Copyright ©2010. The Associated Press. Produced by NewsOK.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Law gives Oklahoma educators additional protection
The second session of the 52nd Legislature opened Monday.
Who will push for what, who will author and who might benefit?
Of the 2,510 bills and 88 joint resolutions filed last year, 480 bills and resolutions were sent to
Gov. Brad Henry for consideration. Working with a GOP-run Legislature for the first time in his two terms, the Democratic governor vetoed 21 bills.
NewsOK Related Articles
-
Gov. Brad Henry calls out plan’s critics
02/06/2010 MIDWEST CITY — Gov. Brad Henry defended his proposed budget ideas Friday and challenged lawmakers who disagree with them to come up with possible...
One bill signed into law, House Bill 1598, created the School Protection Act, making it a misdemeanor for people 18 years or older to make false accusations against education employees.
Joel Robison, associate executive director of the Oklahoma Education Association, talked about why members of the group felt legislation was needed; Rep. Daniel Sullivan, R-Tulsa, spoke about authoring the bill; and Kevin McDonald, president of the Edmond Association of Classroom Teachers, shared what he thinks it may mean for teachers.
The bill originated out of an ever-increasing occurrence of physical assaults on education employees in our schools, Robison said.
"We believe that education employees are not being adequately protected by school boards and administrators,” he said. "Too many times employees have been assaulted by students and have been out of the classroom longer than the students.”
So, they wanted the bill to protect school employees from lawsuits, to provide penalties for students who make false accusations against employees, to require students be suspended after an assault and to allow the employee time to recover from the assault without using his or her accumulated leave.
"Many times students have made false accusations against school employees in retaliation for poor grades or discipline given in a classroom,” Robison said. "We hope that the penalty will be a deterrent to false accusations being made. We believe the penalty is sufficient. Community service requirements are what is being contemplated as a penalty for making false accusations.”
So why did you agree to author this bill?
"As someone that believes that lawsuits should not be used to keep people from doing the right thing, we wanted to eliminate that risk and allow teachers to do their jobs,” Sullivan said.
The bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore.
Sullivan said the bill was introduced in 2008 and was vetoed. Then some technical changes were made. In 2009, it passed 91-1 in the House and 45-1 in the Senate.
Asked about the "18 years or older” specification, Sullivan said charges for those younger than 18 are handled through the juvenile justice system.
"Unfortunately, many of the threats have come from parents and they would be in the adult category,” he said.
Also because of this law, education employees assaulted do not have to take personal leave for time missed, Sullivan said.
McDonald said of course teachers want to feel safe. But the fact that this bill eliminates the penalty teachers face of taking their own leave days is equally important.
"The insult added to injury when your own leave days are dissipated is thoroughly frustrating and disenchanting for those called to the profession,” he said.
McDonald said protection brings peace-of-mind.
"All teachers would rather focus their energies on their classrooms, their students, and their own families,” he said, "instead of having to deal with legal action for doing something that is an actual job responsibility.”
Contributing: Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
News Photo Galleriesview all
Prev
If you prefer your thoughts to appear in The Oklahoman, we encourage you to submit a letter to the editor.
Would you like to leave a comment?
Log in or sign up (it's free).