The Safe and Supportive Schools Act: A Political Analysis of Minnesota's Antibullying Legislation

• In Event: The Politics of Gender and Sexuality in Education Policy Making

Abstract

This political analysis analyzes the Safe and Supportive Schools Act, adopted in Minnesota in 2014. Created in response to demands from the United States Department of Education and general support, the goal of this legislation is to minimize bullying and improve schools’ interventions to bullying. A lack of funding, allocation of resources and absence of evaluation, however, suggest that this legislation is symbolic. Through document analysis of the legislation, annual reports, and accompanying documents and with the employment of the theory of symbolic politics and political spectacle theory, this analysis explains the policy as an unfunded mandate and its nature as symbolic education policy and its impact on the protection of Minnesota students, specifically LGTBQ+ youth, from bullying.

Author

• Ann Jenkin LaVanway, University of Minnesota