The bill to ban smartphones in classrooms around the state failed to get enough votes last week after the Democratic House minority, seizing on a few Republican absences and dissenters, blocked its approval in a 53 to 45 vote.
Bills need at least 56 votes to pass. Only two Republicans, state Reps. Jaime Greene and Steve Carra, voted against the bill.
While the Republican bill sponsor plans to bring back a stronger version of the bill that removes compromises with Democrats, and there is competing legislation from Senate Democrats, House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, said there won’t be any smartphone bans this school year.
“We’re at the bottom in reading and math scores in our schools,” Hall told MLive. “I think legislative Democrats had an opportunity to do something to help kids by taking phones out of the classroom and giving them the opportunity to focus on the teachers in the classroom, and they put politics above our kids by voting ‘no’ on the legislation.
“As a result of that, we’re not going to have something in place for this school year, and so the kids are going to miss out on that opportunity to learn, right? They’re going to be harmed by that for another year.”
School districts around the state have been grappling with how to best keep smartphones out of the classroom so kids can stay focused on learning. Constant access to social media on smartphones can also lead to increased mental health issues and bullying, according to experts.
A number of districts around the state have adopted some form of cellphone use policy, though the exact number isn’t known, the Michigan Department of Education has said.
Whitmer in her State of the State Address in February noted the academic, social and mental detriments caused by smartphones in the classroom and social media use. She said other states, both red and blue, have taken action on the issue.
“I understand the need to be connected to your child, but we can do better,” Whitmer said. “This year let’s pass bipartisan legislation to limit the use of phones in class.”
In a statement on the stalled legislative priority, Whitmer spokesperson Stacey LaRouche said the governor will work with anyone on the issue.
“Gov. Whitmer has called for bipartisan legislation limiting the use of phones in class, so students can focus on school and live healthier lives,” LaRouche said. “Increased access to smartphones may lead to harmful effects on students’ mental health and educational outcomes. The governor will work with anyone to ensure our students can focus on learning with fewer distractions. We want the Legislature to advance a bill that can get to the governor’s desk.”
State Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, who sponsored the failed bill, put forward the legislation to ban smartphones in classrooms this session and last. His similar bill last session never received a committee hearing in the then-Democratic-controlled House.
The version of Tisdel’s bill that failed last week would’ve required school districts to ban students of all ages from using smartphones in the classroom.
Exceptions for emergency use and medical and instructional devices are included in the bill. Smartphones could be used during emergencies provided it doesn’t endanger other students or interfere with school emergency protocols or first responders.
High schoolers would be allowed to use smartphones at school any time outside of the class. Elementary and middle school students would be additionally banned from using smartphones during breaks between classes, lunch and recess.
Tisdel said he worked with legislative Democrats and the governor’s office on refining the bill, even including compromises like the emergency use provision sought by Whitmer’s office.
“This defeat had nothing to do with the merits of the bill,” he said. “We tried working with Democrat lawmakers, made changes to accommodate their concerns, even used language provided by the governor’s office. We had an agreement with the governor and Senate Democrats, but the House Democrats decided to play games and vote ‘no.’”
House Democratic Leader Ranjeev Puri said his caucus voted against Tisdel’s bill because House Republicans refused to negotiate on some changes to the bill.
“I’ve been in regular, good-faith conversations with Sen. Polehanki and our education partners in an effort to find the best-suited policy regarding cellphones in schools; that’s how good policies are crafted — through open dialogue,” Puri said. “I brought those conversations with me last week when House Democrats offered suggestions to improve the Republican legislation to ban cellphones in schools, but House Republicans refused to negotiate in good faith on our policy suggestions to add more flexibility for schools.”
State Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, introduced a competing plan to limit smartphone usage in the classroom after Whitmer’s State of the State Address. Unlike Tisdel’s bill, Polehanki’s legislation doesn’t require schools prohibit smartphone use during class.
Polehanki’s bill, which passed the Senate in May, would require school boards to adopt a smartphone use policy but doesn’t prescribe what that includes.
Instead, school boards would be required to craft a policy that limits cellphone use during school hours and distractions in classroom settings. This could include a ban on smartphone use during class.
Like Tisdel’s bill, any of these school policies limiting smartphone use must provide exceptions for emergency use and medical and instructional devices.
Hall said his chamber won’t be taking up Polehanki’s bill. He called it a “very watered down, weak bill” that doesn’t give any guidelines to the districts.
Tisdel said he met several times with Polehanki and the governor’s office to work out a compromise between the competing plans. That included the exceptions for medical reasons, emergencies and non-smartphone cellphones use.
Additionally, he was open to the Senate amending his bill to allow all students in all grades to use phones between classes, getting rid of the tiered approach to restrictions.
“We had an agreement with the Senate Democrats and the governor,” Tisdel said. “House Democrats said ‘no.’”
Polehanki on Thursday pushed back on Tisdel’s claims, saying that while she and Tisdel agree on the need to address the issue, there was disagreement about how to do it and there was no deal with the Senate on its passage.
“Those policy differences are significant and are the main impediment to Rep. Tisdel’s legislation passing — lacking enough support in his caucus and across the aisle,” Polehanki said. “His legislation aims to set different parameters for different grades — complicating the implementation, takes away flexibility and independence from schools, and most importantly, disregards exceptions for emergencies.
“My bill has passed the Senate, and with strong bipartisanship, and I am committed to reaching an agreement on this topic in both chambers.”
Tisdel’s bill does include exceptions for emergencies.
Banning smartphone use in the classroom is something Hall still wants his chamber to get done. However, he wants districts to have enough time to prepare, something that implementing a ban mid-school year wouldn’t do, he said.
“What I kept thinking about is, ‘If we don’t move on this, when will it get implemented?’ I mean, if you wait till they’re back in September, when are they going to do it?” Hall said. “Doing it in the middle of the school year doesn’t make sense, so we needed to make a run at it over the summer to try to give the districts time to implement this, and so that’s why we came in and we put it up for a vote.”
Because House Democrats rejected the compromise version of his bill, Tisdel said he plans to work on a stronger version.
“We made lots of changes to accommodate what Democrats in the Legislature wanted, and they still voted ‘no,’” he said. “We’re not going to water the bill down to the point of being meaningless. We played nice, we tried to work with them, and they played games. So now, we’re going to go the other direction and make the bill stronger.
“If Gov. Whitmer wants to list this as an accomplishment on her score card before she leaves office, it’s going to be the gold standard: a true bell-to-bell prohibition.”
The dispute comes as the Legislature is now a month overdue in passing a K-12 schools budget due to disagreements between the chambers over priorities and a long-term road funding plan.
While that July 1 budget deadline is enshrined in law, there is no penalty for bypassing it. The deadline is meant to help school districts get a full financial picture when they’re setting their own budgets for the upcoming school year.
Puri claimed House Republicans’ refusal to negotiate on a smartphone ban is part of a larger pattern.
“Their refusal to negotiate in a bipartisan fashion is an unfortunate pattern — just look at their failure to get a budget passed that funds schools, emergency services, and essential programs,” he said. “What schools need at this very moment is a final budget so that kids can count on having lunch during the school day and teachers can count on still having a job.”
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