Despite law, Wisconsin students still being restrained

It was a good first step. But it is clear more needs to be done. In 2011, Wisconsin lawmakers passed a bill limiting when teachers and other school employees can physically restrain students, or isolate them from their classmates. Pressure from a disability rights group led representatives to pass the law, saying physically restraining students or isolation should be the last step. But a new report finds that students with disabilities are still being restrained and secluded in Wisconsin’s public schools. The group Disability Rights Wisconsin is offerening a new report which shows 3600 students across nearly 400 Wisconsin school districts, most of them students with disabilities, were physically restrained within the span of a year. Actually the numbers may be much higher due to inconsistencies in how the districts report their numbers. Those supporting tougher laws say lawmakers should revisit the current law to require school districts to report any incidents to the state Department of Public Instruction, so a statewide database can be created, so we get a better sense of how often this is happening. And they want any incidents where police intervene to be covered by the law, which currently they are not. It is good that our schools are working to limit the restraining of disruptive students, but it is clear it is still happening at an alarming rate, so it is time for lawmakers to put more teeth in this legislation.