Back To School... For More Zero-Tolerance Crap
Someone far more annoying than myself once said, "I believe the children are our future." Given the inherent truth in that statement, I wonder what life lessons our children are learning from situations like these...
An honor student has been expelled from school for possession of a weapon on campus. Her Mazda had broken down, so she drove to school in her mother's Dodge Durango. That day, officials at Barron Collier High School in Naples, Florida decided to conduct random testing of students' cars. Inside her mom's Durango - a stun gun. Now this honor roll student must finish the year in an alternative school, which will leave a glaring blemish on her final transcript. The girl's mother summed it up best... "No one is allowed a mistake anymore."
A seventh-grader in Katy, Texas was suspended and picked up a criminal record for taking a sip of Diet Coke. Unknown to her, a classmate had spiked the drink with alcohol. After learning this, the student left and eventually tried to explain to school administrators. Refusing to even hear her story, the school suspended her for 60 days, forcing her to attend an alternative school. They also reporter her to the police, who charged her with being a minor in possession of alcohol. Now she has a Class D misdemeanor on her record.
A 15-year-old student draws charicatures of President Bush, prompting the school board to discipline the student, then report him to the police and Secret Service.
In Fort Bend County, Texas, a 12-year-old has been arrested and charged with a third-degree felony - for writing on his school desk. The writing came off with a cleaning solution, but the criminal record is permanent.
There is one common denominator in the above stories. They are all public (a.k.a. government) schools. Not all public schools are embarrassingly bad. But, sadly, some are. And you will only see the above-mentioned kind of foolish, irresponsible and utterly inane conduct from government entities.
Private schools can be looked at like companies, and companies are dependent on customers for the money they need to operate. If parents are dissatisfied with their child's education in a private school, they can simply move the child to a better school. If the school doesn't meet the needs of the students, if it doesn't adequately educate them and prepare them for the real world, the school must improve or parents will take their children (and money) elsewhere and the school might cease to exist.
Public (government) schools are a different beast, dependent on GOVERNMENT for their money. Where do you think their priorities lie? I hope you aren't naive enough to think that students always come first. When there's no real accountability, and when there's no real threat from disappointed parents, education takes a backseat. Private schools realize that parents who can afford private school have a choice, and they work hard to keep students and please parents. Public schools know that there is no competition for their "free" education. No competition means no meaningful pressure to do their best.
"Students Are Our Top Priority" should be the mantra of all school employees. What a grand notion, putting students above CYA (cover your ---) petty politics. Unfortunately, it's the children who often get shafted when the mindless idiocy of Zero Tolerance comes into play. How ironic that those who are supposed to be protected by this horrible policy are often its innocent victims. School administrators and teachers too afraid or too damn stupid to think clearly and make a sensible, intelligent decision simply take the easy road. "I had no choice," they say. "There were no other options... zero tolerance, you know!"
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While I'm on my soapbox about education, I just had to pass along this fantastic Q&A from USA Today. The CEO of Intel Corp. says the biggest threat to American employment is... education. American students aren't being taught math and science at levels comperable with most of the modern world.
"The longer kids stay in the system, the worse they do compared to their international counterparts. In fourth grade, our kids are roughly comparable. By eighth grade, they are behind. By the 12th grade, they are substantially behind other industrialized nations."
He says many teachers in those areas need to be better educated in the subjects they teach. I'm sure this will upset some of you who are involved in education, but it's something that had to be said.
