Zero Tolerance means Zero Responsibility
I am up to here with zero tolerance policies in public schools. Zero Tolerance policies are not designed to make rules enforcement better or safer -- the are designed to relieve school administrators of all decision-making responsibility. Now, I am sympathetic to school districts that are constantly getting hit with all kinds of lawsuits for about any decision they make, but the answer is not to stop making decisions. Zero Tolerance is a way to cover bureaucrats backsides from criticism while trashing the lives of individual students. There are many many examples, but this is as good as any:
A 10-year-old fourth-grade girl at Holme Elementary School in the Far Northeast was pulled out of class, handcuffed, and taken to the local police station in the back of a police wagon earlier this week after a pair of 8-inch scissors were found in her book bag, according to authorities and her angry mother.
I have a ten year old - I can't imagine how nuts I would go about this if it happened to my kid. You can find more examples at Zero Intelligence. This is yet another reason why, while I might be willing to invest more public money in education, I would no more likely give more money to the current management of most public schools than I would give money to a Nigerian emailer.
