SECURITY, SAFETY AND DISCIPLINE

WHEREAS, schools must be safe havens where children can study and learn; and

WHEREAS, crime and violence, spilling over from the streets, are disrupting education and threatening students and staff:

RESOLVED, that the AFT serve as a crisis network to collect and distribute successful methods of dealing with school security, safety and discipline; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT support efforts in Congress by Jose Serrano and Charles Schumer and others to provide federal assistance to school districts to combat school crime and violence; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue its support for the Brady bill and/or other stringent federal measures against the sale of and easy access to hand guns and semi-automatic weapons; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT support the concept of a code of behavior for students; that the local (or school) codes be publicized and consistently enforced; that the codes contain a hierarchy of infractions and consequences; that teachers and school related personnel, administrators-and, if possible, parents-conscientiously develop, and implement the code; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT promote the development of anti-violence curricula and nontraditional teaching strategies to counter violence in the schools and the community; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT promote violence-prevention training for school staff and victim support systems to work with school personnel who are victims of violence as well as the traumatized school community; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT support the establishment of alternate sites and education for persistently disruptive or dangerous students; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue to promote federal aid to education and urban areas that would help financially strapped localities deal with oversized classes, overcrowded and decaying buildings, excessively large schools, and other blights that lead to frustration, anger and violence among adolescents; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue its efforts to promote education reform and restructuring so that schools can provide stimulating, interesting and relevant educational experiences for all students.