On Oct. 31, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) signed Assembly Bill 2 requiring school boards to adopt policies to prohibit cellphone use during instructional time. 

The Wisconsin Assembly passed the bill 53-45 on Feb. 19 with mostly Republican support. Fifty-three Republicans voted in favor. One Republican and 44 Democrats voted against it. On Oct. 14, the Wisconsin Senate passed the bill 29-4. Eighteen Republicans and 11 Democrats were in favor, and four Democrats were opposed. 

Wisconsin has a divided government. Republicans have a 54-45 majority in the state Assembly and an 18-15 majority in the state Senate. Evers is a Democrat.

Between May 2023 and the end of 2024, six states enacted statewide restrictions on student cellphone use in schools—an average of roughly one every three months. Since the beginning of 2025, an average of roughly two states have enacted restrictions each month. 

Arkansas was the first state to adopt a cell phone ban in 2025, when Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed SB 142 on Feb. 21. Before Wisconsin, the last state to limit cellphones in public schools was Oregon. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) issued an executive order on July 2 prohibiting student cellphone use during the school day.

Thirty-six states have laws or policies addressing cellphone use in schools since 2023, but not all of them require districts to limit the technology. 

Of the 27 states that have required districts to restrict student cellphone access in schools:

1. Seventeen have Republican trifectas. 
2. Three have Democratic trifectas. 
3. Seven have divided governments.

In the seven states with divided governments, four have Democratic governors—Arizona, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Wisconsin—and three—Nevada, Vermont, and Virginia—have Republican governors. 

California and New York, two of the three Democratic trifectas with cell phone restrictions, account for 8.5 million (17%) of the country’s 50,000,000 K-12 public school students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. California enacted its law in September 2024. New York adopted its ban in May, when the government enacted the Fiscal Year 2026 budget. 

Of the seven states whose legislatures are still in session, at least two are considering bills that would restrict student cellphone use in K-12 public schools: 

1. Massachusetts: On July 31, the Massachusetts Senate passed SB 2581 38-2. The bill would require districts to enact policies banning student cellphone use during the school day, with exceptions for, among other things, students with disabilities and medical conditions. The bill is now pending before the House Ways and Means Committee. Massachusetts has a Democratic trifecta. 
2. Pennsylvania: State Sens. Devlin Robinson (R), Vince Hughes (D), and Steve Santarsiero (D) introduced SB 1014 on Oct. 10. The bill would require districts to prohibit students from using their cellphones during the school day, with exceptions similar to those in the Massachusetts bill. The Senate Education Committee held a hearing on the bill on Oct. 23. Pennsylvania has a divided government.

A version of this story appeared in Hall Pass, Ballotpedia’s newsletter dedicated to school board politics and education policy on Nov. 12. Click here to sign up.