Former JRC teacher lobbies state lawmakers

A teacher who electric-shocked students at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton recently hand-delivered 215,000 petition signatures to Massachusetts lawmakers and attended multiple lobbying meetings in an effort to seek a ban on the use of shock therapy in schools.

Gregory Miller, a former teacher assistant at the Judge Rotenberg Center, and Cheryl McCollins, a mother of a former JRC student who recently sued the school for negligence, hand-delivered the signatures, collected on change.org, to state legislators last Wednesday.

They asked the legislators to ban the practice of electric-shocking special needs students, noting that the practice is unique to the JRC in Canton.

Miller and McCollins then met with the offices of several lawmakers, including House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senator Brian A. Joyce, Senator Michael Rodrigues, and Representative Kay Khan.

“We came to the State House in Boston today armed with 215,000 signatures from my Change.org petition to give a voice to the students being shocked at the JRC,” said Miller. “We will continue reaching out to lawmakers until they stop what the UN calls torture from taking place in Massachusetts.”

Live signature totals from Miller’s campaign can be found at www.change.org/petitions/judge-rotenberg-educational-center-please-stop-painful-electric-shocks-on-your-students.

Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than two million new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=13792

Posted by Canton Citizen on May 17 2012. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.