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California rethinks ‘zero tolerance’

April 17, 2012 by

California lawmakers are rethinking “zero-tolerance” discipline laws that require schools to suspend or expel students caught selling drugs, brandishing a knife, possessing a firearm or explosive or sexually assaulting someone, reports the Oakland Tribune.

In the 2009-10 school year, 7 percent of K-12 students, 13 percent of those with disabilities and 18 percent of black students were suspended for at least one day in California schools, according to UCLA’s Civil Rights Project.

Assemblymember V. Manuel Perez, D-Coachella, has introduced a bill to end automatic suspension, except for firearm and explosives possession. In addition, principals would not be required to report illegal activities to law enforcement authorities.

. . .  it would require a governing board’s decision to expel a student to be based not only on the act itself, but on the grounds that “other means of correction are not feasible or have repeatedly failed to bring about proper conduct.”

Another bill would remove “defiance” as grounds for out-of-school suspension, but would let schools impose in-school suspension. “Willful defiance” leads to 40 percent of school suspensions, reports AP.

School suspensions were once reserved for serious offenses including fighting and bringing weapons or drugs on campus. But these days they’re just as likely for talking back to a teacher, cursing, walking into class late or even student eye rolling.

More than 40 percent of suspensions in California are for “willful defiance,” or any behavior that disrupts class, and critics say it’s a catchall that needs to be eliminated because it’s overused for trivial offenses, disproportionately used against black and Latino boys and alienates the students who need most to stay in school.

“It’s so broad it’s not useful,” said Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president and chief executive of the nonprofit South Los Angeles Community Coalition. “You can’t quite define what it means, what it doesn’t mean.”

 I’ve never been a fan of zero tolerance and in-school suspension seems like a smart idea, but doesn’t this seem like a rather wide pendulum swing? It’s going to be difficult for a school board to expel a student for sexual assault or brandishing a knife.

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Reform school for a 6-year-old

October 13, 2009 by

Zachary Christie, very cute six-year-old boy, made the front page of the New York Times. He’s been suspended from first grade and sentenced to 45 days of reform school for bringing his Cub Scout camping tool, which includes a fork, spoon and knife, to his Delaware school. He wanted to use it to eat his lunch.

. . . based on the code of conduct for the Christina School District, where Zachary is a first grader, school officials had no choice. They had to suspend him because, “regardless of possessor’s intent,” knives are banned.

School officials are afraid to give themselves discretion for fear that they’ll be accused of favoritism or racism. They can’t look at Zach’s age or his excellent behavior record till now and just tell him not to do it again. They prefer to send a very small boy to a school with older delinquents who’ve actually harmed others.

Zach is being homeschooled by his mother, the PTA president, while the family appeals the suspension. They’ve set up helpzachary.org to mobilize support.

Last year, Delaware legislators gave school boards flexibility on zero-tolerance expulsions.

The law was introduced after a third-grade girl was expelled for a year because her grandmother had sent a birthday cake to school, along with a knife to cut it. The teacher called the principal — but not before using the knife to cut and serve the cake.

But the law doesn’t cover Zachary, who was suspended rather than expelled.  The Legislature is working on a new law that will give school boards’ discretion on suspensions too. Call it “Zachary’s Law.”

Update: Waco, Texas trustees have dropped zero tolerance for weapons, instead telling principals to consider mitigating factors such as self-defense, intent, the past behavior record and disability.

Update II:  Turns out Zachary’s school board did have discretion. Under media and parental pressure, the board redefined a blade less than three inches long as an “instrument” rather than a weapon and cut the penalty for kindergartners and first graders to five days of suspension. Zach is back in school.

Meanwhile, Instapundit points to more zero-tolerance idiocy:  A 17-year-old Eagle Scout in upstate New York is serving a 20-day suspension for keeping a two-inch pen knife in a survival kit in his car, which was parked in a school lot. The pen knife was a gift from the boy’s grandfather, who’s the police chief in a nearby town. The senior fears this will kill his chances of getting into West Point.

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