Branstad plans anti-bullying summit

Gov. Terry Branstad is organizing another statewide anti-bullying summit for this fall with an eye toward new anti-bullying legislation for 2014.

The effort comes just four months after Branstad unveiled a controversial anti-bullying bill that was never called for a vote in the Republican-controlled Iowa House.

The key language in the bill explicitly gave school officials the authority to enforce off-campus incidents and legal protection if they chose not to act.

That was a step not all lawmakers were willing to take, so despite near-unanimous support in two committee hearings, the bill died.

“We're looking at possible legislation,” said Linda Fandel, special education assistant to Branstad. “We want to be able to move forward and better address some of the concerns that had been raised.”

Summit 2.0

Emails released by Branstad's office on the upcoming conference include messages about a $7,000 fee for keynote speaker Emily Bazelon.

She's a senior editor at Slate magazine, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and author of the book “Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy.”

Last year's keynote speaker was another popular author, Rosalind Wiseman, whose book, “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” was the basis for the movie “Mean Girls.”

In an email, Bazelon said her talk will focus on current anti-bullying laws, how people are using technology to both spread and combat bullying and whether bullying occurs to the degree that media reports suggest.

Other summit topics still are being worked out.

In one email, Fandel suggests to Iowa Department of Education consultant Penny Bisignano that the summit should include suicide awareness training sessions for adults and students.

“We need to be very careful about making it look like there is a direct link between bullying and suicide,” Bisignano writes back. “I have lots on that.”

Like last year, the state is seeking private donations to cover the cost. Staci Hupp, spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Education, said the 2012 summit cost $74,029 and was completely covered by sponsorship. She said the $11,000 that was left over will go toward the 2013 summit, tentatively set for Nov. 4. Any amount left over from the 2013 summit “will be used to help fund bullying prevention education and training for schools.”

New laws

Iowa is one of 41 states where bullying is covered in both state law and policy. The law prohibits harassment based on race, gender, sexual orientation or physical characteristics. It includes verbal, physical and electronic harassment.

But as seen by the introduction of a handful of bills this year, some lawmakers think it doesn't go far enough.

Rep. Chris Hall, a Democrat from Sioux City, pushed a bill in the 2013 session that would make parents liable for the actions of their children if they are persistent bullies. It was modeled on the idea that parents of persistent truants are held responsible for their children not showing up to school.

He said he isn't sure if he'll try for a similar bill in 2014, although he plans to work on anti-bullying legislation again.

“I understand there were some concerns, especially with the county prosecutors with the bill last time,” he said. “I'll talk with the members of my caucus and the Republicans to see if there's something we can find agreement on.”

Rep. Josh Byrnes, R-Osage, who was floor manager for the governor's bill through the committee process this year, said he expects to be involved again next year.

I think there needs to be more discussion with everybody involved,” he said. “I think the biggest threat is if you start adding amendments to it - like laws that every school district has a bullying prevention specialist. That was one of the ones the Democrats wanted and that doesn't sit well with small, rural school districts that don't have the money.”

But even experts such as Bazelon aren't sure bullying can be handled solely by law.

“I haven't come up with a model bullying law, partly because I'm skeptical this is a problem you can legislate away,” she wrote in an email. “I don't think it lends itself to one-size-fits-all solutions, which is what laws are often best suited for.”