FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS

WHEREAS, major polls show that the public and teachers identify student discipline as one of the major problems facing education; and

WHEREAS, as many as two out of five teachers report losing a lot or a fair amount of instructional time to discipline problems; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Education reports that 35 percent of public school principals say their ability to maintain order and discipline is limited by a lack of alternative placements or inadequate alternative programs for disruptive students; and

WHEREAS, violent and chronically disruptive students need special services aimed at helping them adopt socially responsible behaviors; and

WHEREAS, an appropriate alternative education for students with chronic misbehavior problems should include a setting, strategies and resources designed to help them adopt socially responsible behaviors; and

WHEREAS, the expense of providing such settings, strategies, and resources is beyond the means of many school districts already faced with extraordinary demands on their budgets for capital needs and traditional instructional expenses; and

WHEREAS, AFT is engaged in the Lessons for Life campaign to spotlight the interrelated problems of student misbehavior and academic achievement and to identify remedies to disruptive student behavior:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers seek congressional legislation appropriating money for alternative settings; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT make this effort a priority as reflected in the activities of its legislative and COPE departments; and

RESOLVED, that AFT enlist the cooperation of other like-minded organizations and individuals to lobby for this legislation.