More high school violence. This time a teacher is attacked by a student. I found this interesting:
Berry said that she was also frustrated that the principal did not remove the student from the school immediately. As she left the school Friday to go to a medical clinic, Berry said, she had to pass by the girl, bragging to her friends about what she’d done.
[...]
The teachers union has long asserted that city school administrators aren’t reporting violent incidents or doing enough to punish children who are violent, for fear their schools will be labeled “persistently dangerous” under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Maryland defines a persistently dangerous school as one with a certain percentage of its student population suspended for violent offenses. Critics say that that discourages suspensions and makes violence worse because students see they can get away with it.
Talk about unintended consequences!
Allowing the child to stay after the incident and even defending the child (the principle said that the teacher provoked the fight by telling the child that she would defend herself) is the worst thing that the school could have done in response. The students now know that they can act anyway they want and there will be no consequences for their actions. This undermines even further the authority of the teachers in the classroom. The problem it that disruptive kids have gone through the system doing whatever they want (I bet this student wasn’t removed for being disruptive in grammar or middle school and if she was, she was probably returned quickly) and now that they have muscle to back it up, they won’t be told what to do. Students like that need to be removed from the school system and sent to boot camp 
A drill sergeant should be able to whip them into shape by teaching them self-discipline.
(via)
posted April 10, 2008 at 2:20 pm
The teachers union has long asserted that city school administrators aren’t reporting violent incidents or doing enough to punish children who are violent, for fear their schools will be labeled “persistently dangerous” under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Huh, what was their excuse before NCLB?
posted April 10, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I’ve always felt that Reform School (olden days) was not a bad idea. Some people in the system that dealt with the “students” were not the best and today would require strict supervisory monitoring to avoid really horrible conditions. But the regular schools and teachers would be free of the nonsense they put up with today.
posted April 10, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I prefer boot camp with a real US Marine drill sergeant, let them try and intimidate him.
posted April 10, 2008 at 3:44 pm
“what was their excuse before NCLB?” Self-esteem?
posted April 10, 2008 at 5:56 pm
These kids would frag the drill sergeant and video it for youtube.