Like
you,
I am concerned about the detrimental effects of bullying
and harassment on
our children. All students, in all schools, deserve to
receive a quality
education, and bullying obstructs a child’s ability to
learn. A study from the
National Center for Education Statistics reported 32
percent of students saying
they had been bullied on or near school grounds. Nearly
1 in 4 students between
the ages of 10 and 14 attribute academic difficulties to
troubles from
bullying.
To
address
this problem, I am supporting H.R. 1648, the Safe
Schools Improvement
Act, which amends the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 to require
states, on an ongoing basis, to collect and report
information on bullying and
harassment by youth in their elementary and secondary
schools and communities.
Additionally, the bill would instruct local educational
agencies (LEAs) and
schools to include clear prohibitions against bullying
and harassment within
their discipline policies, as well as notify parents,
students and educators
annually on the bullying and harassment prohibited by
their disciplinary
policies.
I
am
also supporting H.R. 998, the Student Non-Discrimination
Act of 2011, which
prohibits public school students from being excluded
from participating in, or
subject to discrimination under, any federally-assisted
educational program on
the basis of their actual or perceived sexual
orientation or gender identity or
that of their associates; considers harassment to be a
form of discrimination;
and prohibits retaliation against anyone for opposing
conduct they reasonably
believe to be unlawful under this Act.
Finally,
the
following statement has been entered into the
Congressional Record
announcing my support for this legislation.
I look forward to working with the LGBT community
and allies to pass
these bills.
HON.
JAY
INSLEE
OF
WASHINGTON
IN
THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Friday,
November
18, 2011
- Mr.
INSLEE. Mr.
Speaker, a fundamental principle of our nation's
education system is that all
schools should provide students with a safe
environment that allows them to
learn without fear of harassment or discrimination.
Unfortunately, we are not
doing nearly a good enough job to provide this type of
environment for our
children, as far too many students go to school every
day facing anti-LGBT
bullying and discrimination. Allowing this sort of
atmosphere to exist anywhere
is unconscionable and wrong.
- Over
the last fifty
years, the federal government has taken action to
require that all schools
receiving federal funds prohibit discrimination on the
basis of race, color,
national origin, gender, disability, and age. These
laws are now in desperate
need of updating, in order to expressly protect
students from discrimination
and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and
gender identity. This gap
has left students and guardians with limited legal
recourse in case of
discrimination and harassment, and the federal
government currently faces a
dearth of information on how deep the problem runs. As
a result, I am adding my
name as a cosponsor to H.R. 998 and H.R. 1648 to help
address these issues.
While this law would place additional reporting
requirements on cash-strapped
school districts, I hope the federal government can
work with states to share
in this burden.
- Studies
have shown
just how detrimental an impact this type of treatment
can have on LGBT youth.
Among the many potential consequences of anti-LGBT
bullying are increased
absenteeism, academic underachievement, and serious
health consequences. The
need for this legislative change has only been made
more acute recently, as we
have seen far too many tragic deaths arise from the
terrors of bullying in
schools. I refuse to stand by and let any more
suicides occur among students
who were not sufficiently protected from harassment at
school.
- While
these bills
address discriminatory activities occurring on school
grounds, we must also
encourage parents in every state to provide safe,
healthy environments at home.
This is particularly important as we continue to see a
steep rise in cyber
bullying, which can further isolate youth in desperate
need of an open and
honest environment. I look forward to working with my
colleagues to modernize
our federal laws to recognize this serious and growing
problem as well.