School District Fails Teachers Who Stand Up Against Policy Prohibiting LGBT Discussions
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on September 29th, 2011 4:36 am by HL
School District Fails Teachers Who Stand Up Against Policy Prohibiting LGBT Discussions
The Anoka-Hennepin school district in Minnesota is at the center of a major lawsuit and federal investigation over its so-called “neutrality policy,” which prohibits staff from teaching about homosexuality and fosters an anti-gay culture of harassment and bullying. Eight students have committed suicide over the last two years, and the situation in Annoka-Hennepin is so […]
The Anoka-Hennepin school district in Minnesota is at the center of a major lawsuit and federal investigation over its so-called “neutrality policy,” which prohibits staff from teaching about homosexuality and fosters an anti-gay culture of harassment and bullying. Eight students have committed suicide over the last two years, and the situation in Annoka-Hennepin is so bad that state public health officials have labeled the area a “suicide contagion area” because of the unusually high death rate.
Yet today, the Minnesota Independent reports that the school district is failing teachers who refuse to endorse the neutrality policy, taking a stand against the dangerously antiquated idea that less discussion about LGBT issues somehow makes “students feel safe”:
Some teachers at Anoka-Hennepin School District have failed a teachers test because they refused to affirm that the district’s policy limiting discussions of LGBT issues in the district’s schools is intended to make “students feel safe.”
The district’s policy is at the heart of a culture war in the district and is the subject of a lawsuit by six students and their parents who say the district has not taken appropriate steps to prevent bullying against students who are, or are perceived to be, LGBT.
City Pages reported on Wednesday that a training test required by all teachers contains the question: “One of the goals of the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy is to ensure all of our students feel safe and respected in our classrooms and/or while participating in school activities: true or false?”
City Pages notes that several teachers in the district are refusing to answer “true,” which causes them to fail the training test.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), whose congressional district includes the Anoka-Hennepin schools, faced criticism for remaining silent on epidemic of gay bullying and suicides for months. When the presidential candidate finally weighed in this month, all she had to say about the bullying contagion claiming so many lives in her district was, “not a federal issue.”
Mother Jones notes that groups like the Bachmann-supported Minnesota Family Council have been blamed for contributing to the tragic deaths with their vocal statements that gay teens who commit suicide bring it upon themselves “because they’ve embraced an unhealthy sexual identity and lifestyle.”
GOP Congressman Claims Health Law Will Hand Over ?Private Health Care Data? To ?Federal Bureaucrats?
Rep. Tim Huelskam (R-KS) is alleging that a new Affordable Care Act regulation could require insurers to fork over personal patient information to the government” and force companies to “share sensitive information about their business models.” The rule — which is not yet finalized — is the result of a provision in the law that […]
Rep. Tim Huelskam (R-KS)
Rep. Tim Huelskam (R-KS) is alleging that a new Affordable Care Act regulation could require insurers to fork over personal patient information to the government” and force companies to “share sensitive information about their business models.” The rule — which is not yet finalized — is the result of a provision in the law that establishes a “risk adjustment” mechanism to compensate insurers who take on too many sick patients; it’s intended to level the playing field and discourage companies from cherry-picking applicants.
But Huelskam — along with Fox News — are suddenly raising privacy concerns about the rule:
“We think the rule is stepping well beyond where we should be,” Huelskamp told FoxNews.com Tuesday. “There was never any indication that I know that this private health care data would be in the hands of federal bureaucrats.”…”The end result is a bureaucrat would have access to individual claims data,” he said. […]
“Folks out there would love to see their individual business records … and that would hurt their market competition as a result of that,” he said, reflecting the concerns of the insurance company that contacted him. “The risk modeling by which they determine their premiums, by which they determine who qualifies … they spent many years and many dollars putting together their model.”
HHS insists that it is committed to ensuring patient privacy and is currently soliciting comments from the health care industry and the general public about how best to bolster patient confidentiality. As Media Matters’ Justin Berrier pointed out yesterday, HHS recognizes that, “this approach may raise concerns related to consumer privacy and standard submission formats. Accordingly, we propose national standards to address each of these issues. We seek comment on the proposed approach, as well as comments on the potential advantages and disadvantages of the alternative approaches.” The reinsurance provision in the ACA strikes a similar tone: ” The State, or HHS on behalf of the State, must make relevant claims and encounter data collected under risk adjustment available to support claims-related activities as follows…(1) Provide HHS with de-identified claims and encounter data for use in recalibrating Federally-certified risk adjustment models.”
HHS has extended to comment period for the proposed rule to Oct. 31 and will issue a final regulation shortly thereafter.
