Copyright 1999 The Atlanta Constitution
The Atlanta
Journal and Constitution
February 3, 1999, Wednesday, JOURNAL EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 10A
LENGTH: 565 words
SERIES:
Final
HEADLINE: Don't give bround on zero tolerance
BODY:
ZERO TOLERANCE for bringing a gun to
school should mean "zero" --- not maybe, not if, not sometimes. The action
should warrant permanent expulsion. Such an unequivocal statement tells students
that gun-toting never is tolerated, and tells parents that public officials are
doing their part to ensure safe schools. But the Cobb County schools are
discovering "zero" could mean "maybe." That muddles the message to students, and
gives parents more reason to doubt public education.
The issue arises after two students, ages 12 and 14, were caught with a
loaded .25-caliber pistol in Campbell Middle School last week. School
administrators recommended the permanent expulsion of both students under a
no-tolerance policy adopted last year.
But the school system's lawyers
say implementing the policy might be difficult, if not impossible. First, the
school system must continue to educate the two, even if they are expelled.
Off-site education for five years could cost $ 130,000 to $
490,000, socking Cobb taxpayers with the exorbitant cost of delinquency.
Second, if it is determined the students, both of whom were in special
education programs, have "disabilities" that
would cloud their understanding about weapons, they can't be expelled at all.
Welcome to the weird world of public education, where
good intentions, "new approaches" and a boatload of Washington regulations
routinely tie the hands of school systems attempting to enforce order and
discipline.
It was common years ago for a teacher to
threaten or even physically discipline students. Today, that
teacher gets hauled off to jail, and students learn they hold the upper hand.
Years ago, students were subjected to random searches of lockers and bookbags
for drugs and weapons; today they enjoy rights of due process, and civil
libertarians fight metal detectors at school doors. In the old days, you could
kick kids out for bringing guns to school. Today, it could be determined that
they are, under federal law, "disabled," don't understand what guns can do and
cannot be expelled.
The public's reaction to the handcuffing of public
schools is to move their children elsewhere or to clamor for vouchers for
private education. Who wants to send their kids to a school
that can't expel students for carrying guns? Who wants federal law --- intended
to shield the handicapped --- to instead keep a gun-toting 14-year-old on
campus?
There is only one way for the public schools to redeem
themselves in the eyes of parents and to send a zero-tolerance message, and that
is to clear the way for students to be dismissed permanently for carrying
weapons.
In June 1997 Congress enacted amendments to the Individuals
with Disabilities in Education Act, which
protects the disabled from educational bias. It is time to change the law again
to make clear that there is no "disability" that could keep a
14-year-old gun-toter in a public school. Further, the public ought to have a
robust debate over whether the parents of students who bring guns to school
should be ultimately responsible for the education of their
expelled children.
Public schools need the ability to protect students
and the tools to compete for the confidence and support of parents. They can't
get it with wacky interpretations of federal law tying their hands. They need
the freedom to boot out students who bring guns to school.
LOAD-DATE: February 4, 1999
