School bullies get state's attention
SALEM, Ore. -- Stephanie Ortega was once bullied so much for having short hair, she spent her junior year at home.
"I was doing online school at home," Ortega said.
Now a senior -- with her hair grown out -- she has moved past what used to hurt her so much.
"People would always call me a lesbian or whatever, and I'm not," she said.
New legislation would require schools to report any harrassment, intimidation, bullying or cyberbullying to the Oregon Department of Education.
The law would also require educators across the state be trained to prevent bullying.
The House Education Committee is considering the bill in an attempt to crack down on bullying by making schools prepare an annual report detailing every case of bullying -- or risk losing state money.
Republican Rep. Ron Maurer from Grants Pass is against the proposal.
"What this does is create an unfunded mandate on school districts that are now going to have to create another report -amongst the many reports school districts have to report - back up to the state," he said.
Supporters of the bill, including a large coalition of education, religious, minority and disability groups, say the legislation is still being hammered out.
In the end, the goal is to protect children.
"It's really premature to talk about the bill," said Rep. Sara Gelser, the Democratic chair of the committee. "The stakeholders -- everyone that would be involved with the implementation -- they're all working on amendments to the bill."
But even if there are new reporting requirements for schools, stephanie says most bullying will still go unreported.
"A lot of kids are scared when they shouldn't be scared to go ask for help," she said.
