I Want Phones Out of PA Classrooms. This Bill Won’t Don’t It.

October 23, 2026

I have no problem with getting phones out of the classroom. Like educators and other lawmakers across Pennsylvania, I find that to be a worthy goal because phones are hurting our children’s ability to learn. Parents see it at home, and teachers see it every day in school. But I voted no on Senate Bill 1014, the “bell-to-bell” phone ban for schools, because it won’t do what it is intended to do.

A law should be judged on whether it does what it promises. This one won't. The House passed this measure 141-62 on Oct. 19, and it cleared its final vote in the General Assembly on Oct. 21. I was one of 62 House members, Republicans and Democrats alike, who voted “no.”

The problem is simple: This bill is full of exceptions, and exceptions make a phone ban impossible to enforce in the classroom.

The bill tells every school to “prohibit the use of a mobile device during the school day while on school property.” However, it requires (not just allows) every school’s policy to “include exceptions.”

One exception would cover a documented medical condition, except that condition would apply not only to the student himself or herself, but also “an immediate family member of the student.” Another covers any student with an individualized education plan (IEP) or 504 service agreement "in which a mobile device is part of the accommodations or services provided to the student.”

Think about that second condition. The bill sets no standard for when a personal smartphone, rather than a school-issued device, is actually necessary. If the IEP or agreement lists a phone, the phone stays. These types of plans exist to give children with disabilities what they genuinely need to learn. Make those plans the main way around a phone ban, and every plan meeting becomes a fight over a phone instead of a conversation about reading, behavior or therapy. That doesn’t help the children who truly need those accommodations. It cheapens the whole process.

I’ve talked to dozens of teachers about this bill. They want phones out of their classrooms, but they're worried about what comes next. If a line in an IEP is the ticket to keeping a phone, some families will push to get that line included, and schools will feel the pressure to go along. Teachers don't want the plans meant to help those kids turned into a loophole.

Further, Senate Bill 1014 lets a principal hand out a one-day exception to the phone ban for any reason at all. The principal doesn't have to tell the superintendent ahead of time. The bill gives five days to report the usage after the fact. There is no limit on how often it can be used or how many students it covers.

Consider the impacts on teachers. Some children in the room may have phones out for a health reason, others for an IEP plan, and even others for translation, a lesson or a principal’s say-so. The teacher has to keep track of who’s allowed to use a phone and why. The teacher can’t very well announce to the room why a classmate’s phone is out. And the bill tells each school to write “enforcement and oversight provisions” without ever saying what those are. Every exception becomes an argument. Every argument is time not spent teaching. That means more disruption, not less.

If the General Assembly was going to insist on exceptions, it should have kept them few, tight and clearly defined, such as a documented medical or disability need that can’t be met any other way, with a school-controlled device preferred over a personal smartphone, plus real emergencies. We did not need open-ended waivers for administrators, and we should have given teachers one rule that is the same in every classroom.

Parents deserve a school day where their students are learning, not scrolling. Teachers deserve a rule they can actually enforce. And the people of Pennsylvania deserve laws written right the first time. This bill gets the goal right and the details wrong.

State Rep. Scott Barger represents the 80th House District, which covers parts of Blair and Huntingdon counties.

Representative Scott Barger
80th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jennifer Fitch
717-260-6563
jfitch@pahousegop.com