A Persistent Fantasy

OK. So, here's a snippet from yesterday's press release from Karen McCuiston at Murray State University which was distributed by KDE:

Governor Signs Kentucky

Safe Schools Week Proclamation

Frankfort, Ky...Today at 1:30 p.m.,Governor Steve Beshear signed the Kentucky Safe Schools Proclamation and officially proclaimed October 18-24, 2009, Kentucky Safe Schools Week...

The theme for Kentucky Safe Schools Week ... will be “Follow the Golden Rule, Be Safe Online and at School”, coinciding with last year’s passing of House Bill 91 or “The Golden Rule Act”, a prohibition against bullying, harassment and other forms of intimidation--including cyber bullying via the Internet.

A week to highlight an important aspect of school safety is certainly welcome and I hope it serves to promote social justice in our schools.

But the persistent tendency to promote a discarded aspect of House Bill 91, the [anti] Bullying Bill, continues to amuse and baffle me. What discarded aspect? Why, the Golden Rule itself.

Mike Cherry's original version of House Bill 91 contained this language:

"...amend KRS 158.148 to require school districts to formulate a code of acceptable behavior and discipline that embraces the Golden Rule as the model for improving attitude and the rule for conduct for students..."

Cherry's excellent bill was truly intended to be The Golden Rule Act and specified that title. It passed the House 96-0 and was sent to the Senate.

But amid the all-too-typical-dysfunctional-schennagans one can find in the legislative process Senate President David Williams removed that language and replaced it with a poison pill that had to be worked out in a free conference committee. Williams wanted "to require school personnel to report incidents of student offenses under KRS Chapter 508, criminal harassment, or harassing communications to law enforcement, with a requirement that the incident be investigated," which was a roundly objected to for the likelihood that it would ridiculously cripple local law enforcement.

The Golden Rule was nowhere to be found in the final bill.

It is surely some measure of public sentiment that the bill continues to be called by the (now inaccurate) title that most folks seem to wish were true.

I asked Williams for an explanation back in March, 2008 (before it was too late):

"I'm confused as to why you took language out of the HB 91 that would have required schools to use the central teaching of Jesus in disciplining Kentucky students. Can you help me understand that? Do you have a better foundation for public school discipline in mind?" I asked.

I'm still waiting for a reply; very patiently.

Cherry's bill called for KRS 158.440 "to identify the Golden Rule as the model for improving attitude and the rule for conduct for all public school students." But, thanks to Williams, it doesn't.

Cherry wanted "KRS 158.148 to require school districts to formulate a code of acceptable behavior and discipline that embraces the Golden Rule as the model..." But, thanks to Williams, it doesn't.

Neither do sections 150, or 444 as Cherry's bill intended.

If conservatives want to find out who is "taking God out of the schools" they need to look no further than Senate President David Williams.

But for some reason, the folks in charge of don't seem to get it. Oh well.

Here's the complete announcement:

Governor Signs Kentucky

Safe Schools Week Proclamation

Frankfort, Ky...Today at 1:30 p.m.,Governor Steve Beshear signed the Kentucky Safe Schools Proclamation and officially proclaimed October 18-24, 2009, Kentucky Safe Schools Week. Witnesses to this auspicious event were students from Woodford County Schools representing over 670,000 students from across the Commonwealth. Jon Akers, Executive Director of the Kentucky Center for School Safety (KCSS) said, “Kentucky teachers and administrators make every effort to create caring environments for their students throughout the Commonwealth, but there is much that can still be done.”

The theme for Kentucky Safe Schools Week (October 18-24) will be “Follow the Golden Rule, Be Safe Online and at School”, coinciding with last year’s passing of House Bill 91 or “The Golden Rule Act”, a prohibition against bullying, harassment and other forms of intimidation--including cyber bullying via the Internet. The use of the current legislation and data derived from our web analysis tools, Kentucky Safe Schools Week 2009-2010 will focus on Strategies to Combat Bullying with an emphasis on Cyber Bullying.

This week long observance will be used, in part, to bring together all Kentuckians in a concerted effort to improve school climate and thus the educational process. “The KCSS offers our support as a collaborative partner to the schools and citizens of the Commonwealth,” said Akers, “to come together to create community-wide events that focus on bullying and cyberbullying awareness and prevention during Kentucky Safe Schools Week.”

Involving youth in prevention efforts is vital to changing culture and managing bullying and cyberbullying in our schools and communities. The KCSS continues to provide an interactive “Online Pledge Against Bullying” and this year will introduce our new “Online Pledge Against Cyberbullying”. An array of resources focused
on school safety, with lesson plans and activities for students, parents, educators and the whole community are available on line at http://www.kysafeschools.org/.

This state observance complements the national campaign. The Kentucky “Follow the Golden Rule, Be Safe Online and at School!” campaign is sponsored by the KCSS.
America’s Safe Schools Week is sponsored by the National School Safety Center.

“People realize now is the time to join together to insure the safety and well-being of our children, and to provide quality education for the future leaders of our country,” said Akers.

Another Storm Victim: School days

This from C-J:

Bill planned to waive missed school days in some districts

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A Western Kentucky legislator plans to file a bill this week that would waive up to 10 missed school days in districts affected by the recent ice storm and last fall's windstorm.

State Rep. Mike Cherry, D-Princeton, said his bill would apply only to this school year and only in areas where a disaster was officially declared.

An emergency because of the ice storm has been declared in 95 of 120 counties.

The bill, however, would give the Department of Education the discretion to apply the waiver to districts in areas where disaster declarations were not granted...

No Gold in the Golden Rule Act

Don't get me wrong, Governor Steve beshear should sign the anti-bully HB 91. The poisionous provisions penned by Senate President David Williams have been removed by a conference committee.

And, I'm not holding myself up as an example for anyone when it comes to religion.

But I don't know why the press continues to identify House Bill 91 as the "Golden Rule Act." Williams removed the Golden Rule as soon as he got his hands on it in mid March.

Mike Cherry's excellent measure passed the House 96-0 with the following language, "Amend KRS 158.440 to identify the Golden Rule as the model for improving attitude and the rule for conduct for all public school students..."

Williams took that language out.

For a guy who supports posting the Ten Commandments on public buildings, William's move seems ...unenlightened to me.

So, I wrote to Senator Williams recently in an effort to learn his rationale.

It went something like this...

Senator Williams,

It seems you have always supported posting of the Ten Commandments.

For that reason, I'm confused as to why you took language out of the HB 91 that would have required schools to use the central teaching of Jesus in disciplining Kentucky students. Can you help me understand that?

Do you have a better foundation for public school discipline in mind?

Are you not concerned that rejecting the Golden Rule, which is common to all major religions and therefore might survive a court challenge, while promoting the Ten Commandments, which are uniquely Judaeo-Christian, only serves to give the court more evidence that posting the Commandments is truly an unconstitutional attempt to establish religion?

Respectfully,

Richard Day
Kentucky School News and Commentary

I haven't heard back yet.

No ancient law or prophesy could possibly be more "Christian" than the teachings of Jesus himself. Clearly "the Golden Rule" is central to Christianity. A public school disciplinary code that keeps the Golden Rule, keeps the faith.

But that's NOT why it should be the basis for student discipline in the public schools.

The Golden Rule should be the basis for all student discipline because it is also central to all major religions - and I've never heard an atheist or agnostic object to its principles either.

Because of its wide-spread acceptance among the world's religions, it does not establish religion the way that posting the Ten Commandments would. ...or requiring daily reading from the Qur'an would. ...or requiring transcendental meditation would. ...or teaching transubstantiation would. Those acts would be specific to a particular religion, and would therefore be unconstitutional.

For some, posting the Ten commandments is a political ploy. For most, I hope, it is a sincere desire to see our children reared with moral principles. In the latter sense, it's the right idea - but the wrong number. We should post the "second commandment" only.

One of the problems facing Ten Commandments-posting advocates is, once the courts have evidence that the true motivation behind the desire to post them is religious, and therefore unconstitutional, it's hard to get the court to forget by simply adding on a few other documents.

Whining about the Ten Commandments while rejecting the Golden Rule is counter-productive to our children's best interest.

A synopsis of the surviving language in the Conference Committee Report from KyVotes.org follows:

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to require school personnel to report incidents of student felony offenses under KRS Chapter 508 to law enforcement and parents of students involved;

amend KRS 158.444 to require a local school district to include in its statewide data report all incidents in which a student has been disciplined by the school for a serious offense, including the nature of the offense, and all incidents in which a student has been charged criminally for any offense identified in KRS Chapter 508 or in Section 4 of this Act that occurred on school premises, on the school bus, or at school functions;

require the Kentucky Department of Education to submit to the Office of Education Accountability and the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Committee an annual statistical report, rather than a monthly statistical report, to include the number and types of incidents of violence or assault against school employees and students, possession of guns or other deadly weapons on school property or at school functions, and possession or use of alcohol, prescription drugs, or controlled substances on school property or at school functions;

require the annual statistical report to include monthly data and cumulative data for the reporting year; set the reporting period as an academic year, delivered by August 31 of each year;

amend KRS 158.148 to require the Kentucky Department of Education, in consultation with various professional agencies, to develop or update as needed, a model policy to be distributed to schools by August 31 of each even-numbered year, beginning August 31, 2008;

amend KRS 525.070 to identify specific activities done by a student as harassment;

amend KRS 525.080 to identify specific activities done by a student as harassing communication.

The Golden Rule Act: Or, Will David Williams take Jesus out of the schools?

If conservatives want to find out who is "taking God out of the schools" they need to look no further than Senate President David Williams.

Williams is comfortable enough pandering to the fundamentalist crowd by supporting Ten Commandments legislation every chance he gets. But what explanation might he provide for removing the central teachings of Jesus from the Anti-Bullying bill currently in conference committee.

Mike Cherry's version of House Bill 91 contained this language:

"...amend KRS 158.148 to require school districts to formulate a code of acceptable behavior and discipline that embraces the Golden Rule as the model for improving attitude and the rule for conduct for students..."

David Williams removed that language. Why? What could Williams possibly find objectionable with the "greatest commandment?" The public deserves an explanation.

This from PolWatchers:

Lawmakers seek compromise on anti-bullying bill

Lawmakers negotiating the details of a bill aimed at curbing schoolhouse bullying said they hit no "major snags" on Monday.

The House-Senate conference committee on the "bullying" bill, House Bill 91, met for about 45 minutes Monday afternoon in closed conference. Afterwards, Rep. Mike Cherry, D-Princeton, the bill's sponsor, said "things went well."

"My side presented a compromise piece of legislation that I think was favorably received," Cherry said. He would not go into specifics and would not provide a copy of his proposal. He described it as a blending of the House and Senate versions, "using the Senate as the text."

Cherry's original version, "The Golden Rule Act," would require schools to write codes of conduct that prohibit "harassment, intimidation, or bullying." He added a floor amendment in the House to include "cyberbullying" by electronic communication.

A separate Senate version of the bill had been stalled in committee and Senate Democrats tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to spring it with a discharge petition.

Instead, Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, amended Cherry's version to "put some teeth into it." Schools would be required to report bullying to law enforcement, and would be required to issue a monthly report on all incidents.

Cherry sounded optimistic a compromise finally can be reached. "I don't even see any major snags at this point," Cherry said. "We think the reporting requirement of their side is a little harsh, and monthly reporting is a little much." ...

EduPoliComment on House Bill 91

Ferrell Wellman, the recently crowned regular host of KET's Comment on Kentucky lead a delightful discussion of Senate Bill 91 Friday night. (Backstory) With Wellman were H-L's Ryan Alessi, Pat Crowley from the Enquirer and the always insightful Mark Hebert from WHAS.

Alessi had made some remarks about the Senate majority, and then...

Ryan Alessi:"Meanwhile in the Democratic... Senate minority; they tried to get a discharge petition to get the Bullying Bill (HB 91) out. And, Senator Scorcone, the one who pushed it, Democrat from Lexington, he said the petition didn't work, but hey, we were able to leverage it by screaming publicly for it.

Ferrell Wellman: Let's talk quickly about the Bully Bill, and there's some line of thought that possibly, the bill that passed the senate, was - Can you believe it? - designed to maybe kill the bill?

Mark Hebert: Oh you think? (laughing) The Republican Senate leadership has been against a Bully Bill for - and I'm not real sure exactly why - but for the last four years. They finally agreed to hear it in committee. [Senate President] David Williams had a committee substitute. Put it out there. Basically it criminalizes any kid who, on the first time, is accused of bullying another kid or...

Wellman: It criminalizes teachers too.

Hebert: It could criminalize teachers. What it does is that it forces teachers and principals to report to police, within 48 hours, if they hear any incident of a kid harassing or trying to humiliate another kid. And the police are required to investigate. If the teachers and the principal don't report, they could be subjected to a Class B misdemeanor for failure to report. So the bottom line is - this is just too tough for anybody to swallow. David Williams said Oh. No You know, we need to take care of these kids that are bullies and get them out of our schools and into our court system. But in reality, he's just trying to kill the bill and - because it is too tough - it might end up in a conference committee. Mike Cherry, the sponsor of the original Bully Bill said, Hey, at least I got it through the Senate. We can now get into a conference committee and we might be able to pass something.

Wellman: Because, what you're talking about is taking any discretion, really, away from teachers and principals, and they may think that they've actually solved the problem...

Hebert: Right.

Wellman: ..but if they don't report it the next step they face Class B misdemeanor and that's enough to keep a teacher from getting a job.

Hebert: Absolutely.

Pat Crowley: I thought any bill David Williams supported was a bully bill... (laughter) he's always being accused of being such a bully.

Alessi: Well, this one actually bullies the bullies. (laughter)

Hebert: The bullies; yes, it's tough on the bullies.

Wellman: Alright. Let's move on to slots.

David Williams' Poison Pill for Bullying Bill

After refusing to allow an anti-bullying bill to move in the Senate for four sessions, Senate President David Williams finally capitulated. Or, did he? After "removing Jesus" from the House's version Williams designed a devilish counter punch.

As Mark Hebert tell us,

"[Williams] says kids who intimidate, harass or embarrass other kids should be sent to the court system where professionals can properly deal with them."

I wonder what Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph Lambert thinks about that.

Is Williams really that far removed from the reality of today's schools? It's hard enough to get the courts to deal with a persistently violent 10-year old. They don't have anywhere to go with them.

The idea of criminalizing kindergartners who embarrass another student is so misguided that Hebert wonders aloud if Williams' bill is designed to kill itself.

This from Mark Hebert @WHAS.

Sen. Williams' Bully Bill Designed to Kill It???

Little Johnny and Little Susie could be in shackles for harassing their classmates under a new "Bully Bill" proposed by Sen. David Williams today.

Williams' version of the "Bully Bill" unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and later passed the full senate. The Senate has refused to even hear any version of a "Bully Bill" for the past four legislative sessions. But Senate President Williams has been catching plenty of heat from WHAS Radio talk show host "Francene" for refusing to push for a vote for Rep. Mike Cherry's version of the bill, which unanimously passed the House. So today, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard from Cherry and Williams co-opted his bill with a committee substitute. Here are the highlights:

When a teacher gets wind of a student threatening, harassing or embarrassing another student, the teacher MUST report it to the school principal.

The principal is REQUIRED to report every instance of alleged intimidation or threat to the police or county attorney within 48 hours. The cops or prosecutor are then REQUIRED to investigate the allegation.

Failure to report is a Class B misdemeanor, the same as failure to report suspected child abuse...

Also, Mike Cherry's version of House Bill 91 contained this language:

"...amend KRS 158.148 to require school districts to formulate a code of acceptable behavior and discipline that embraces the Golden Rule as the model for improving attitude and the rule for conduct for students..."

David Williams removed it. Why?

David Adams over at Kentucky Progress writes:

Senate Democrats are up in arms because the House's "bullying" bill got a committee
substitute from President David Williams that doesn't include the word "bullying" or the phrase "The Golden Rule." More symbolism over substance, as usual, from that chamber's minority party.

As a former school principal, I sure see it differently.

In a school system where all children enjoy the same rights (We all want that - right?) Cherry's focus on the Golden Rule is not just symbolism. It is everything. Everything teachers do flows from there. If a student acts in a hurtful way toward another student, schools have a moral obligation to look after those in need of protection. The school is also obliged to help the persecutors learn a better way - not to criminalize them.

No ancient law or prophesy could possibly be more Christian than the teachings of Jesus himself. Clearly "the Golden Rule" is central to Christianity. A public school disciplinary code that keeps the Golden Rule, keeps the faith.

But that's NOT why it should be the basis for student discipline in the public schools.

The Golden Rule should be the basis for all student discipline because it is also central to the other major religions - and I've never heard an atheist or agnostic object to it either.

Because of its wide-spread acceptance among the world's religions, it does not establish religion the way that posting the Ten Commandments would. ...or requiring daily reading from the Qur'an would. ...or requiring transcendental meditation would. ...or teaching transubstantiation would. Those acts would be specific to a particular religion, and would therefore be unconstitutional.

If David Williams has a superior moral basis for guiding Kentucky teachers in the disciplining of their students, let's hear what it is.