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Hubert H. Humphrey      Rebuttal 6

Question 6: In recent months we have experienced a spate of bloodshed in our nation's schools. What steps, if any, must the governor take to ensure that a similar atrocity does not occur in Minnesota?

I notice that each of the other responding candidates chose to
use their response to question three as a forum to advocate
liberalizing Minnesota’s drug laws.  However, the question was
"how would you, as Governor balance the cost of criminal
justice with the need to ensure the safety of Minnesotans?"

Apparently neither Norm Coleman, Jesse Ventura nor many of my 
other opponents considered the issue of school safety sufficiently 
important to deserve their response.  That is quite unfortunate, 
given that the safety of our children and school staff is the 
foundation on which learning is built.  Children can't learn, and 
teachers can't teach, if they are afraid or unsafe at school.

I disagree with my responding opponents on many points.  The two 
most glaring misstatements they make are that:  (1) the 
criminalization of drugs is the cause of violence in schools, and 
(2) all parents have failed in teaching social values to their 
children.  The first point is nonsensical.  The biggest cause of 
violence in our schools is not the prohibition on drugs, it is the 
lack of caring, committed adults in the lives of our youth.  That's 
why I support building mentorship relationship with kids - to help 
form the bonds that change lives and strengthen communities. I also 
support increasing our investment in violence prevention initiatives 
designed locally to meet community needs; linking schools to mental 
health and other community resources; creating a statewide 1-800 
toll-free hotline to allow students to report dangerous behavior at 
school; and addressing the scourge of domestic violence that plagues 
too many families in our communities.  

And my opponents are also wrong when they blame all parents for the 
violence in our society.  Parents are our children's first and best 
teachers, and most parents are doing their best to nurture their children 
into competent and caring adults.  But we can help parents in this task, 
by enforcing high standards in schools both with regard to educational 
achievement and behavior.  As Governor, I would enforce high behavioral 
standards by supporting policies that would:

* Remove disruptive students from classrooms and require them to continue 
their learning in a manner that doesn't interfere with others' ability to 
learn, either through alternative learning programs, weekend or summer 
school programs, or "cooling off rooms" with adequate counseling resources 
to determine the basis for the disruptive behavior.

* Enforce zero tolerance for violence and disrespect in schools - by anyone 
directed against anyone.

* Encourage local communities to evaluate potential benefits of uniform 
policies as a means to reduce gang affiliation and erase visibility of 
socioeconomic differences between learners.

* Require collaboration between local law enforcement, public schools and social 
service agencies to design local strategies for reducing domestic violence.

* Require disruptive students to complete community service projects to 
compensate the community for the underutilized opportunity to succeed in 
school.

* Enforce prevention and enforcement policies to keep drugs and weapons out 
of schools.

With these actions, together with the others I identified in my original response, 
we can ensure that our schools are safe places to learn and to work.  We can make 
sure that our schools are learning zones, not combat zones.