Oppose

The purpose of the proposed bill, known as the "Dignity for All Students Act", is to afford all students in public schools an environment free of discrimination and harassment, to foster civility in public schools and to prevent and prohibit conduct which is inconsistent with a school's educational mission. These goals are admirable, but unattainable, and would place a great financial burden on the local school district, and thus the local taxpayer.

In this time of fiscal difficulty, the prudence of spending every tax dollar should be weighed in light of its expected and measurable results. There will be costs associated with the development of new regulations and the required additional training by school personnel in each district. Bullying cannot be stopped by any New York State Legislative action. The state should not be expending additional dollars in a fruitless effort.

Despite significant and ever-increasing school funding, many public schools remain only marginally effective or are even failing to meet educational goals. Schools should focus on educating students, not on satisfying special-interest mandates with valuable class time and resources.

Already enacted character-based curriculum requires education in civility, tolerance, personal responsibility, respect for others, courtesy and dignity. Misbehavior by or against students in public schools should be remedied through existing public school disciplinary procedures such as early intervention, detention, suspension and even expulsion.

Additionally, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms is concerned that public school faculty and staff could be unfairly targeted by fellow faculty, staff or students who are granted immunity from any civil liability when allegations of harassment, intimidation or discrimination are made against an individual.

The reality is that “actual or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex” is extremely vague. Who determines what is “actual or perceived”? Is it the individual being accused of discrimination or the one who is claiming he was discriminated against? For example, does a student gain a new right to self-identify as another race or ethnicity if he so chooses? Is the burden on everyone else to understand how the individual perceives himself? This is simply an unfair burden to place on society as a whole.

For these reasons, NYCF urges the defeat of this legislation.