Lawmakers returned to session on Tuesday, and tempers immediately flared in the State Senate over examining school discipline issues.
State Sen. Eric Buckson (R-Dover) began working on legislation last year to establish the Classroom Behavior and School Discipline Task force, and planned to introduce the concurrent resolution in the Senate Thursday.
But Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend (D-Newark) beat Buckson to it Tuesday, introducing his own legislation to establish the Student Behavior and School Climate Task Force.
Buckson said he agreed to many changes in the original draft of the resolution requested by the majority party, but there were some he did not agree with, which included:
- Eliminating the minority leader from choosing who represents the Republican party on the task force
- Removing the word "discipline" from the name of the task force
- Allowing leadership instead of the members of the task force to choose the chairs
Buckson said Townsend requested a meeting with him two hours before the Senate session began to tell him the competing bill was being presented.
“This is a bright example of what’s wrong with this place, and I mean that sincerely. Instead of helping our kids, we worry about who gets credit or who’s in control, and it’s a disservice to those who put us in the seats we occupy on their behalf, and we should expect more from us, but I guess not," Buckson said during the debate.
Townsend said there were concerns with the structure of the task force under Buckson’s resolution, as well as intentions to separate disruptive students from the classroom.
"The statements I have heard from both the public, social media posts as well as other conversations were that one idea for this is to make sure that we segregate the kids that are causing behavior issues away from the general student population," Townsend said, which he believes is a "regressive" way to address the issue.
Townsend also brought up concerns with Buckson participating in filed legislation that outlines "how to treat students vis-à-vis their interactions with educators," which he said should not be implemented before the task force has an opportunity to look into it.
"I'm not going to stand and agree whatsoever that this is partisan, or this is the majority part somehow trying to exert control inappropriately. This is the framework we have for addressing it, and so offers were rebuffed, and that's okay — I don't fault it," Townsend added.
Buckson refuted the use of the word "segregate" and insisted his version of the task force is "better," requesting members of the majority party to vote for his resolution instead.
Townsend's legislation passed with 14 in favor, 3 against and 3 not voting. Buckson brought his bill to the floor immediately after the vote, and his resolution was defeated with 6 in favor, 14 not voting and 1 absent.
When asked for his thoughts on the debate, Senate Minority Whip Brian Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown) said, "The tone in this building today is different than it was when we left here at the end of January... It's going to be a very interesting few months until we get out of session at the end of June."
