Minn. School District Agreement a "Blueprint" for Antibullying Efforts

[William769]

The proposed legal settlement between a Minnesota school district under federal investigation and a group of bullied young teens will help to ensure that “the dignity of LGBT students will be affirmed and will no longer be thought of as controversial” nationwide, attorneys for the students said Tuesday.

Following an investigation launched last year by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education, the Anoka-Hennepin School District has agreed to a list of remedies that one Justice Department official calls a “blueprint” for curbing systemic bullying of students based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The discrimination, described in a federal complaint as “severe” and “pervasive,” resulted in a 2011 lawsuit filed on behalf of six students by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center. The groups argued that the district’s “neutrality” policy on gay issues amounted to a gag order against teachers and administrators from speaking out against harassment.

“No longer will [school policy] be guided by ideology or political forces,” Celeste Culberth, one of the attorneys representing the students, said in a Tuesday news conference in Minneapolis.

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/03/06/Minn_School_District_Agreement_a_Blueprint_for_Antibullying_Effort/

[rbixby]

1. Eat that Michele Bachmann! NT

[richmwill]

2. Good

This school district was recently profiled in an article in Rolling Stone. I'm sure the publicity from that helped to achieve this. Of course after the article came out, Rolling Stone published a Letter To The Editor from the District Superintendent crying that he was cancelling his subscription to Rolling Stone and whining about how the article showed his district in a negative light, etc.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. YES!!!!

Watch the Anoka County Fundies heads explode this Sunday. Mass pray away the gay day. A big thank you to Celeste for representing all the kids the Anoka Hennipen School District. Can't imagine the hate calls she is receiving today. Major defeat for the Bachman camp and her Baggie supporters.