Governor Scott Walker has signed into law a bill that requires all employees of a school to report suspected child abuse or neglect. The bill expands an existing rule that previously only applied to teachers, administrators and counselors.
Walker signed the bill Wednesday at a Racine Oriented Policing, or COP house, taking note the idea for the bill stemmed from the abuse of a special needs child at a local elementary school, which an educational assistant did not report. He says it’s an issue that knows no partisan lines, and is a good example of an important idea that can come out of something that “wasn’t good.”
AUDIO: Governor Scott Walker (:18)
The bill received bipartisan support in the Legislature. It was one of seven pieces of legislation the governor signed in Racine this morning that are aimed at protecting children.
Others include allowing public schools to fire employees convicted of felonies and a bill that allows the state to revoke the licenses of teachers caught looking at pornography on work computers.
Tom Karkow, WRJN
