OR. Oregon’s Safe School Act – didn’t make schools safe

According to the Oregon Department of Education, the Act “requires State Education Agencies to establish a school choice policy for students attending a persistently dangerous school as defined by the state.” The Act also requires that students “who becomes a victim of a violent criminal offense” be “allowed to attend a safe educational agency, including a public charter school.” To support this requirement, schools receiving public funds are required to provide extensive reporting to the Oregon Department of Education.

That extensive reporting shows that for the most recently completed school year, 2011-2012, there were 156 sexual assaults in Oregon’s K-12 schools, and 8,428 physical assaults. 1,000 of those physical assaults involved a weapon. That’s 156 sexual assaults and 8,428 physical assaults in our K-12 schools, in one school year. The 1,000 physical assaults involving a weapon were despite zero tolerance school policies banning weapons, Oregon state law prohibiting bringing or having a weapon at school, and the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act.

These numbers do not include incidents in special education classrooms where disturbances and assaults are considered “accidents.”

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