By: Brittney Clark –
In February 2014 in North Platte, Nebraska, Mark Woodhead, a physical education teacher of 30 years, was confronted with an unruly child. A third-grader was misbehaving, throwing balls at other students. He refused to go to the designated time out room, but instead walked out of class to the office. Woodhead followed the 8 year-old boy, grabbed him by the ankles and dragged him 90 feet back to the time out room. The child suffered carpet burns on his back. After 15 hours of testimony and private deliberation, Woodhead was allowed to keep his job.
In response to this, State Senator Mike Groene of North Platte proposed Legislative Bill 595. This would allow teachers or administrators to use physical force or physical restraint to subdue violent students. Teachers or administrators could also use physical restraint on students who are damaging school property. In addition, the bill would bar any type of legal action or administrative discipline against teachers using physical means to deal with students. LB 595 would make it clear that teachers can remove students from their classrooms who have been repeatedly unruly, disruptive or abusive. These students would then not be able to return to the classroom without the teacher’s consent.
“This bill will give teachers and administrators the assurance that they have control over their classroom without fear of legal action or administrative discipline, as long as their conduct was reasonable,” said Groene at a hearing for LB 595 on February 7, 2017.
However, teachers are already protected; any incident would go through LPS. Nonetheless, this is a pressing issue for teachers and politicians alike.
“Discipline in the classrooms is of the utmost importance in order to allow students to focus and learn, and teachers to effectively communicate to the entire class,” said Groene. “I introduced this bill because of what I heard. Children are showing up with no boundaries. It’s disruptive, it’s hard to teach.”
Groene rattled off a list of states in which have similar legislation in place, such as Alaska, Arizona, and California, to further his point that LB 595 isn’t extreme or excessive.
“[It’s] always for the good of the child, for the good of the classroom,” said Groene. “This is not corporal punishment. In our statute we specifically say this cannot be construed as corporal punishment — [It’s a] big difference: restraint, not punishment. This is not a form of punishment. This is control of a classroom.”
Jay Sears testified in favor of the bill on behalf of the 28,000 members of the Nebraska State Education Association. Sears has worked for the NSEA for 33 years. According to Sears, in a recent survey conducted by the NSEA, 80 percent of teachers said they’ve seen an increase of behavioral problems in the last few years and 60 percent said it was the biggest problem facing their classroom.
“Many of them [teachers] don’t want to become physically involved in any altercations because they know violence begets violence and that’s not a good model,” said Sears. “Teachers don’t want to send kids out of a classroom because that’s where they learn, but they also know sometimes students have to be someplace else so they can calm down, get a hold of themselves, think about where they’re at, make good decisions, and come back.”
As a result, many of the state’s districts are working through different types of programs, such as Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS.)
“Where it’s introduced and implemented with fidelity, the climate in schools change,” said Sears.
LB 595 would likely cause a school’s climate to change as well. The survey done by the NSEA also reported that 70 percent of teachers didn’t know they already could use physical contact in the classroom. State law chapter 79, statute 258 allows “physical contact short of corporal punishment to the degree necessary to preserve order and control in the school environment.” Groene believes “there is a gap” missing because no specific guidelines are outlined in the state law for what a teacher can or cannot do. The purpose of LB 595 is to fill this gap, but guidelines have not yet been specified.
Brad Meurrens, public policy director for the Disability Rights of Nebraska, believes that is the bill’s greatest flaw.
“This bill contains no provisions for staff training, no delineation regarding when staff are authorized to use restraint or what types of restraint would allowed,” said Meurrens. “The bill has no provisions for staff to utilize less averse techniques to de-escalate potential situations first, nor does it give any guidance to when situations require the use of physical force over restraint. With no definition of ‘physically violent, disruptive behavior,’ this bill is unclear on too many critical issues for it to be an effective law or a vehicle to secure the safety of students.”
Meurrens also questions its effectiveness.
“Since the use of restraint is already allowed, yet behavioral problems persist, the solvency of this bill’s approach is questionable at best,” said Meurrens.
Due to other uncertain variables, many were ready to testify in opposition of this bill. Karen Haase, an attorney in private practice, has worked exclusively representing school districts in Nebraska.
“Although I think Senator Groene has put his finger on a crying need in the state of Nebraska, which is the need for mental health resources for young children in Nebraska, I believe LB 595 is bad public policy,” said Haase. “It’s bad for teachers, bad for schools, and bad for kids.”
Her solution is simple.
“If the child does not have mental illness issues and is disruptive, I believe we should go through the Student Discipline Act,” said Haase.
The Nebraska Student Discipline Act defines the grounds which a student can be suspended, short or long term, or expelled, and the proper procedures for executing both. In cases in which mental illnesses are present, she advocates for additional resources.
“Every educational service in this state [should] provide the regionalized mental health and behavior placement so that a student could be sent to a program that has the specialized training of a behavioral therapist and social workers,” said Haase.
Jane Byers, testifying on behalf of the Nebraska Association of Special Education Administrators, believes LB 595 would be in direct conflict with special education laws and would result in “unethical and logistical challenges to our responsibilities to all children.”
“As was published in Education Week of 2016, students with disabilities represent 67 percent of those who were restrained or secluded in the ‘14-’15 school year, while only making up 12 percent of the total student population,” said Byers. “Data disparity alone does not prove discrimination, but the existence of that disparity does raise question.”
Lynn Redding is a Nebraskan with a disability who has had restraints used on her in school. She feels as if this bill is a step backwards.
“While I think teachers should be able to defend themselves and keep other students safe, I do not see this bill as moving us toward a safe environment in schools for both teachers and students,” said Redding. “I fear that letting teachers be free of potential discipline or legal actions will allow the potential for abusive situations to occur. There is a line that needs to be drawn to protect a child, even one engaging in a bad behavior. This bill would allow the teacher to continue their behavior without a review.”
Not only does Redding believe this bill could elicit aggressive actions from teachers, she believes it would create complications when untrained teachers are touching students.
“Having been restrained in the past, I could assure you, without proper training, you endanger the teacher and the child,” said Redding. “LB 595 is short-sided and is reactionary to one incident that only looks at one side of the issue.”
Between the negative feedback and the well-articulated criticism, the likelihood of LB 595 passing without revision is slim. However, it’s important to stay informed.
Visit http://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/ and search “595” to track its progress.