Student Safety Bills Get Mixed Reviews

From the 2003 murder of Austin Independent School District student Ortralla Mosley to the hazing-related death of University of Texas student Phanta "Jack" Phoummarath in 2005, Austin has seen the darkest side of school and university life. But a series of bills tracking violence on and off campus are facing mixed futures.

Anti-gun campaigners were left scrambling when the Senate State Affairs Committee called a public hearing for April 27 on Senate Bill 1164, allowing concealed firearms on university campuses. (Its House counterpart has already passed out of committee.) Students for Gun Free Schools warned their members, "The hearing was called on very short notice in hopes that we could not get people together in time to testify." Just because a bill gets out of committee doesn't mean it's going anywhere. Laredo Democrat Judith Zaffirini's anti-hazing bill, SB 48, was voted out of Senate Higher Education on March 23 (see "Adding Teeth to Hazing Laws," March 27), but a month later, it's on hold. Zaffirini said she had been bombarded with a series of amendments, many of which weaken the bill's intent. She said, "My concern is that, with so many amendments, it would be so watered down that the status quo would be better."

Over in the House, Mark Strama, D-Austin, has shepherded House Bill 1323, his anti-bullying bill, out of the Public Education Committee. The bill amends the education code to include cyber-bullying and extends beyond the school gates; it's currently with the House Calendars Committee, and Strama hopes for a hearing soon.