Anti-bullying work starts anew

DES MOINES - State lawmakers once again are attempting to draft a law that would help Iowa's schools deal with bullying.

The proposal, which Gov. Terry Branstad has made a priority, received its first legislative hearing Monday.

The key elements of the governor's proposal:

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Schools would be given the authority to address online, or cyberbullying.

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Parents would be notified of bullying incidents unless the victim or a school official fear parental notification would worsen matters.

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A program and funding would be provided to train school officials on how to identify and handle bullying incidents.

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A program - based on pilot programs at several Iowa schools, including in Sioux City - would be established for older students to mentor younger students on the harmful impact of bullying.

'This is an important piece of legislation. It is very important that we have safe schools for all of our children to live in and to work in and to go to school in,” Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, said at Monday's subcommittee meeting. 'We need safe schools across our state, and I think this legislation will continue to make improvement in that regard.”

State lawmakers attempted to tackle bullying last year, but each chamber passed a different proposal, and the two sides could not agree on a compromise.

Legislative leaders have been optimistic they will be able to bridge those gaps this year.

'This is a good bill. It has taken into account issues that legislators had last year, and we're going to continue to work with legislators to encourage them to help us get that done this year,” Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds said Monday. 'I think it's a good compromise. I think it's a good bill.”

Some groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Family Leader, expressed concern with the parental notification element.

Some education groups said Monday they support the proposal, and others said they are monitoring it.

'We do think this is a vast improvement over what we've seen in previous years,” said Melissa Peterson of the Iowa State Education Association. 'We think this is a great step in the right direction.”

The panel of three state senators who met Monday said they will convene a second time to continue to work on the legislation before moving it up the procedural ladder.