Education

Rep. Michele Bachmann is one of about 50 Republican members of Congress calling for the firing of Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. The letter objects to Jennings’ “promotion of homosexuality” and accuses Jennings of violating “mandatory reporter” requirements. But the letter, penned by Iowa Rep. [...]

Bowing to pressure from some parents in the district, the superintendent of schools in Fergus Falls is directing teachers not to show President Obama’s live “Back to School” speech to students next week. But while some call the speech unprecedented, in 1991 the roles were reversed: a Republican president was blasted by Democrats for the same type of address to students.

Two teachers accusing of coordinated harassment of a student have been put on leave by the Anoka-Hennepin School District. The school district has come under heavy criticism for what community members see as lax disciplinary action against Diane Cleveland and Walter Filson, who are accused of repeatedly harassing one of their students because they thought he was gay.

Students, teachers and concerned residents of the Anoka-Hennepin School District crowded into the district’s board meeting on Monday evening to vent their concerns after learning that the district paid out $25,000 to a student who says he was continually harassed by two district teachers because they thought he was gay.

Concerned residents say they will demonstrate at the board meeting of the Anoka-Hennepin School District on Monday evening following news reports that two teachers in the district conspired to harass a student they thought was gay. The district agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a human rights complaint filed by the student’s parent.

Alleged anti-gay harassment at the hands of teachers at a north metro school district cost taxpayers $25,000, the Star Tribune reports. The settlement addresses exactly the kind of hostile school environment an anti-bullying bill vetoed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty was supposed to address.

Communities around the state are struggling to deal with the budget cuts imposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotment authority. Pawlenty signed into law $2.7 billion in cuts to local government aid, human services grants, higher education and medical assistance for the poor. Many parts of the state are bracing for the impact.

An Ohio family is suing its local high school after their son, 17-year-old Eric Mohat, took his own life. The family says that the school ignored Eric’s pleas for help as his fellow students ridiculed him with homophobic taunts even though he didn’t identify as gay. But they are not suing for money. Eric’s parents are suing to force the school to institute a comprehensive anti-bullying program, exactly the type of program that faces an upcoming vote in the Minnesota House and Senate.

A bill to strengthen anti-bullying laws passed the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, but not before anti-gay groups testified against it because a provision in the bill would have schools address bullying based on sexual orientation, in addition to 14 other characteristics.

For more than a decade, the Anoka-Hennepin School Board had a policy that forbade teachers and students from speaking about homosexuality, except to describe it as abnormal or invalid. But the board Monday approved a more inclusive policy after years of work by community members to make the district more accepting of all students.