I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
Photo from flickr: Eddie~S
“We think in this country, bullying should not exist,” said Duncan in a national conference call. “A school must address bullying no matter the basis of the bullying or harassment.”
The press briefing to detail an official guidance from the department comes on the heels of a series of high profile suicides across the nation attributed to bullying. The letter specifically details how some bullying and harassment could rise to the level of violating federal civil rights laws — and a failure to act could open that district to civil rights actions in courts.
“Are we putting people on notice?” asked Russlynn Ali, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Department of Education. “I think, yes.”
Specifically, Ali’s “Dear Colleague” letter opens the door to address anti-gay bullying as a form of discrimination on the basis of sex.
“Anti-gay bullying is often based on the person not conforming to gender stereotypes,” said Duncan. “Discrimination based on those gender stereotypes is prohibited sex discrimination.”
Just last week, 17-year-old Cassandra Morris dropped out of the Ogemaw Heights schools because of bullying and harassment over her sexual orientation.
The Department said that bullying was not limited to those who are gay or perceived to be gay. The department has noticed a trend of harassment and discrimination based on the perceived ethnic or racial category a person might belong to as well, sometimes based on their religion.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm used her Facebook page to put pressure on Senate Republicans earlier this month to pass anti-bullying legislation which has languished in that chamber.
“We cannot speculate on what impact the federal guidelines will have but we certainly hope they have an impact,” said Katie Carey, a spokesperson for Granholm Tuesday. “In the meantime, the Governor will continue to urge the Senate to take action on the bullying legislation.”
The new guidance also had East Lansing parent Kevin Epling speaking out. Epling’s son Matt committed suicide after being bullied in East Lansing. Since that time, Epling has been a leading voice in the fight to pass anti-bullying legislation named after his son — Matt’s Safe Schools Law.
He also lashed out at Senate Republicans.
“As for the bill we’ll see. The main wild card is Sen. Alan Cropsey [R-DeWitt]. He can still hold it against the wishes of his collagues,” said Epling. “His fellow legislators should find a way to overrule him or get around him and move it forward. Most are all leaving office and won’t have to fear reprisals. This is an issue this body has delayed that they should not leave to others to clean up.”
Cropsey singlehandedly scuttled a last minute attempt to pass a compromise bill in the last hours of the 2008 lame duck session. Cropsey refused to allow the bill to come to a vote on the Senate floor.
But some Michigan residents are not as pleased with the new guidance.
Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, told Messenger he was concerned about the guidance.
“All victims of violence should have equal access to justice, with no group given special treatment, preference, or protection over another,” said Glenn. “Yet if we understand the new federal guidelines correctly, they establish special protections for, for example, a male student who is bullied for wearing a dress to school, while a young woman who is bullied because she’s seen praying at lunch is denied equal access to the same protection under federal law. This specially anointed victimhood status for some, but not for others, makes clear why the last thing we need patrolling the halls of our local schools is a federally appointed bullying monitor.”
Glenn and his organization have opposed legislation to prohibit bullying in Michigan, claiming that it is really promoting the “homosexual agenda.”
But the guidance from the Office of Civil Rights restricts itself only to bullying that amounts to discriminatory harassment under federal law because those are the laws the OCR can enforce. And those laws only deal with discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, and disability. Religion is not included in those federal laws, but the letter does note that many states have gone beyond federal law and adopted bans on bullying based on sexual orientation and religion as well.
The guidance also clearly states that even when such bullying does not violate federal law, “schools should still seek to prevent it in order to protect students from the physical and emotional harms that it may cause.”
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