The main purpose of this bill is to put cameras in special education classrooms. The bill would also create a fund for school safety measures. Under this bill every special education classroom must have a camera so long as there is adequate funding. The bill limits who can access footage and what can trigger a review of footage. It puts limits on storage of footage, and limits disciplinary actions based on a review of footage to incidents of abuse or neglect. Although we want to see appropriate protections for all students, this bill is problematic. First, special needs students are already disporportionately targetted for school discipline and referrals to the court stystem. Putting those students under additional surveillance will likely make that problem worse. Additionally, we shoudl be moving away from segregated education, but this legislation forces schools to invest in segregated classrooms, gives tacit approval of segregated education, and may create an illusion that segregated classrooms are safer.
