The governor begins review of abuse policies in schools
Quite timely to our discussion today on corporal punishment in schools:
STATE OF GEORGIA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Sonny Perdue
GOVERNOR
For Immediate Release Contact: Office of Communications
Friday, August 14, 2009
Governor Creates Group to Look at Educational Abuse Policies
Will include a special look at alternative school settings, such as RESAs
ATLANTA — Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that he has accepted the recommendations of the Office of the Child Advocate and created a working group to examine policies and procedures that are followed when cases of abuse are alleged in an educational environment.
“Any accusations of abuse by school personnel against children must be addressed strongly, rapidly and appropriately,” said Governor Perdue.
The Governor’s Working Group on Abuse in the Educational Setting will convene experienced school administrators and leaders along with law enforcement personnel to develop consistent statewide policies and protocols for addressing reports of child abuse by school employees.
The Governor has charged the working group with developing specific child abuse reporting and response procedures that can be adopted by every school system in the state. The group’s recommendations will include specific processes for parents and students to report abuse as well as protocols for school system management to use when taking personnel action involving accused employees and reporting the incident to law enforcement, system leadership and the Professional Standards Commission.
A specific task of the group will include developing protocols for addressing allegations abuse in special settings, such as those involving special educational programs operated by Regional Educational Services Agencies (RESAs).
“We must strike the right balance between protecting our students from abuse while also treating school employees fairly,” Governor Perdue added said. “This working group will establish the clear lines of authority and responsibility that will ensure these cases are addressed in a timely and appropriate manner.”
Governor Perdue’s formation of the working group comes in response to recommendations from the Office of the Child Advocate. In June, following a disturbing case alleging abuse of a child by school personnel, the Governor charged the State Child Advocate with determining whether Georgia’s laws and policies adequately address issues of abuse in the educational setting.
While the Child Advocate’s report found the state’s child abuse reporting and response laws adequate, it also found that a lack of clear responsibility for addressing allegations of abuse sometimes results in an ineffective response. The Governor’s action will help ensure that those responsible for addressing these allegations must respond quickly and adequately. The report is available online.
The first meeting of the working group has been tentatively scheduled for late August. The members of the working group are:
o Matt Arthur, Superintendent, Rabun County Schools
o Emily Lembeck, Superintendent, Marietta City Schools
o Jeannie Edwards, Student Health Coordinator, Dawson County Schools
o Stephanie (Taylor) Williams, Ed.S., Early Intervention Program (EIP), Montgomery Elementary School, DeKalb County Schools
o Jay Fowler, Principal, Rocky Creek Elementary School, Henry County
o Pete Skandalakis, Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney
o Rachael Barron, Parent Representative, Atlanta
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48 comments Add your comment
Jennifer
August 14th, 2009
6:16 pm
They can start by outlawing corporal punishment, that is a no brainer and work from there. I hope they step foot into our alternative ed settings across the state. They will now need to make sure that they arrive though during the smidgen of instructional time – now that that 25% of our alternative ed settings are not required to teach the mandated 5.5 hours a day….
catlady
August 14th, 2009
7:02 pm
They can start by targeting ALL violence, including that perpetuated by students on other students and teachers. Get a handle on student behavior first. Of course, that will NOT happen.
trying hard to be patient
August 14th, 2009
7:34 pm
Amen catlady. Student behavior and accountability is deplorable in our area. Of course the parents will defend their precious “angels”. One note we received from a parent said, “my child ain’t no bad kid and he ain’t done no bad things”. Whoa, where did this parent go to school? The bad things he did were witnessed by several adults.
Terry
August 14th, 2009
7:44 pm
I am tired of the whining by educators. Who are the adults in the systems? The educators are. If the educators are going to engage in behaviors that can be abusive…. how on earth do you think the children are going to behave.
Enough is enough, stop restraint and seclusion, and stop corporal punishment. This is unacceptable, ineffective and innapropriate for 21st century classrooms.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 14th, 2009
7:52 pm
This quote stands out: “We must strike the right balance between protecting our students from abuse while also treating school employees fairly,” Governor Perdue added said.
There may very well be, as reports indicate, some things happening in alternative settings that deserve scrutiny. But in the regular public schools, anybody who is willing to be honest needs to admit the most persistent abuse is that not by the teacher, but of the teacher, by chronically disruptive students, up to and including physical assault. And this is a situation that our schools for the most part, and for that matter our governor, have been totally neglectful in addressing. One could even make the case they have been neglectful to the point of being morally culpable.
If the governor wants credibility in addressing the micro issue of what might be happening in alternative school settings, then address the macro issue of what is happening to the regular classroom teacher on a daily basis, all throughout Georgia.
Where’s the press release announcing that?
Terry
August 14th, 2009
8:20 pm
MAM – I have a question…why is that educators like to place blame on the kids. What do you suppose the governor can do? Put them all out of school? – so that these kids can further be menaces to society. The greatest thing a kid deserves is an education. As it is, there is tremendous ‘push out’ of minorities and disabled children so they become the products of the juvenile justice system.
If hartford city schools can turn themselves around, why can’t any district in Georgia. That district in connnecticut hired an INNOVATOR which turned student achievement and yes, even behavior 360 degrees. You have to have a buy-in by the school community. You’ve gotta give respect to receive respect too.
concerned in Gwinnett
August 14th, 2009
8:39 pm
Do you think the Jonathan King case was an isolated incident? Oh no it wasn’t…
http://www.myfoxtam pabay.com/ dpp/news/ local/nature_ coast/autism_ abuse_lawsuit_ 081309
concerned in Gwinnett
August 14th, 2009
8:46 pm
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/nature_coast/autism_abuse_lawsuit_081309
also concerned
August 14th, 2009
9:04 pm
It seems the U.S. Congress has even taken an interest in these issues:
Here is Congressman Miller of the House Ed and Labor committee on CNN -
http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/07/chairman-miller-on-cnn-discuss.shtml
Maureen's accountability metric
August 14th, 2009
9:31 pm
Terry, if student with no mental disabilities tells his teacher “You’re one ho I’d like to pimp” who do you blame? The teacher?
No one said the issues raised weren’t worth looking at. But it’s equally important for the welfare of all students, not just special ed ones, and all teachers, to cast an eye on what isn’t been looked at.
KidsRpeople2
August 14th, 2009
10:17 pm
U.S. Congress is currently holding hearings on Abusive and Deadly practices in SCHOOLS and MUST ABOLISH Physical/Corporal Punishment of ALL CHILDREN IN ALL SCHOOLS, ALREADY ILLEGAL IN 30 STATES! SHOCKING news headlines of injuries suffered by children abused by school employees in states where the practice is legal are all too common! Physical or Corporal Punishment is HEAVILY ASSOCIATED WITH THE PORNOGRAPHY INDUSTRY, just type corporal punishment or spanking into any internet search engine to verify. There is a PUBLICLY FUNDED CHARTER SCHOOL, the Memphis Academy of Health Sciences that made news headlines recently for disciplining Middle/High School students (girls too) during an assembly called “Chapel” where students are taken on a stage and hit with a wooden paddle by their 6′6” former football player principal and/or have their hands whipped with leather straps IN FRONT OF ALL THE OTHER STUDENTS AS A DETERRENT TO PUBLICLY INDUCE SHAME/HUMILIATION AND FEAR AS AN INTIMIDATION TACTIC! The “Educators” and “Administrators” of this PUBLICLY FUNDED CHARTER SCHOOL state their “Discipline” practices are within Tennessee State Laws! U.S. Congress is currently holding hearings on Abusive and DEADLY (kids have died at the hands of government employees entrusted with their care and education in our tax payer funded schools) practices in SCHOOLS and must take immediate action to ABOLISH CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OF ALL CHILDREN IN ALL SCHOOLS! There is NO EXCUSE for any “Educator” to hit a child with a weapon/wooden paddle as PUNISHMENT when credible professional educators who have EARNED RESPECT effectively “DISCIPLINE” by teaching children with reasonable and fair consequences everyday in schools the 30 states where Corporal Punishment is ILLEGAL! State Departments of Education promote the EFFECTIVENESS and training for educators in NON-VIOLENT Discipline methods, such as Schoolwide Behavior Support Systems. Think about it, we teach children that hitting is not acceptable, but when an adult entrusted with their care and education hits them, they powerfully model physical assault/violence to our children as the acceptable means to solve problems. Children learn by example, what you do, not what you say. Children who are physically punished, like an animal, will become withdrawn, disengaged and fearful or mean, violent and retaliative at society. If you love your children, show them, tell them, support them, teach them, DO NOT HIT THEM!
Cynthia
August 14th, 2009
10:59 pm
Currently, there is no unbiased way to report child abuse in Georgia schools: All means of reporting child abuse, be it DFACS, county police and/or the Professional Standards Commission, remand complaints back to the school districts for their own internal investigation. The school district then has their human resource department “conduct” an investigation. This person in HR is not a licensed counselor and/or social worker trained to investigate, yet a person of hire for the district to investigate their own employee. Many times educators in Georgia are not acting as mandated reporters of child abuse as required by law for fear of retaliation. However, such failure of an educator to act as a mandated reporter could make the educator an accomplice to the crime of child abuse. Jurisdiction lines, giving the school’s campus police, who are for hire by the school district, primary jurisdiction for calls on school crimes, should be made secondary to allow the county police to have first line jurisdiction as to remove any bias in reporting: If there is no unbiased reporting, there is no investigation. Without investigation, there is no enforcement of law.
Teachers are protected by Zero Tolerance, sovereign immunity and school districts affording their attorney fees and legal defense at the tax payers’ expense: The system is stacked to protect the alleged abuser/educator for the sake of the school district and not the safety of the child. Educators also benefit by bills such as HB 1321, which became law in 2008: It penalizes the child/parent for reporting as under such law if the school district sees the allegation a parent or child makes on their own employee/educator as “false” or “frivilous” in their own warped “kangaroo court”, than the school district can penalize the parent and/or child and sue the parent–this law blocks the reporting of child abuse and was created to protect the school district from law suits. HB 1321, now law, further makes it look like the PSC is investigating because complaints are to be made to the PSC, but the PSC just remands complaints back to the district to allow the schools to investigate themselves…the fox watching the hen house…. Further, often times the school districts may know that an employee is allegedly abusing a child and instead of reporting it to the authorities, outside of the district and which do not remand back to the district (i.e.county police), they will put the employee on early retirement, pressure the employee to resign and/or transfer the employee to another school and the problem escalates with other children being abused.
Where is a child to go when he/she has to go to school by NCLB? What happens when the principal is abusing the child? What happens when the school district attorneys threaten to hot line the parents for not sending their child back to school to the abuser as to retaliate on the parent for reporting? The federal government is seeing a consistent theme of school districts making false allegations to Child Protection to retaliate against parents and taking note on the county school districts involved in doing such alleged illegal acts.
I have worked in special ed for six years in different schools and have found that when a safe environment is afforded for children, it creates a safe environment for teachers too. DO NO HARM.
InAtlanta
August 15th, 2009
8:41 am
Your right Cnythia. Principals who send children to class with fractured arms are practicing child abuse. Often in these situations, the principal will blame teachers for not doing their job, yell how she wants them fired. I think they are taught how to cover ass and pass the blame in schooln at an early age, this and how to make a peachy keen bulletin boards. THrough experience I will tell you anyone who reports incidences will face job loss, harassment and unemployment. Educators shy away from controversy, else Al Sharpton and the state would be attempting to resolve bullying in the schools along with this issue.
terry
August 15th, 2009
10:37 am
sorry MAM, I would be annoyed too, but I wouldn’t want to thrwo the kid to the curb. Every child deserves an education IN SCHOOL. Why don’t you use that as an opportunity for a teachable moment. Is that too much trouble? Or is the kid a throwaway? Stop blaming kids and lift them up, not tear them down
ScienceTeacher671
August 15th, 2009
11:23 am
terry, you seem to be assuming that every child is in school to learn.
terry
August 15th, 2009
11:36 am
No, I am assuming teachers are paid to teach and in some instances INSPIRE kids who really have no interest in learning. All kids have that potential
katherine
August 15th, 2009
12:06 pm
Do not just call it child abuse – many seniors in high school turn 18 before they graduate. They can be victims of abuse by teachers just as younger students. What happens when a teacher slaps an 18 year old? Nothing. Even when witnessed by an entire class? Nothing. Just cover up by the teacher, principal and Henry County School system.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 15th, 2009
12:19 pm
Terry,
A student tells a teacher “You’re one ho I’d like to pimp” and your response is to say stop blaming the student?
If that same student said those words to your daughter, would you be happy to merrily suggest the student remain in the room while the teacher inspires him with teachable moments?
Resolve
August 15th, 2009
12:38 pm
I now understand why there is an eroding respect for educators. When given the topic of child abuse to ponder (even by educators), the response is to blame the child and the system. When discussing a CHILD being hurt, the response is what about me- UNBELIEVABLE!
ScienceTeacher671
August 15th, 2009
12:52 pm
INSPIRING kids who really have no interest in learning is not one of the skills they really teach in education school, unfortunately.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 15th, 2009
12:59 pm
Terry, I just want to ask, if a student told your own daughter, and not the teacher “You’re one ho I’d like to pimp” would you want the student to remain in class while the teacher uses his words as a teachable moment to inspire?
Would you tell your own daughter “Stop blaming the student; lift him up, don’t tear him down”?
terry
August 15th, 2009
1:43 pm
scienceteacher – that is unfortunate. When I was a kid in high school (70’s), everybody talked about World Literature and how awful the class was, how awful the teacher was. I did everything to try to skip that class when ever I could. I tell you I hated that class at first. But it was the TEACHER that made the material relevant to me and by the end of that year I absolutely loved literature, after nearly flunking out in that class. It was Mr. Reddy, toughest teacher in the whole school, but also the most inspiring. This teacher inspired me beyond literature and made his lessons relevant to students of the day. That’s what I am talking. I will never forget that class, nor will I ever forget Mr. Reddy.
MAM – i don’t know fi you are a teacher or a parent or both, but for one thing, the situation should not be handled in front of the whole class, it should be handled in private and certainly not on a public blog board either. JMHO
ScienceTeacher671
August 15th, 2009
1:50 pm
Of course teachers TRY to make lessons interesting and inspirational, but it’s impossible for even the most gifted teachers to reach EVERY student, especially if those students come from homes where education is not valued – or perhaps even ridiculed – or where other, more important needs are not being met (see Maslow).
ScienceTeacher671
August 15th, 2009
1:53 pm
Apparently everything longer than one sentence that I post today is being eaten by the blog monster, and I’m not even related to Dr. John Trotter.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 15th, 2009
1:55 pm
Terry, your answer is a complete, total cop out.
If your own daughter has just been told “You’re one ho I’d like to pimp.” do you, or do you not blame the student for making that statement to your daughter?
Do you or do you not want the student to remain in class with your daughter, after subjecting your own daughter to that level of abuse?
Gwinnett citizen
August 15th, 2009
1:58 pm
Resolve is right–why is the topic of this blog–abusing students–being turned into a petty argument between some posters about student misbehavior? Resolve, I hope that you are not judging teachers based on the tit-for-tat that is appearing here. The safety of students comes first, and anyone harming a child (in school or out) should be held accountable. I would hope that all adults, especially those who work with children, would wholeheartedly agree.
Yes, there is also the issue of students harming teachers, but that isn’t the topic of this thread!
terry
August 15th, 2009
2:05 pm
my answer is not a cop out.. You are not nearly giving enough info for me to make a judgment call.
As a parent, I know my rights,… which if my child is unsafe.. I can move to another school within the county. It’s clearly stated in provisions of NCLB. If I needed to I would get an attorney, possibly petition a court, possibly get a restraining order… but hey you’re giving me bits and pieces, so please don’t call it a cop out.,
Maureen's accountability metric
August 15th, 2009
3:08 pm
Well Terry, all I can say is that I am fairly certain, when it comes to the readers of this blog, if a student of sound mind and body told one of their own daughters “You’re one ho I’d like to pimp.” readers of this blog wouldn’t have much of a problem with the student being blamed for the words he voluntarily chose to say.
I’m sure if a reader disagrees with the above statement, they’ll post their reasons why.
terry
August 15th, 2009
3:20 pm
MAM – how do you know said child ‘has no mental disabilities’.. It’s not likely you have access to said child’s medical file – the way things are with our healthcare system, the child may not have access to any mental health care whatsoever.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 15th, 2009
3:45 pm
So Terry, you’re saying that you would willingly subject your own daughter to the abuse of a student telling her “You’re one ho I’d like to pimp” and have the student remain in the classroom on the off chance he might have an undisclosed medical condition?
I wonder how many readers on this blog would willingly subject their own daughters to the same?
terry
August 15th, 2009
4:20 pm
that is not what i said MAM, go back and read.
Jessica
August 15th, 2009
7:15 pm
Teachers AND students who abuse others should be removed from the classroom.
Terry, every child deserves the OPPORTUNITY to get an education in school. If a child, especially an older child, blows that chance by abusing teachers or other students, he/she should lose that opportunity. Maybe the kid will get another chance via distance learning or private school (if any will take the little miscreant), but kids who threaten others should not stay in public school classrooms.
Why should we expect our kids and their teachers to put up with rude, criminal behavior that none of us would tolerate in our workplaces?
terry
August 15th, 2009
10:15 pm
It’s obvious to me that some folks do not understand FAPE. nor the access to safeguards and parental rights, nor the access to functional behavior supports and IEPs, and behavior plans and services.
Craig Spinks /Augusta
August 16th, 2009
2:01 am
The most damaging abuse occurring in contemporary public schooling does not involve the headline-grabbing topic of corporal punishment, a disciplinary technique whose use I never witnessed in a 30* – year teaching career. Rather, the most serious abuse I witnessed in my professional capacity- and continue to witness as a volunteer in local public schools- is the abuse of children’s educational opportunities by slack enforcement of classroom deportment policies. On most days since I first entered a public school classroom on October 10, 1970, I’ve witnessed students’ disruptive classroom behavior abuse more kids’ opportunities to gain knowledge about and acquire skills in Reading, Math, Science, Social Studies and Writing than I’ve witnessed any abuse of our kids through the use of corporal punishment. Why don’t media report more about the former abuse than about the latter?
Dr. Craig Spinks /Augusta
August 16th, 2009
2:12 am
The most damaging abuse in public schools doesn’t involve headline-grabbing corporal punishment. Rather, it involves the massive and dangerous abuse of young minds which occurs when public school classrooms are so disrupted by inappropriate student behaviors that these places cease to be LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS.
Just a quick question
August 16th, 2009
10:59 am
To go back to the article at hand, why isn’t there any school counselors, school social workers, or school psychologists on the Governor’s little committee? These are the main mandatory reporters of child abuse–be it the kind that occurs at home or at school. Why isn’t the committee a little more well-rounded?
These professionals, along with experienced special education teachers, would be a priceless addition to help address this very issue. It appears our government is just more interested in doing what is “politically” right, not what is in the best interests of our students and our employees.
ScienceTeacher671
August 16th, 2009
11:20 am
Not to mention, why isn’t anyone on the committee from south Georgia?
terry
August 16th, 2009
12:41 pm
I think medical professionals, pediatricians and nurses ought to be on this task force. After they all, are some of the first responders and treat children who are the victims. How about psychologists and therapists? I agree, this is not a well-rounded task force.
Rosie
August 16th, 2009
10:52 pm
Terry,
What have you been reading? I haven’t heard of any child in the State of Georgia admitted to a hosital for injuries related to corporal punishment at school. I’m with Dr. Spinks on this one- the only abuse going on in schools is the abuse of children wanting to learn by the children disrupting the educational environment. This is usually due to the fact the disruptive students do not value education because their parents don’t value it, but instead consider it babysitting. These are the same parents raising a stink everytime someone mentions a four-day school week. Corporal punishment is an option in Georgia schools, but does not happen very often.
terry
August 17th, 2009
6:01 pm
To Rosie — did you read the article from south Georgia – -probably not. Yes, children are injured from this practice. Please stop the denial. It’s a problem that we as Georgians need to deal with.
terry
August 17th, 2009
6:08 pm
It does not compute that it is lawful in the state of Georgia for someone in the education system to be able to take a wooden board and hit a child. The hitter can be couple of hundred pounds, the child weighs what …60, 70, 80 ,100 pounds. Please give me a break. How many children attend school that have medical conditions, such as a bleeding disorder or brittle bone syndrome perhaps. I can’t believe what I am reading on these blogs… and can’t believe that the option of ‘paddling’ should even be left to the discretion of a district to use on a child. God help the children.
Batgirl
August 18th, 2009
1:45 pm
I just want to know where some of you people come up with this crap. I don’t even know where to begin. I am not saying there are no problems in public schools or with some teachers; however, the bile spewed by some posters is simply false, and there are plenty of gullible rubes out there who want to believe the worst.
In my school, students are rarely paddled anymore, and when they are, it is usually after a major infraction or series of infractions for which other punishments (break detention, lunch detention, etc.) have failed. Teachers are not allowed to give paddlings; they are given by administrators. By the way, some students ask to be paddled rather than serve time in In School Suspension. They would rather get it over with and go back to being disruptive rather than go to ISS where they must sit in silence and at least pretend to do their assignments.
As for teachers whining that they are the ones who are being abused, I have experienced the abuse (not physical, but verbal and emotional) and I’ve witnessed it. Five years ago, my last period class was pure he**. I had some wonderful kids, especially the girls, but there waas a group of about 5 or 6 boys who made it their mission to disrupt and humiliate me on a daily basis. Of course, they were disruptive in other classes, too, so we often called their parents for meetings. One parent even laughed and said that he was proud that his son was coming out of his shell. Shockingly, when he got to high school, he put a stink bomb in an air conditioner, got suspended and never went back.
I have now been in the library for five years and no longer have to put up with that sort of behavior. However, I occasionally see poor treatment of other teachers by students, and I am quick to make my displeasure known. I am also quick to defend students who I believe are not being treated fairly.
Terry, the forms that parents fill out at the beginning of the year include information on medical conditions, so teachers and administrators would be well aware if a child sufferred such serious conditions as bleeding disorders or brittle bones. In fact, the boy whose father thought it was cool that he was coming out of his shell was a hemophiliac. He was never touched despite his asinine behaviors.
Now, that I have finished my rant, let me say that I do hope that where there is true abuse, it is uncovered, and I hope that the governor will also look at charter schools and private schools rather than just pointing his finger at public schools. He might also want to look at little harder at families since that is where most abuse occurs.
EBD teacher
August 18th, 2009
6:22 pm
Students that are served under RESAs are students with severe emotional and behavioral problems. These students are two steps away from prison or hospitalization. These students do not mind assaulting teachers and/or other students. So what is a teacher to do? Let the student fight everyone in the class. Some of these kids only know aggression, and through aggression you can make them sit down, thus the learning can begin!!!!
terry
August 18th, 2009
8:39 pm
Batgirl – While I appreciate your comment, there is absolutely no fail safe way to NOT injure a student when paddled. Again, I give a scenario…suppose child is getting paddled and the child has a yet undetermined medical issue, then what? This has happened. Suppose said child has autism – and that diagnosis is also difficult, long and arduous. This makes no sense that anyone would justify or minimize the issue. 30 states educate without paddling at all. So please explain that you think it is better that children choose to be paddled. There is no empirical study or data that says it works, in fact.. you yourself stated that it doesn’t change behavior….so the question is, why are schools using it at all, when 1. it doesn’t work 2. harm does occur. Is this a best educational practice– I would say a resounding NO.
Kathy
August 18th, 2009
9:15 pm
How about giving parents a voucher to let their child attend any school, including schools outside the district and/or private facilities? It seems like a win win outcome. Teachers and administrators could ensure and even use persuasion to help parents choose the right school for little Suzy Q. Parents who are not satisfied with the education process can pack up their kid and shop around for a school principal who has values, beliefs, and practices parents can live with.
OK, wait a minute…. I just realized this would mean somebody might lose their “captured audience, which are the kids zoned for their school, which means vouchers would cost some school districts MONEY if kids leave. Thus, the pushback from school districts on HB 251, intra-school choice.
However, you have to admit, maintaining the status quo of restraints, seclusion or solitary confinement, and especially spanking kids IS ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!! Why, who doesn’t like a freebie, which esentially boils down to….the ends justify the means. Shame on us that it has to be children who pay. Stop it with the kids….come after parents, hold us accountable. Leave the children out of the middle.
KidsRpeople2
August 19th, 2009
8:08 am
Regarding where us tax-paying, voting, parents (educators are paid by us and entrusted with our most precious future, our children, leaders of tomorrow)come up with this crap, you are invited to enter Congressman George Miller’s (he is the Chairman of the U.S. House Education Committee that is currently holding hearings on Abusive and DEADLY practices in schools) name into any internet search engine and read posted testimony and witness video of testimony of abuse of children in schools by school employees, from the hearings for yourselves. You are invited to get involved to make a positive difference in the lives of children, ALL OF OUR FUTURES DEPEND ON IT!
Tina
August 28th, 2009
3:34 pm
Enter your comments here
mdowney
August 28th, 2009
4:02 pm
Tina, Your long comment did not post. I tried to post it myself, but it would not for some reason. You may want to repost it in two messages.
Please note that the comment to which you were referring here is not a comment from me as moderator of this blog but a poster who uses my first name in their screen name.
Thanks, Maureen Downey