A bill to require school districts to adopt policies restricting cellphone use in classrooms advanced out of legislative committee Monday.
The Senate Education Committee voted 4-1 to send Senate File 21, “Ban on cell phone use in schools,” to the floor for consideration by the whole body, but not before softening the language to read “restrict” instead of the original “prohibit.”
The measure comes amid a bipartisan trend of new limits on smartphone and social media use in schools. Nearly 20 states, including California, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Florida, have passed laws or enacted policies that either ban or restrict students’ use of cellphones or recommend local districts enact such policies…