Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502270050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
On merits alone, a ``teacher immunity'' bill would seem to have had a clear path through the General Assembly.
But Democratic lawmakers grounded the measure this week, a testament to how partisan politics, egos and special interests can conspire to kill simple ideas.
``You cannot justify what happened on a policy basis,'' said Republican Del. Robert McDonnell of Virginia Beach.
The bill would have codified a policy the Virginia Supreme Court established in 1988 when it ruled that teachers should be protected from lawsuits when they act in good faith within the scope of their duties. The high court ruling has been interpreted to mean, for instance, that a teacher who took reasonable actions to break up a student fight could not be sued if one of the students were injured.
To evolve the ruling into law might have seemed like common sense, but it got caught in a partisan fight for the hearts and minds of teachers and their powerful lobbying group, the Virginia Education Association.
On the first day of the session, Republican Gov. George Allen made a play for the teachers by highlighting his support for the immunity bill in his State of the Commonwealth address.
Democrats called Allen's speech a cynical sop to teachers at a time when he was seeking to cut millions of dollars from public schools. Democrats killed a House of Delegates version of the immunity bill, saying it was unnecessary because teachers already have civil protections under the Supreme Court ruling.
On Feb. 6, a day when hundreds of teachers converged on the State Capitol, Republican Del. Randy Forbes of Chesapeake stood on the House floor and accused Democrats of rendering teachers vulnerable to lawsuits.
His remarks drew a swift - and unusually personal - rebuttal from Majority Leader Richard Cranwell of Roanoke County, who accused Forbes of ``shading the truth'' to curry favor with the teachers.
``How can you sleep at night?'' Cranwell said, jabbing a finger in Forbes' direction.
Republicans tried to revive the teacher immunity measure Thursday, but Cranwell again swatted it down in a party-line vote, 49-48.
``What you have seen,'' McDonnell told a reporter, ``is legislation by personal vendetta. This was sound legislation and a chance to protect the teachers of Virginia.''
Cranwell replied that the bill was ``nothing more than an effort to use the apostles of fear to scare people and suggest to people that somehow, somebody didn't protect them.''
The VEA remained silent throughout the debate, which Republican lawmakers found curious because many teachers had said they wanted the added security of an immunity law that could not be weakened or reversed by future court decisions.
``I can assure you that the teachers in my district are going to wonder why the VEA did not come out in support of this bill,'' said state Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.
VEA President Rob Jones said his group's executive board decided to remain neutral because of fears that a medical liability provision of the bill could have been used to force teachers to perform additional medical procedures for handicapped children.
But Stolle accused the VEA of selling out its individual members in order to preserve its institutional power. Stolle suggested the immunity bill would prevent the VEA from recruiting members by offering them coverage under the group's umbrella liability policy.
Jones called that argument ridiculous, saying teachers would continue to need liability insurance even if the bill were to pass.
``Go ask a lawyer not involved in the legislative process and ask them, `What does this law change?''' Jones said.
That, Stolle said, is why the defeat of the bill makes no sense.
``What problem could there have been in codifying an existing Supreme Court decision?'' he asked.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB