Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 17:11:04 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 10/14/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. WA: Report released on LGBT issues in early childhood education 2. KS: Controversy over broadcast of "It's Elementary" 3. Helpful info on the Equal Access Act and gay-straight alliances ======================================================================== From: "Reis, Elizabeth" Subject: exciting invitation: "Our Families, Our Children" Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 15:46:07 -0700 Dear Safe Schools members and friends ... > The Lesbian and Gay Child Care Task Force invites you to attend their > Press Conference to release "Our Families, Our Children," a report > documenting the best that exists in Early Childhood Education for lesbian, > gay, bisexual, and transgender families and children. > > This final report is compiled from a year-long study looking at the needs > of parents, children and teachers in Early Childhood and School-age child > care programs. Honored speakers include King County Executive Ron Sims, > Seattle City Councilmember Tina Podlodowski, Gay Lesbian PTSA President > Susan Carmel, and Kirsten MacPherson, a parent in the study. It will be > held at the annual Washington Association for the Education of Young > Children Annual Conference on Friday, October 22nd, 12:30 - 1:30 PM at the > Doubletree Hotel in Bellevue (in the Newport Room). Copies of the study > will be available. > > Please call Jean Kasota, (206) 205-6347 for more information or to receive > a copy. "Our Families, Our Children" will also be available on the Safe > Schools website by Oct. 22nd: http://www.safeschools-wa.org > > ---------------------- to SUBSCRIBE to the Safe Schools Coalition's listserv (avg. 2-3 messages/day), mailto:publications@safeschools-wa.org ... put the word "SUBSCRIBE" on the subject line. To drop down to just 2-3 messages per month, put "URGENT AND MINUTES ONLY" on the subject line. To UNSUBSCRIBE altogether ... put the word "UNSUBSCRIBE" on the subject line. *** AND PLEASE put your name or initials and your county and state in the body of the message. *** ---------------------- The Safe Schools Coalition is a public-private partnership of 81 organizations (government agencies, schools, community agencies, churches, youth/student groups, gay/lesbian groups, human rights groups) and many individuals working to help Washington State schools become safe places where every family can belong, where every educator can teach, and where every child can learn, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. Safe Schools' website: http://www.safeschools-wa.org Got a problem at school with anti-gay harassment? Call us 3-9 p.m., M-F: 1-800-52-PROUD or email us any time mailto:intervention@safeschools-wa.org For non-emergencies: mailto:questions@safeschools-wa.org mailto:training@safeschools-wa.org mailto:membership@safeschools-wa.org mailto:publications@safeschools-wa.org Co-Chairs: Frieda Takamura, Washington Education Association, mailto:fktakamura@wa.nea.org Roberta Adams, School Nurse Organization of Washington, mailto:badams@nsd.org Beth Reis, Public Health - Seattle & King County, mailto:elizabeth.reis@metrokc.gov This message has been distributed as a free, non-profit informational service, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Please do not publish or post in a public place on the Internet, copyrighted material without permission and attribution. Forwarding of this material should not necessarily be construed as an endorsement of the content. ================================================================================= Topeka Capital-Journal, September 22, 1999 616 SE Jefferson Street,Topeka,KS,66607 (Fax 785-295-1230 ) (E-MAIL: letters@cjnetworks.com ) ( http://cjonline.com/ ) Curriculum garnering airtime, controversy By BILL BLANKENSHIP, The Capital-Journal If Kansas schools adopted a curriculum suggested in a documentary that airs tonight on KTWU, the whirlwind of controversy about teaching evolution might, in comparison, look like a tempest in a teapot. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ================================================================================ From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 07:36:42 EDT Subject: The Equal Access Act (text) and Student Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Clubs Msg fwd by: The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020 Email to: saratogany@aol.com "The Actual or Perceived GLBT Student Protection Project" CSS-Note: Student initiated Gay Straight Alliance, GSA, student clubs within secondary schools (high schools) shall not be denied per the Equal Access Act, EAA. (20 U.S.C. SS 4071-74). Following the text of EAA (below) see websites that provide additional information and resources. Existing GSA's are encouaged to register with Student Pride at http://www.glsen.org/pages/sections/involved/studentpride/getinvolved G LSEN - INVOLVED STUDENTPRIDE GETINVOLVED The Equal Access Act ______________________ (20 U.S.C. SS 4071-74) DENIAL OF EQUAL ACCESS PROHIBITED Sec. 4071. (a) It shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance and which has a limited open forum to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings. (b) A public secondary school has a limited open forum whenever such school grants an offering to or opportunity for one or more noncurriculum related student groups to meet on school premises during noninstructional time. (c) School shall be deemed to offer a fair opportunity to students who wish to conduct a meeting within its limited open forum if such school uniformly provides that- the meeting is voluntary and student-initiated; there is no sponsorship of the meeting by the school, the government, or its agents or employes; employees or agents of the school or government are present at religious meetings only in a nonparticipatory capacity; the meeting does not materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities within the school; and nonschool persons may not direct, conduct, control, or regularly attend activities of student groups. (d) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to authorize the United States or any state or political subdivision thereof- to influence the form or content of any prayer or other religious activity; to require any person to participate in prayer or other religious activity; to expend public funds beyond the incidental cost of providing the space for student-initiated meetings; to compel any school agent or employee to attend a school meeting if the content of the speech at the meeting is contrary to the beliefs of the agent or employee; to sanction meetings that are otherwise unlawful; to limit the rights of groups of students which are not of a specified numerical size; or to abridge the constitutional rights of any person. (e) Not withstanding the availability of any other remedy under the Constitution or the laws of the United States, nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to authorize the United States to deny or withhold Federal financial assistance to any school. (f) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to limit the authority of the school, its agents or employees, to maintain order and discipline on school premises, to protect the well-being of students and faculty, and to assure that attendance of students at meetings is voluntary. DEFINITIONS Sec. 4072. As used in this subchapter- The term "secondary school" means a public school which provides secondary education as determined by State law. The term "sponsorship" includes the act of promoting, leading, or participating in a meeting. The assignment of a teacher, administrator, or other school employee to a meeting for custodial purposes does not constitute sponsorship of the meeting. The term "meeting" includes those activities of student groups which are permitted under a school's limited open forum and are not directly related to the school curriculum. The term "noninstructional time" means time set aside by the school before actual classroom instruction begins or after actual classroom instruction ends. SEVERABILITY Sec. 4073. If any provision of this subchapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is judicially determined to be invalid, the provisions of the remainder of the subchapter and the application to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. CONSTRUCTION Sec. 4074. The provisions of this subchapter shall supersede all other provisions of Federal law that are inconsistent with the provisions of this subchapter. ================================================================= http://www.lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/pages/documents/record?record=281 This Lamda Legal Defense and Education Fund website has interpretations and useful information about the rights of students to form GSA's. Also, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders has an excellent publication: Legal Rights of Public School Students and Teachers in Massachusetts: Elementary and Secondary Schools, by Mary L. Bonauto, Esq. Although some of the information is Massachusetts based, it also has information about federal law. Check out http://www.glad.org/bro.html ================================================================================ Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) These messages are archived by state on our information-loaded free web site: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/