WTHR |Teachers get more legal protections under new Indiana law
Gov. Mitch DanielsKevin Rader/Eyewitness News
Indianapolis - Gov. Mitch Daniels has signed a bill that proponents say will give teachers more legal protection for trying to maintain classroom discipline.
Some educators have told lawmakers that parents of disruptive students often threaten to sue when teachers try to keep them from acting up or leaving their seats without permission.
The bill signed Monday would give teachers so-called "qualified immunity" from lawsuits when they take reasonable actions to impose classroom discipline. That means judges can dismiss such lawsuits at the beginning of the legal process, rather than forcing teachers or schools to waste time and money defending themselves.
"Education cannot start until disorder stops," said the governor.
With that, Gov. Daniels signed what he describes as the strongest law in America when it comes to restoring discipline into the classroom. The new state student discipline law grants legal immunity from lawsuits related to discipline. Teachers are afforded legal defense through the Attorney General's office, and the law expands authority to remove disruptive students and outlines the process for their return to the classroom.
Angie Morgan, a third grade teacher in the Hamilton Southeastern school system, was given the pen the governor used to sign the legislation into law for her legislative testimony on the bill.
"I think now teachers can do their job. This creates order in the classroom and allows them to teach they way they need to be taught," said Morgan.
The underlying meaning of this new bill is to encourage school boards not to buckle under too early with the threat of lawsuit. Instead of immediately appealing to an insurance company to settle, the attorney general wants schools to turn to him.
"Me and 143 attorneys will fully defend a teacher in any action in the state that is brought in a discipline case," said Greg Zoeller, Indiana attorney general. (Read Zoeller's statement.)
Zoeller's office is absorbing the cost for representing teachers and parents have to be involved in order to get their child back in the clasroom.
"We are protecting teachers from senseless lawsuits where parents very simply don't want their child disciplined," said Tony Bennett, Indiana state superintendent.
"It essentially eliminates the ability to sue a teacher or a school if they are acting in good faith," said Gov. Daniels.
The hope is the law will restore teacher authority and eliminate fear.
House Enrolled Act 1462:
The Attorney General's office will offer a hotline number for teachers to use to ask for assistance on legal matters and send a letter to teachers annually to advise and remind them of their rights under the new law.
