Iowa educators are getting advice on heading off the racial or ethnic harassment of students following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Three thousand teachers and several hundred administrators statewide are getting letters from Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller.
Miller says the terrorist attacks were committed by individuals, not by people of a religious or ethnic group. He says most, if not all, of the Muslims and Arabs who are in America came here to escape that kind of violence. Miller is encouraging Iowa school leaders to be watchful of hate crimes and discrimination in their hallways and classrooms.
The letters to Iowa teachers are signed by Miller and Jolene Frankin, the president of the Iowa State Education Association. Miller says the letters direct educators to safety planning websites, tell them about a school safety leadership handbook that’ll come out this fall, and invite them to a state conference next month on bullying.
That conference called “Easing the Teasing” is slated for November 14 and 15 in Ames.