Edrights.org



January 29, 2019The Honorable Betsy DeVosSecretaryU.S. Department of Education400 Maryland Avenue, SWWashington, D.C. 20202Re: ED-2018-OCR-0064 Dear Secretary DeVos,Our students deserve a school community free from sexual harassment.As teachers, the safety and wellness of our students is our most important charge. The proposed rule changes to Title IX, specifically those dealing with sexual harassment, will make our schools a more dangerous place for all students.We believe these proposed changes to be a misguided attempt to protect against false accusations. As teachers, we know and have seen the damage that sexual harassment does to our students and their education. We have not seen such damage from false reports, have not seen those reports in anywhere near the numbers that would justify these changes. It has been, and remains, a terrifyingly difficult thing for a victim to report sexual harassment. It is those victims, and those too afraid to speak up, we should be working to protect. It is voices of those victims we should be most committed to hearing and trusting.Now is the time to strongly voice our support of victims of sexual harassment, as well as to affirm that no school should turn a blind eye to the harassment of the students it is duty-bound to protect. We are deeply concerned the proposed rule changes send the opposite message; that they will help to protect the perpetrators of harassment and encourage schools to minimize, if not completely ignore, the voices of endangered youth who are asking for our help.By restricting the definition of sexual harassment, and by contracting the parameters of when and how schools are required to respond, we disempower schools and teachers at a time and with an issue that we need more guidance and more resources to combat.Our school community expands far beyond the walls of our school. Part of the proposed rule changes would require schools to ignore a sexual harassment claim outside of a school program or activity. This change is as short-sighted as it is dangerous. Social Media and smartphones have expanded the reach of damaging and cruel behavior to the homes and hands of our students long after the school day has ended, but the impacts on their safety during the school day are no less. This is a time for clear messages and strong leadership from our Department of Education. We need leadership that takes the safety of our students as seriously as we do, and that acts to protect our students and rejects any policies that compromise students’ safety in our schoolsSincerely,Brett Bigham, Oregon Teacher of the YearSydney Chaffee, 2017 National Teacher of the Year and MA Teacher of the YearDr. Jemelleh Coes, Georgia Teacher of the YearMelissa Collins, Global Teacher Prize Finalist – Top 50 in 2018Megan Olivia Hall, Minnesota Teacher of the YearRick Joseph, Michigan Teacher of the YearAthanasia (Sia) Kyriakakos, Maryland Teacher of the YearEstella Owoimaha-Church, Global Teacher of the Year Finalist – Top 50 in 2017Thomas Rademacher, Minnesota Teacher of the YearMonica Washington, Texas Teacher of the YearKelisa Wing, DoDEA State Teacher of the YearMaryann Woods-Murphy, New Jersey Teacher of the YearAbdul Wright, Minnesota Teacher of the Year? ................
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