JANET Felkin, headteacher at Blatchington Mill School in Hove, has been found not to have committed a disability hate crime after a six-month investigation involving not just Brighton and Hove City Council’s educational services, but also its community safety team, lawyers and Sussex Police.
If newspaper reports are accurate, Ms Felkin was put through the mill because, without naming him, she referred in minutes to a child having ‘special needs’.
Given that this is a perfectly acceptable term, the protracted investigation seems a gross misuse of hate crime legislation. However, it didn’t surprise me.
A culture of self-congratulation and introspection is deep-rooted in some council departments, where exploration of rare and abstruse forms of discrimination seem to have become a full-time occupation.
Time-wasting ‘investigations’ of minor complaints is an effective way of avoiding the bigger picture – for example, that there is widespread and serious disability and sexist abuse in schools – though as yet the council has done little to counter either.
Most abuse towards disabled children comes from students, though there’s little doubt that some teachers discriminate.
However, it’s true that female teachers, including headteachers, can be subject to sexist and other harassment, abuse and discrimination, by students, parents, colleagues – and governors.
Community Safety Officers and lawyers would be wise to bear that fact in mind.
Jean Calder is a journalist and campaigner
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