“Teachers and paraprofessionals are the first line of defense when chaos consumes classrooms. And they are the first to be silenced when violence occurs,” Deborah York writes. (Neustockimages, Getty Images/iStockphoto/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

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In fulfilling their promise to "do something" to ensure safe and supportive schools across our state, Minnesota legislators in this year's session passed a discipline policy banning suspensions for our youngest students.

In this culture of leniency progressing across the state, the success of the new policy will depend on whether existing laws — empowering teachers to govern safe classrooms — still apply to protect the safety of all K-3 children. Under this new law, administrators forced to reduce detentions may look the other way when chaos ensues, no matter the effect on safety for all the students and teachers.

Teachers and paraprofessionals are the first line of defense when chaos consumes classrooms. And they are the first to be silenced when violence occurs. Fearing reprisal, some may hesitate to speak to this new policy banning school suspensions for young children.

Teachers who find the courage to say "enough is enough" when disruptive behavior threatens the learning of their students suffer retaliation for reporting the truth to others. Some are threatened with termination for not changing their behavior to accommodate unprovoked extreme outbursts of one student that threaten other students' safety and security.

Teachers have been branded as racist for simply validating the fears children share with parents. I understand how this works, having experienced violence in my classroom and ending my 30-year, full-time-teaching career in a school district I loved.

Unless teachers retain the authority to remove students who harass, bully and threaten the well-being of classmates and teachers — authority provided under the safe schools statutes signed into law by Gov. Mark Dayton in 2016 — our students will be at risk of emotional and physical harm with this new discipline policy.

What is the impetus for this sweeping change? School districts are under tremendous pressure to reduce discipline numbers for students of color. This new legislative policy appears to be in direct conflict with the existing safe schools laws, which trust teachers and give them authority to remove abusive students from the classroom.

As one teacher who experienced ongoing violence in my classroom at the hands of a young student who was not given adequate support, despite my desperate attempts to help the child, I can speak to the importance of action to prevent unchecked behavioral issues from impacting an entire community of learners. Half of the students in my classroom had been harmed by the time I was assaulted. I still experience chronic injury and pain to this day. And the assaulting student, who happened to be a student of color, ended up falling through the cracks. The system failed this child the most.

Unfortunately, the data on school discipline disparities focus on suspensions, not chronic student misbehavior. Sadly, the children this new law is designed to help — those who would benefit from being pulled out of the classroom to receive intervention from a behavior specialist — may end up falling further behind. Principals are telling teachers over and over "their hands are tied" from removing aggressive children from classrooms. The mantra is to "build relationships'' with students. It is nearly impossible to build relationships in a classroom of 25 students when one or more students require continuous interventions to prevent abuse.

What duty does Education Minnesota have to back teachers' rights? What action will the union take to represent teachers in a crisis and ensure teachers are safe? What is the Department of Education's duty to ensure students are safe? And what is its commitment to transparency?

It is time for the union to speak to the teacher concerns presented to legislators this past session. As a union lobbyist wrote in an email: "One thing we are hearing from our members is that, under statute, they have the right to remove a kid from class, but they are immediately being returned without any behavior interventions happening. We would like to insert this language at line 35.17 ... requiring that 'principals must remove a student from class at the request of the teacher in whose class the assault or violent behavior occurred until the student has had an opportunity to meet with a licensed school counselor, licensed school psychologist, or licensed school social worker.'"

This amendment was voted down last session. So now what?

It is critical Minnesota's new policy banning school suspensions challenges our youngest students to adopt high standards of behavior. Children must be taught safe behavior in K-3. Per existing state laws, educators with knowledge of students with a history of previous violence must be backed with immediate responses to aggressive situations which put teachers and students at risk.

Teachers have a right to know how this legislation will affect their classrooms. And parents need to know how these laws will affect their children. It is our responsibility to ensure all students can learn in a safe and supportive environment. These will be the essential lessons in the 2023-24 school year.

Deborah York, of Eden Prairie, is a retired teacher and co-chair of the Safe Schools Movement Team.