Minneapolis' schools adopts LGBT-inclusive sex ed, evidence-based anti-bullying
The Minneapolis Board of Education made history on Wednesday, in a couple different areas. The board swore-in Hussein Samatar, the first Somali-American elected to office in Minnesota. But it also took a little-noticed step toward ensuring equality for the district's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students in an anti-bullying resolution.
By a unanimous voice vote before the swearing-in of the five new board members, the board passed a resolution instructing district administrators to develop a district-wide system for tracking incidents of anti-LGBT harassment.
"I don't think showing videos of furry people holding hands does not protect children," Board member Chris Stewart said, referring to programming against bullying. "The bullies just snicker."
"For a long time there have been teachers and bus drivers and school cafeteria workers who've stood up to bullying," Minneapolis schools' Jessi Tebben said. "I want them to feel that they're not alone in doing that; that this is the work of our entire school district."
Go read the rest at Southwest Minneapolis Patch.
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James Sanna (james [dot] sanna [at] gmail [dot] com) is a freelance journalist covering K-12 education issues in Minnesota. He blogs at the Twin Cities School Notebook ( www.tcschools.wordpress.com )
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