ST. PAUL – Senator Zach Duckworth (R- Lakeville) released the following statement regarding a Democrat-proposed Student Resource Officer fix bill posted for a hearing in the Minnesota House of Representatives next week:

“After spending all summer accusing Republicans of manufacturing the School Resource Officer issue for political reasons, I’m genuinely happy to see that Democrats are finally joining us and admitting that the law they passed last year needs to be fixed.

“As we’ve said from the beginning, the safety of our kids, teachers, and schools is a bipartisan priority that should bring Republicans and Democrats together – at the urging of the professionals in law enforcement, school districts, community leaders, and parents – we can fix the law and solve the problems created by this legislation once and for all.

“We’re looking forward to the opportunity to have open and transparent bill hearings in the appropriate committees of both the House and Senate where we can hear from all of the stakeholders who are urging that a correction to the law be passed as quickly as possible.  I expect that much of the misinformation and politically motivated criticism of law enforcement will be corrected with their testimony and expert feedback regarding the bill.

“Let’s get this fixed so that kids, teachers, parents, and school resource officers can have some piece of mind and get back to focusing on helping Minnesota students succeed academically in a safe learning environment.”