We support getting rid of disruptive students

We’ve all heard the stories about students in public schools who are nothing but trouble. They are aggressive, they don’t stay on task, and in some cases, they are violent. Most every teacher has a story about such a student, how big of a pain they are, and how they are disruptive to every other student in class. They may not say it publicly, but you can be sure they do privately—they wish the kid was gone.
House Bill 1017 in this year’s legislature will solve that problem. How? It would empower school districts to quickly remove disruptive students from their school. In our opinion, it’s something that is long overdue. If a student is nothing but trouble, they don’t need to be in school making life miserable for staff and interrupting the learning of the other students around them.
No, we aren’t saying that every time a kid talks back they should be thrown out of school. But there reaches a point in time when enough is enough, and for whatever reason a kid just can’t or won’t get it. When that point is reached, it’s time for the kid to be booted from school for the greater good. The collective shouldn’t suffer because one kid can’t stop acting the fool.
There’s a larger South Dakota News Watch story about this topic in this week’s Western Trader. We encourage you to check it out. The story, by Bart Pfankuch, goes over the premise of the bill, what proponents of the bill are saying and what opponents of the bill are saying. Ultimately, the bill has been tabled until more questions about the bill can be answered. Most of the opponents of the bill wonder who will pay for the child to get alternative education  and where they are supposed to go if they are tossed out of a school. We say that’s the parents’ problem. Harsh, yes. But reality.
Republican Rep. Roger DeGroot is quoted as saying the bill gives administrators “a little bit of a hammer” when it comes to dealing with students. Perhaps in the face of expulsion some parents will realize their little angel is really kind of a punk and will do something about it. It’s amazing that we have to take a test to get a driver’s license but just anybody can have a child and raise a menace to society. No rules, no boundaries, my child can do nothing wrong attitude. There seems to be more and more of that in this day and age. But that’s an editorial for another time.
A series of stories and references show that more and more teachers are leaving the profession, or considering doing so, due to worsening student behavior, which now ranks as a top cause of burnout. Studies indicate that post-pandemic classroom disruptions, including disrespect and violence, have intensified, with 44 percent to 51 percent of teachers citing behavior as a primary factor in their decision to quit.
There is already a teacher shortage. In South Dakota, teachers are paid far less than they are worth. They shouldn’t also have to worry about doing battle with an insolent child who refuses to follow the rules.
We don’t know how it will turn out, and we know it can seem a little harsh, but we are firmly behind HB1017 and the teachers who have had enough.