An Open Letter to Secretary of Education Rod Paige

American Federation of Teachers Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network National Education Association

May 31, 2001

The Honorable Rod Paige Secretary of Education U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202-0498

Dear Secretary Paige:

On Wednesday, May 30, 2001, the largest U.S.-based human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, released Hatred in the Hallways, a report on violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students in U.S. public schools. The introduction reads:

\tIn this report, Human Rights Watch documents attacks on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth who are subjected to abuse on a daily basis by their peers and in some cases by teachers and school administrators. A common thread running through virtually all these stories is isolation and the almost total failure of the public school system to take seriously the human rights of these students.

As a former superintendent of a public school district, you know that schools pay a heavy price for tolerating discrimination and harassment of any type. As highlighted in this report, discrimination and harassment that is based on sexual orientation or gender identity is pervasive, and represents a clear and present danger to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. The report further notes the impact these forces have on a student's ability to learn:

\t[These] youth spend an inordinate amount of energy plotting how to get safely to and from school, how to \tavoid the hallways when other students are present so that they can avoid slurs and shoves, how to cut gym class to escape being beaten up - in short, how to become invisible so they will not be verbally and physically attacked. Too often, students have little energy left to learn.

With this knowledge, our systems of public education and policy leaders can no longer be silent, or turn a blind eye to the discrimination and harassment these youth experience daily. As the report continues, this silence only contributes to these unjust conditions:

\tThese violations are compounded by the failure of federal, state, and local governments to enact laws providing students with express protection from discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively allowing school officials to ignore violations of these students' rights.

We believe it is time to forthrightly address the discrimination and harassment faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in schools. We are calling on the Department of Education to take immediate steps on each of the following five recommendations from the Human Rights Watch report. They are:

\t* Explicitly notify school districts that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and some state and local laws prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation when the discrimination constitutes sexual harassment. The department can direct school districts to Protecting Students from Harassment and Hate Crime, the 1999 guide developed by the department's Office for Civil Rights and the Bias Crimes Task Force of the National Association of Attorneys General, which provides step- by-step guidance, sample school policies and checklists, and reference materials that can assist school districts in protecting students from discrimination based on sexual orientation.

\t* The Office for Civil Rights should increase its monitoring of school districts, vigorously enforcing Title IX and other applicable federal laws against school districts that fail to protect students and employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation that constitutes sexual harassment. When federal legislation is enacted to provide explicit protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the Office for Civil Rights should monitor compliance and enforce this legislation.

\t* Include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth in all regulations and policies related to diversity issues.

\t* Analyze all regulations and policies addressing nondiscrimination on the basis of sex or gender for effectiveness in recognizing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.

\t* Ensure that all existing and model complaint mechanisms include provisions for complaints by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.

In post-Columbine America, schools are struggling to be safe places in which all students are valued, respected and treated with dignity. And throughout our American history, we have struggled to create a discrimination-free system of public education--one that is equally available to each and every young person. What this report makes clear is that today yet another group of students--those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender--are divorced from these visions of safety, equal educational access and opportunity.

We, the undersigned, sign this open letter to urge you to take swift action on the aforementioned recommendations. In so doing, you will move us one step closer to achieving the worthy goal of equal educational access for all young people. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Sandra Feldman President AFT

Kevin Jennings Executive Director GLSEN

Bob Chase President NEA