Requires public schools and colleges to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom. The bill includes the required language, including this biblical rule: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."

HB 334 and SB 123: Allow schools to hire chaplains.

HB 320: Repeals policies that required teachers to give lessons on a range of topics including cursive writing, dating violence, internet safety and mental health. Also says teachers no longer need training in first aid, suicide prevention, bullying and other issues.

HB 420 and SB 205: Pays teachers for time spent planning and working with students after school.

SB 288: Requires schools to provide students who score below a certain level on state tests with high-dosage tutoring, which consists of three to five weekly sessions for at least 10 weeks.

HB 244: Expands a program (which few families have used) that covers the cost of private tutoring.

HB 46: Prohibits any public or private school from requiring students to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

HB 47: Allows parents to opt out of providing proof that their children have been immunized against contagious illnesses.

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Cellphones, vaccines, the Ten Commandments: Here are education bills to watch this session - NOLA.com