ms. byards. is there a case of training students to hold particular views, i would be against that for the particular reasons that you outlined in your testimony. forced professions are to be resisted at every turn. they shouldn't be the manifest cation of the -- manifestation of the government or private parties for that matter, so i couldn't agree with you more, nor would i disagree with the notion that if thrp an effort to get -- this were an effort to get rid of ugly speech, we should turn away and run away as far as and as fast as we could because the government has no business in trying to outlaw ugly speech no matter how offensive provided it's not a precursor to ugly, damaging action. ms. byard, could you talk a little bit about the training that we've heard so much about? discuss the extent to which it forces students to hold or to manifest particular views or it is an effort to rid the public's fear of ugly speech. >> i just want to say one thing first. it's hard to know what training p

ms. byards. is there a case of training students to hold particular views, i would be against that for the particular reasons that you outlined in your testimony. forced professions are to be resisted at every turn. they shouldn't be the manifest cation of the -- manifestation of the government or private parties for that matter, so i couldn't agree with you more, nor would i disagree with the notion that if thrp an effort to get -- this were an effort to get rid of ugly speech, we should turn away and run away as far as and as fast as we could because the government has no business in trying to outlaw ugly speech no matter how offensive provided it's not a precursor to ugly, damaging action. ms. byard, could you talk a little bit about the training that we've heard so much about? discuss the extent to which it forces students to hold or to manifest particular views or it is an effort to rid the public's fear of ugly speech. >> i just want to say one thing first. it's hard to know what training p

. >> thank you, ms. byard.an. >> members of the committee, thank you for having me here. back at this civil rights commission it was a number of years ago i was the director of the commission of the public affairs office so it's nice to be back although different digs than we had back then up in vermont. i'm not going to address a particular topic of this panel but a broader question of federal authority generally in peer on peer harassment that is the broader purpose of this hearing because i think we've greatly misunderstood the role of the federal government here. in fact, the misunderstanding of federal authority, i think, is evident of the opening sentence which states acts of bullying, violence and harassment are reportedly pervasive in k-12 schools. even if true, and with all due respect that statement does not begin to establish the necessary premise for federal intervention. rather, federal intervention is warranted under the 14th amendment only to remedy violations of that amendment which speaks to st

i'd like to ask ms. byard about turning a blind eye or neutrality policies. aren't they part of the problem? >> [inaudible] >> if that were true and schools responded when conduct crossed the line into physical violence, we would not be here today. that is not what is happening. schools are not responding in a way sufficient to protect the educational access physical well-being and emotional well-being of people facing violence and harassment every day. the conduct we are talking about as bullying involves the definition, involves the fear of physical harm and harassment that we talk about is severe pervasive, and objectively offensive in ways that keep you from enjoying the benefits of going to school. i would like to note from the amount of time we have spent talking about religious issues here that the definition for which we advocate includes religion among its protected categories. we have no interest in chilling speech. we want good schools where our students learn in a way where they can participate and compete in a diverse society and where everyone's

ms. byards. is there a case of training students to hold particular views, i would be against that for the particular reasons that you outlined in your testimony. forced professions are to be resisted at every turn. they shouldn't be the manifest cation of the -- manifestation of the government or private parties for that matter, so i couldn't agree with you more, nor would i disagree with the notion that if thrp an effort to get -- this were an effort to get rid of ugly speech, we should turn away and run away as far as and as fast as we could because the government has no business in trying to outlaw ugly speech no matter how offensive provided it's not a precursor to ugly, damaging action. ms. byard, could you talk a little bit about the training that we've heard so much about? discuss the extent to which it forces students to hold or to manifest particular views or it is an effort to rid the public's fear of ugly speech. >> i just want to say one thing first. it's hard to know what training p