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It would be hard to find a successful school where law and bureaucracy are even noticeable. Teachers and principals in good school cultures are focused not on bureaucratic compliance but on doing what makes sense to them….This freedom requires a legal structure – a structure that affirmatively protects the authority of teachers and principals to make choices that reflect their values of what a good school should be.
– Common Good Chair Philip K. Howard,
Life Without Lawyers
Common Good’s education initiative addresses the ways that bureaucracy impedes the success of America’s public schools. Successful schools need leaders with authority, rules that are simple and fair, and transparent systems of accountability. Common Good addresses areas where law works counter to those needs, such as teachers’ overwhelming paperwork burden, the labyrinthine system of rules and laws that weigh on even the smallest decisions, and the inflexible discipline structures that undermine order and respect in many schools.
Zero Tolerance
To their credit, states throughout the country are reconsidering their zero tolerance policies. These policies were initially enacted in response to a 1994 federal law requiring a one-year expulsion for any student who brings a firearm to school. After the Columbine tragedy in 1999, states expanded the reach of zero tolerance policies to encompass other student misbehavior. Despite legislators’ good intentions, these inflexible policies often produce absurd outcomes.
For example, in October 2009, 6-year old Zachary Christie of Delaware received a 45-day suspension for bringing his new Cub Scout camping utensil – a combined spoon, fork, and knife – to eat his lunch with at school. Only after national media attention and public outrage did the school district decide to reinstate Zachary and remove the suspension from his record. Stories like Zachary’s have prompted many state legislatures, including Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Rhode Island, and Texas to revise their school discipline laws.
Colorado – Click here to read SB 9-237.
Florida – Click here to read SB 1540.
Indiana – Click here to read PL 66-2009.
Rhode Island – Click here to read 07-S 0394.
Texas – Click here to read HB 171. |
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Indiana
Indiana is leading the nation in comprehensive school discipline reform. In May 2009, Governor Mitch Daniels signed two discipline bills into law. The new laws are designed to restore order to Indiana schools by returning authority to teachers and providing them with legal protection, and by requiring local communities to reevaluate and redesign their discipline policies.
The first law, PL 121-2009, makes clear that teachers can remove a disorderly student from the classroom for up to five days without legal process, and that they cannot be sued except in extraordinary circumstances. The second law, PL 66-2009, requires school districts, in consultation with parents, to develop plans to improve discipline and behavior within schools.
Read Philip K. Howard’s op-ed on the legislation in the Indianapolis Star.
Law and Disorder in the Classroom
In the Fall 2009 issue of Education Next, Richard Arum and Doreet Preiss argue that 50 years of school discipline litigation and widespread over-interpretation of judicial decisions have harmed schools by giving students an over-expansive perception of their rights and causing educators to underestimate their authority to run schools as they see fit. The authors conclude that “the expansion of student legal rights, rather than enhancing youth outcomes, has increased the extent to which schools have relied on authoritarian measures, decreased the moral authority of educators, and diminished the capacity of schools to socialize young people effectively.”
Read Philip K. Howard’s Letter to the Editor in response to Arum’s and Preiss’ essay. |
