Indiana teachers have gained some protection denied their counterparts elsewhere in the nation. It must be used wisely.

Under the new law, educators are granted limited legal immunity from lawsuits related to disciplinary action. Teachers also are given state legal representation if sued.

This is something Gov. Mitch Daniels and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett pushed for this year.

School officials like to point out the lack of support from parents that many educators feel. That includes discipline of disruptive students.

Teachers must be able to maintain order in their classroom in order to create a suitable learning environment for all the students.

That is difficult when parents threaten to sue the teacher or school district.

So the new law gives teachers more authority on removing disruptive students from class and creates a strict process for returning a student to class that involves both the teacher and the parents.

A centerpiece of the new law is the greater protection teachers receive from lawsuits when they follow school policy to impose classroom discipline. This means judges can dismiss lawsuits at the start of the legal process, before the teacher and school district waste a lot of time and money defending themselves.

This new Indiana law granting qualified immunity to teachers holds promise, but local school districts must make sure teachers are carefully watched to make sure they don't violate strict district policies requiring common sense approaches to discipline. Tightening requirements for screening prospective school staff members helps this process.

Under the new law, school districts are now required to expand criminal history background checks before employing new staff members.

Now that this issue has been resolved, there should be even greater pressure to produce strong results in the classroom.