Zero Patience

If you're already depressed about the state of public education, the Zero Intelligence blog is noplace to feel better about things.

And yet it's becoming an essential read. School district "Zero Tolerance" policies are only turd icing on a rotten cake - but the icing bears examination; "Zero Tolerance" policies enacted after Columbine can have no possible effect on school violence, but will have the probably-unintended side-effect of teaching children that authority is really stupid.

Like this episode:

Two Spring-Ford Area Senior High School students did something very foolish. They climbed through a ceiling tile in a classroom and explored the space above it. Their plan to come back into the empty classroom was foiled when a maintenance man caught the fifteen year-olds.

Danny Suraci was suspended for 3 days, which changed to 5 days and finally grew to 10 days. Andrew Davis wasn't so lucky. He had a pocketknife and a lighter in his pocket, both violations of the school's zero tolerance policy. He was expelled by a unanimous vote of the school board.

Good students expellec due to irrational juvenile exuberance. I'm betting that the thugs and the pinheads still roam the halls.

Much more on edumication when I return from my (imperfectly-enforced) long weekend.

Posted by Mitch at November 5, 2004 05:40 AM | TrackBack