Rob Andrews: “Opposition to this amendment is not based upon an expression of guilt, it is based upon an exercise of common sense. I…”

“Opposition to this amendment is not based upon an expression of guilt, it is based upon an exercise of common sense. I do not think that any violent student should spend one more hour in any classroom in this country. Under the existing law and under this bill, they need not. This bill says if a student engages in an act of violence and present law says if a student engages in an act of violence, they can be removed from the classroom. Mr. Chairman, the amendment before us says after they are removed from the classroom, that is the end of their education. That is it if the State so chooses. I oppose this amendment because it does not answer this question: With respect to this violent student, once they are removed from the classroom, as they should be, what happens next? This amendment does not deal with the very real problem of violence in our schools. It just moves it from our schools to somewhere else, to our streets or to our neighborhoods or to other social institutions. I for one minute would not stand for the proposition that we should coddle or discriminate in favor of people who commit violent crimes. But I know this: That pretending that they are just going to go away will not work. Pretending that they will disappear from the rest of the community will not work. And understanding if we get people that are prone to violence back on a positive track by offering them an education, they are a lot less likely to commit another violent offense.”