[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 55 (Tuesday, April 27, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




WE THE PEOPLE: PROJECT CITIZEN STUDENTS MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN TUCSON, AZ

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 27, 2004

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to commend a 
group of students from my district for their civic engagement. Along 
with their teacher, these 23 students developed a proposal for curbing 
bullying in Arizona schools. This proposal was taken up in the Arizona 
State legislature with bipartisan support. The bill was introduced by 
Representative Phil Lopez and Representative Linda Gray, and has 
already passed the Education Committee and has garnered the support of 
Gov. Janet Napolitano. If passed, the bill would require that school 
boards adopt and enforce procedures that prohibit the harassment, 
bullying and intimidation of pupils.
  Using the skill of civic engagement, taught through Project Citizen, 
these students have made a positive impact in their community, and 
serve as role models for their peers. Project Citizen is a curricular 
program for middle school students that promotes competent and 
responsible participation in local and State government. The program 
helps young people learn how to monitor and influence public policy. In 
the process, they develop support for democratic values and principles, 
tolerance, and feelings of political efficacy. The Project Citizen 
program is administered by the Center for Civic Education with the 
assistance of the National Conference of State Legislatures. It is 
funded by the U.S. Department of Education by act of Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the contribution of these students and 
applaud their efforts to be actively involved in efforts to improve 
their community. On behalf of the schools and children of Arizona I 
would like to thank the following students for their admirable interest 
in civic engagement. I hope their enthusiasm for government is shared 
among their peers.
  Marina Ardt, Eva Baisan, Edward Barnes, Amanda Belt, Katie Brown, 
Audrey Bustamante, Nicholas Franco, Taiya Gehrels, Brianna Herreras-
Crouse, Shelby Kline, Katie Knight, Mounir Koussa, Alison Lambert, Ben 
Langworthy, Pricilla Martinez, Dillon McCallum, Dylan Monke, Danny 
O'Sullivan, Johnny Police, Joy Ratanavongsa, Tanisha Sosa, John Taylor, 
Jessica Willy, and their teacher, Cheri Bludau of the Mansfeld Middle 
School of Tucson.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to submit the attached article from 
the Tucson Citizen recognizing the valiant efforts of these young 
adults.

              Kids' Assignment Turns Heads at State Level

       Here is a brief primer on the workings of the Arizona 
     Legislature from an expert who has learned how to write a 
     bill, have it introduced by a lawmaker, then watched it 
     advance through the Legislature:
       ``It is a very long process,'' explained Tashina Sosa. 
     ``It's like a never-ending thriller book.''
       Thriller book? Perhaps.
       Horror story? More often.
       But who am I to argue with an insider--someone who has seen 
     firsthand the laborious and languorous way that the 
     Legislature goes about its work.
       There are several thousand professional lobbyists at work 
     in Phoenix right now who are being paid well--very well--to 
     get their employers' messages to lawmakers.
       Tashina Sosa isn't one of them, although it is quite likely 
     that she will be more successful than most of those 
     professionals.
       Sosa is a freshman at Tucson High Magnet School. And work 
     that she and her classmates started last year when they were 
     enrolled at Mansfeld Middle School may soon result in a law.
       This law, unlike many of those passed by legislators, 
     actually makes sense and actually is needed. It would require 
     each school district to enact an anti-bullying policy.
       Sosa and 23 other Mansfeld students were enrolled last year 
     in a law-related education class taught by Cheri Bludau. Part 
     of the class was a project called We the People-Project 
     Citizen, a national program that promotes student 
     participation in government.
       After discussing several ideas and conducting research on 
     matters ripe for change, the students settled on the issue of 
     bullying, Bludau said.
       But there were some concerns. Some students feared the 
     topic may be too ``childlike'' and of little interest to the 
     Legislature, Bludau said. Others were afraid that a law would 
     be meaningless--that bullying was not something that could be 
     stopped with legislation.
       But the research was persuasive. Studies found that 
     bullying is one of the most underrated and serious problems 
     in schools. Students involved in murders in school and 
     students who commit suicide are far more likely to be victims 
     of bullies than the average student is. Education and federal 
     officials estimate that nationwide, 160,000 students miss 
     school every day because they fear being bullied.
       ``A majority of adults see it as a right of passage,'' 
     Bludau said, ``but the students know it is impacting their 
     lives.''
       Using laws written in other states as a starting point, 
     Bludau's class wrote a bill it hoped to have introduced in 
     the Legislature. Class members took the bill to Project 
     Citizen's state competition last year and won first place. 
     They then submitted it for national competition and earned a 
     ``superior'' rating--the highest award.
       Last summer, Bludau e-mailed a copy of the proposed bill to 
     Gov. Janet Napolitano. Within 45 minutes, Napolitano wrote 
     back, saying she would be very much behind it.
       Thus emboldened, the students went hunting for a legislator 
     who would introduce the bill--and they found support from 
     state Rep. Phil Lopes, a Tucson Democrat. He liked the bill, 
     but because he is a member of the minority party, he needed 
     help from a Republican. Rep. Linda Gray, a Glendale 
     Republican and chair of the House Education Committee, signed 
     on.
       The bill was formally introduced and assigned a number and 
     title: ``HB2533--Schools; policies; bullying'' and scheduled 
     for a hearing and debate last week before the Education 
     Committee.
       The students were scheduled to go to Phoenix to testify in 
     support of their bill--but they were foiled by another state 
     issue. It was time for them to take part of the mandated AIMS 
     test. Nonetheless, the bill easily passed the committee.
       The bill is scheduled to be heard in the House Judiciary 
     Committee today. Lopes is optimistic that it will eventually 
     pass both houses and be signed into law by Napolitano.
       ``The kids did all the work,'' Lopes said. ``It's just 
     incredible. I knew nothing about the substance of the topic. 
     But I saw what they had done and said, `My God, we've got to 
     help them out.' ''
       Sosa is excited that her class's work may soon be 
     memorialized in state law. And so is her classmate, Mounir 
     Koussa, also now a freshman at Tucson High. ``It's good for 
     me to know that a student can make a difference in society,'' 
     Koussa said.
       It has taken almost two months for the bill to make it to 
     this point in the legislative process, and Bludau still can't 
     quite believe her students have been so successful.
       ``Way back in January, little did we know that we could 
     have this kind of impact on the state of Arizona,'' she said. 
     ``I'm very proud of my students, as you can tell.''
       Cheri Bludau's students have completed their assignment. 
     Now legislators must complete theirs.


                         WHAT THE LAW WOULD DO

       If the bill written by students at Mansfeld Middle School 
     becomes law, it would require that school boards adopt and 
     enforce procedures that prohibit the harassment, bullying and 
     intimidation of pupils.
       Those procedures must include:
       A confidential process that allows pupils to report 
     incidents of harassment, intimidation or bullying to school 
     officials.
       A procedure for the parents or guardians of pupils to 
     submit written reports concerning harassment, intimidation or 
     bullying to school officials.
       A requirement that school district employees report 
     suspected harassment, intimidation or bullying.
       A formal process for the documentation and investigation of 
     reported incidents.
       Disciplinary procedures for students admitting to, or found 
     guilty of harassment, intimidation or bullying.
       A procedure that provides consequences for submitting false 
     reports.
       The bill submitted by the students was amended in the House 
     Education Committee to cover events not only on school 
     grounds, but also on school buses, at school bus stops and at 
     all school-sponsored events and activities.

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