Alright – so, after trying really hard to retire and I am still going to do it (God Willing) one day soon. After some Somali autism parents come out and carry the work. I went to the state Capitol today, oh my and oh my. I took two Tylenol before and Advil after. This building is designed to drain and tire you out. As I said in my previous blog, Rep. Bakeberg who represents Jordan and parts of Shakopee wrote several bills to repeal not suspending children up to third grade and removing the non-exclusionary methods. Guess who supported his bills – the usual yukies. Lobbyists from the principals’ association.
They kept telling us “Trust us” we are the professionals. We know there is a suspension and education gap but trust us we are not bad. What now? My favorite is when one of them said – we suspend children to inconvenience parents who are in denial about their child’s behaviors or mental health conditions. I am not even kidding. The same group who told us to trust them said – we intentionally suspend children to teach and screw with stressed parents. Yep, she said that out loud in a public committee. Nope, I do not trust them at all.
Then there was another principal who said – for the past months, we had to evacuate children from classrooms because one of them was having a behavior. What now? Another one said we must suspend kids so that we can write a behavior plan and regroup. You cannot even make this bull…s…t up. Yet, we are supposed to trust them. It was all about them, them, and them. We are professionals. Therefore, trust us. We do not.
On the right side of history, there were dozens of parents, advocates, disability law center, education Minnesota (this surprised me), solutions not suspension coalition, education allies and students. We all said – no we do not trust them and we do not want out children to be kicked out of school.
I guess the author does not like that I mention the people who suspended my son on Thursday, 5:18pm, May 3rd, 2018. They were teacher Kelly Morris and principal Jaysen Anderson. I will repeat those names until Timbuktu. I left early but heard after words, the author pulled the bill and sadly some of the dflers did not even come nor stay until the end. I find that interesting. Below is my written and oral testimony.
Minnesota House
Education Policy Committee
Chair: Rep. Bonnett
March 3, 2025
Re: HF 514 by Rep. Bakeberg – against it with every fiber in me
Dear Madam Chair and members, thanks for the opportunity to testify. My name is Idil Abdull, I am a Somali Autism Mom & trying to retire advocate.
I am hurt and confused by this bill. Why is the author wanting to kick children from school. These are babies that are six and seven years old. Any adult who does not know how to calm down and support a child in a school setting is at the wrong career.
The current House speaker often reminds us that you are all here to do work for Minnesotans. How can denying children to learn in school is the “work” for Minnesotans who chose you for this job. I am going to use political lingo as you are all politicians here and remind you that Minnesota is not a blue or red state, it is a Vikings purple state. This means the voters want you to work together and not keep repealing good laws that passed when you were in the minority as a knee jerk reaction.
Finally, we have all heard of the current hip words – fraud, waste and abuse. Fraud is billing for services that were not rendered, if so then when a school district bills for a child they did not serve – wouldn’t that be fraud. Schools should NOT be paid for when the student is not at school and not being serviced. You see, you all must be fair and call it from the hip.
When my son was suspended from a lobbyist protected principal Jaysen Anderson and union protected Kelly Morris on Thursday, May 3rd, 2018, I was traumatized. You are all traumatizing me and so many other families with this hurtful, wrong, and heartbreaking bill. I see the using positive non-punishment, non-exclusive methods is also on the table to be repealed. There are no words to explain this blatant bias bills that will hurt students from Jordan to Albert Lee to Minneapolis. I hope these bills never pass, and it is dead on arrival.
Thanks for your time.
Idil Abdull – Somali Autism Mom
The above words do not represent any candidate, agency, or committee.
Idil Abdull – Somali Autism Mom & Retired Advocate