May 19, 2009 7:52 pm US/Pacific
Congress Holds Hearing On School 'Quiet Rooms'
WASHINGTON (CBS 5) ―
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Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of House Education and Labor Committee
AP
CBS 5 Investigates was the first to uncover the use of abusive restraint techniques and so-called "quiet rooms" in California, in a year long investigation. Now the issue is getting attention on Capitol Hill.
Bay Area Congressman George Miller chairs the Education and Labor Committee. After watching our stories, he told CBS 5 Investigates he was surprised and outraged by what we discovered in California schools. Now he wants to push forward reforms in Washington.
"Untrained classroom staffs are abusing students in schools without any accountability," Miller said at Tuesday's Capitol Hill Hearing. For the first time, members of Congress are investigating the use - and abuse - of restraints and seclusion in both public and private schools. Miller, who first watched CBS 5's reports this spring, said: "What your investigation pointed out is that these practices continue. It's surprising, it's also outrageous."
CBS 5 Investigates found untrained teachers in California and throughout the nation locking children in closets and using dangerous restraint techniques, leaving children bruised and emotionally scarred.
New figures out Tuesday from a Government Accountability Office report that is not yet released found that in California last year alone school districts reported more than 14,300 cases of restraint and seclusion in schools.
Now, members of Congress are hearing directly from educators and parents about their experiences. Parents such as Toni Price, who said her son Cedric was physically restrained repeatedly by a teacher, simply for misbehaving. "Cedric struggled as he was being held in his chair, so the teacher put him in a face or prone restraint and sat on him. He struggled and said repeatedly 'I can't breathe,'" Price said. Minutes later Cedric stopped breathing and died.
Ann Gaydos brought to the hearing her daughter Paige, who has Asperger's syndrome. Now a teenager, her mom recalled the abuse Paige suffered from a teacher while in elementary school.
"She came home bruised and told me 'Mommy, my teacher hurt me and I can't breathe.' She had restrained Paige for refusing to stop wiggling a loose tooth while in time out," Gaydos said.
Gaydos told the audience Paige bears permanent scars from her experiences: "Paige has lost the enthusiasm she used to have for learning," she said. Yet she testified that the teacher who abused Paige still holds a valid teaching license from the state of California.
As CBS 5 Investigates reported, there are no federal laws to restrict the use of restraints and seclusion in schools. Now Congressman Miller wants that to change. "Teachers and staff must be held accountable for their actions. Congress must step in and fill the void that has resulted in scars that may never heal for these children and their families," Miller said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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