Minn. Senate Opens Hearings On 'Zero Tolerance' Teacher Assault Bill
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — A Minnesota Senate Committee opened hearings Thursday on a bill requiring school boards to expel students who assault teachers.
The Zero Tolerance proposal comes in the wake of several high-profile assaults on teachers in Twin Cities schools.
The proposed new law would expel the students immediately and the teachers would decide when or if the student returns to their classes.
"The teachers need to know there needs to be protection if they are assaulted," Sen. David Brown, R-Becker, said. "So they don't have to face that student the very next day."
Parents and educators predicted more expulsions for students of color, who are already disciplined at higher numbers than white students. And one St. Paul mother said the bill does not exclude students with disabilities, like her daughter with autism.
"It would mean re-traumatizing children like mine," Melissa Davis said, "that are already dealing with a lot by essentially saying 'we don't want you here.'"
The number of total school disruptions is trending down, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.
At the same time, the newly released "Dangerous Weapons and Disciplinary Incident Report" for the 2014-15 school year reports assaults were up over the previous year.
The report, which chronicles school disturbances from fights to tardiness to drug use, reports that there were 3,866 assaults in 2014-15, about 8.3 percent of all discipline cases.
The report does not break down how many assaults involved teachers.
In the 2013-14 school year, there were 3,655 assaults, about 7.1 percent of discipline cases.
Despite opposition in the Democratic-dominated committee, Brown says he'll continue to push the "get-tough" policy for teachers who don't feel safe.
"This isn't a matter of just my heart being in the right place," he said. "This is a matter of sending a message to our teachers and our students that assault will not be tolerated in our public schools."