Prompted by the
fatal classroom shooting in Oxnard, Calif., of gay junior
high student Lawrence King, which prosecutors allege was a
hate crime, a state legislator has announced plans to
introduce a bill to expand diversity education in
California schools, the Los Angeles Times
reported Tuesday.
Democratic
assemblyman Mike Eng, chairman of the Select Committee on
Hate Crimes, said his measure would supplement
existing criminal statutes regarding crimes against
victims based on their race, religion, ethnicity, or
sexual orientation.
"My bill is
focusing on [hate crime] prevention," Eng said after a
news conference at his El Monte district office, according
to the Times. "We already have bills on the books
about proper punishment; mine will focus on dealing with
hatred in a school setting."
Eng hopes to
create a pilot program by allocating up to $150,000 to
establish a diversity and sensitivity curriculum in a few
school districts. The pilot program would serve as a
model for developing lesson plans throughout the
state. Eng said his bill would help develop a
procedure for teachers and administrators to notify
counselors or law enforcement when they learn of
student harassment that suggests a potential hate
crime.
"We need to look
at protocols to make sure that students are protected
from violence," Eng told the Times. "Current law
requires teachers, physicians, and counselors to
report possible sexual impropriety with youth, but we
don't have protocols dealing with hate crimes that could
possibly result in violence." (The Advocate)
