New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded to the report by sending a letter to the Education Department expressing concern over the department’s failure to comply with the act and a demand for a plan to address the report, the article said.
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Because of a lack of central enforcement of the state law, schools around the state have created ad hoc policies related to transgender students that are often “insufficient, illegal and deeply damaging to transgender and gender nonconforming youth”, the New York ACLU said when it released its report.
The education department didn’t return a request for comment on Cuomo’s letter yesterday.
He said the department had failed to ensure schools were following the five-year-old Dignity for All Students Act.
In a letter to acting state education commissioner Elisabeth Berlin, Cuomo called the findings of a New York Civil Liberties Union report detailing alleged widespread discrimination throughout the state “completely unacceptable”. “However, the Governor didn’t include that request in his proposed budget”. “We’ve been frustrated at their continued failure to do right by transgendered students”. Our first and foremost goal is to protect the health and safety of our students.
In most schools, bullying- whether it be cyber or in-person-is a big issue when it comes to protecting children and keeping them focused on learning. That’s why the Department is working closely with advocacy groups and school districts across the state.
Education Department spokesman Dennis Tompkins has said the guidelines will help schools “foster educational environments that are safe and free from discrimination for all students, specifically transgender and gender-nonconforming students”. The department is in the process of reviewing feedback given by the advocacy groups, with finalized guidelines to be issued prior to the beginning of the next school year. “We must keep every child safe”. Final guidelines will be released before September, he said.
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“We recognize the urgency of this situation, and we also recognize the need to get this right”, Tompkins said in the statement.
