CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Obama's Chance

Obama will begin airing a new ad on education in New Hampshire, called, “Chances I had.”

NBC’s Domenico Montanaro says this ad could spur attacks on Obama:

"The one thing I was able to get was a great education." But Obama went to an elite prep school in Hawaii -- not a public school. Can't you just hear Republicans in a general election, "You did get a great education... at a prep school, which is why we should be for vouchers."

Exactly.

Dumbing Down High School Athletics

The Norwalk Citizen News reports the Norwalk Board of Education is lowering its standards in order to allow students with lower GPAs to play high school sports:

Under the Athletic Eligibility Pilot Program approved by the Board of Education last week, high school students with grade-point averages of 1.5 will be allowed to participate in sports if they are tutored four times a week and bring up their grades.

High school students previously were required to maintain minimum GPAs of 1.7 to take part in athletics. The program is effective for the 2006-07 academic year.

This is so disappointing. I have found young people usually rise or fall to the level of the expectations their mentors set for them. The Board of Education should be raising the expectations for high school athletes instead of dumbing down the standard to an even lower, less than mediocre, GPA. High school athletes, and a board of education, should understand that students are in school to get an education.

Declaration Of Independence Banned

Reuters reports that Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in Cupertino, California, has been barred from giving students historical American documents that refer to God, including the Declaration of Independence.

Williams, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian and alleging his rights to free speech:

"It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful," said Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson.

"Williams wants to teach his students the true history of our country," he said. "There is nothing in the Establishment Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) that prohibits a teacher from showing students the Declaration of Independence."

According to Reuters, Williams asserts in the lawsuit that since May he has been required to submit all of his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to Vidmar for approval, and that the principal will not permit him to use any that contain references to God or Christianity:

Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the Colonists" and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."

What is so hard about this? The constitution provides for freedom "of" religion, not freedom "from" religion. How could anyone, let alone an educator, accept the looney idea that there is anything wrong with providing students with a copy of one of the most important American historical documents. It scares me to death that the people allowed to supervise the education of our children could be so dense.

UPDATE: Thursday the Oakland Tribune reported on this story and included comments from Williams:

"I've never even tried to hint the kids need to believe this or this is the right religion to believe," Williams told the Oakland Tribune on Wednesday. "I'm just trying to teach history."

[. . .]

Williams said he thinks society has become hypersensitive to any reference of Christianity in the public arena, especially schools. He said he has taught students about Ramadan and Kwanzaa and been applauded for those lessons.

People are like, Oh good, that's diversity,' he said. As soon as Christianity is involved, it's separation of church and state.

[. . .]

Williams said he wants to bring attention to how sensitive society has become to religious references, even when it comes to American history.

He added he has only respect for Vidmar and the staff at Stevens Creek.

I really feel blessed to be there, he added.

Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson of the Alliance Defense Fund, said:

It is a matter of history that the founders were "men of deep religious faith," Thompson said. "To hide this fact from young fifth-grade students is shameful and outrageous. We're not founded by the Boston agnostic club."

This story struck a nerve in the blogosphere.

At Power Line, Hindrocket posts that the Trunk has been saying for a while that it is only a matter of time until the Constitution is held to be unconstitutional.

At Wizbang, Kevin Aylward posts that now that they've banned all the holidays, they're on to the history books.

At Blogs for Bush, Matt Margolis posts that Our Founding Fathers must be rolling over in their graves.

At Young Pundit, Willis posts that this has nothing to do with "separation of church and state," it's blatant anti-Christian bias.

At Truth, Lies & Common Sense, Walt Anthony posts that every culture in this land is sacred and deserves the utmost respect except for the culture we all share that enabled this great land to be formed.

The Cassandra Page ties this story to a post about Islamic methods for spreading their religion in American public schools. "Leading children to the slaughter" is an interesting post.

At The Education Wonks, Ed posts that this may be one of the worst examples of Political Correctism Run Amok in recent years. Ed's post also stated he would like to withhold judgment until we get a chance to personally speak with school representatives and get their side of the story. Ed will need a lot of luck in that effort because according to the Tribune, District officials would not comment on the lawsuit, saying only they received it and referred it to their attorneys.

At Caerdroia, Jeff posts this would make teaching American History a little difficult

At Right Thinking from the Left Coast, Lee posts that fundamentalist secularism is just as big an evil as fundamentalist Islam.

At Ramblings' Journal, Michael King posts the very audacity to eliminate the Declaration of Independance from a school curriculum is unconscionable.

At In Search Of Utopia, David wonders where our country is going.

Woody's Woundup posts that education administrators live in mortal fear of not being considered "politically correct."

Who Tends the Fires wonders are we just going to erase our entire history and go about in "blissful" ignorance?

At rightpundit, Gary posts that unfortunately lawsuits have become the only way for conscientious teachers and parents to force school administrators to actually teach history the way it happened instead of some version sanitized of all references to the religious beliefs of historical figures

Flopping Aces posts that banning important parts of our history to schoolchildren just makes his blood boil.

UPDATE II: A number of blogs have linked to Smoking Gun for a copy of the complaint filed on behalf of Williams and staring the law suit. The smoking gun only has the first 8 pages of the complaint. The entire 16 page complaint is available (as a PDF) here.

UPDATE III: At Power Line, Big Trunk posts that Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund has written them advising:

We have checked out the facts that we alleged in the complaint, and I believe them to be true. Of course, the School District has not responded yet with its side of the story. But from my direct investigation, this does seem like a situation where a school official thinks that a serious Christian teacher cannot be trusted to use "religious" materials in the classroom in a professional and Constitutional way.

[. . .]

As you know, the Supreme Court has ruled that religious materials can be used in public schools to teach history, literature, etc. What a deficient education students receive if school officials buckle under to pressure from secular activists to pluck public institutions bare of any mention of God. The Establishment Clause is no mandate for a search and destroy mission against all things religious.

Lorence is scheduled to appear on Hannity and Colmes Monday night to talk about the Declaration of Independence case.

Minority Students Left Behind

The New Haven Register reports that Connecticut is among 10 states with the worst racial disparities in high school graduation rates.

A new study found that nationally only about 68% of students entering the 9th grade graduated with a regular diploma in 12th grade. That's bad enough, but the numbers for minority students are much worse:

Data reported in 2001 showed that only 50 percent of black students; 51 percent of American Indian students; and 53 percent of Hispanic students graduated from high school across the country, while 75 percent of whites graduated.

The numbers are even worse for male minority students: 43% for black males, 47% for Native American males and 48% for Hispanic males.

In Connecticut, 82% of white students graduated from high school in 2001, compared to 61% of blacks; 50% of Hispanics, and 43% of American Indians.

The Connecticut State Department of Education doesn't seem too worried about this:

State Department of Education spokesman Tom Murphy noted that the study judged states based on the difference between minority and white graduation rates, not whether Connecticut’s minority students are dropping out more than those in other states.

"The gap is something we’ve been concerned about, but at the same time we have to also note that Connecticut’s students overall have a high graduation rate compared with the nation," he said.

The percentage of students dropping out of high school in Connecticut fell from 17.4 percent in 1995 to 10.8 percent in 2003, he said.

The Education Department should be more concerned about the students being left behind. Based upon U.S. census data from 1999, a high school drop out earns an average of $14,349 annually while a high school graduate earns $23,233. More importantly most businesses require worker with skills that require at least a high school diploma.

One of the report's findings is that segregation fuels the low graduation rate problem:

Low graduation rates show a strong relationship with indicators of school segregation and this relationship is independent of poverty. Moreover, in every state, districts with high minority concentrations had lower graduation rates than districts where whites were the majority. In Ohio, for example, the minority composition difference is pronounced even among the state’s largest districts, with a graduation rate gap of over 50 points between the majority white district of Westerville (81) and the majority minority district of Cleveland (30). This suggests that the growing segregation in public schools will likely contribute further to even lower minority graduation rates.

The report is a joint project between The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, The Urban Institute, Advocates for Children of New York and The Civil Society Institute. The report is available here in pdf format.

Don't Say "Gay"

When I heard about this on a radio news broadcast this morning, I got so upset I nearly had an accident.

When I got to a computer I checked the radio WCBS website and found this Associated Press story about seven-year old Marcus McLaurin who was punished for telling a classmate his mother was "gay." Initially I was not going to use the young boy’s name, but it is already prominently displayed in tens of newspaper articles.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Marcus was waiting in line to go to recess when a classmate asked him about his mother and father. Marcus responded that he didn't have a mother and father; instead he has two mothers. When the other child asked why, Marcus explained that it was because his mother is gay. The other child then asked what that meant, and Marcus explained, "Gay is when a girl likes another girl."

His teacher, in front of Marcus' classmates, scolded Marcus saying "gay" is a bad word and he should never say it at school. Marcus was not allowed to have recess, but instead he was sent to the principal’s office. Marcus was then required to attend a special behavioral clinic at 6:45 in the morning, where he was forced to repeatedly write "I will never use the word 'gay' in school again."

As if violating a young boy’s right of free expression and telling him that it is wrong to talk about his family wasn’t bad enough, the school required Marcus to complete the this “behavior contract.” This document is worth viewing even though it takes too long to load. The teacher explained at the top of the form:
“He explained to another child that you are gay and what being gay means.”

I can’t believe any school administrator or teacher would find it appropriate to force a seven-year old to complete such a “contract.”

The “school behavior report” is also worth viewing. This “report” signed by the school's assistant principal, contains these remarks from the teacher, “Marcus decided to explain to another child in his group that his mom is gay. He told the other child that gay is when a girl likes a girl. This kind of discussion is not acceptable in my room. I feel that parents should explain things of this nature to their own children in their own way.”

Marcus’ mom was shocked by the school’s draconian overreaction:

I was concerned when the assistant principal called and told me my son had said a word so bad that he didn't want to repeat it over the phone. But that was nothing compared to the shock I felt when my little boy came home and told me that his teacher had told him his family is a dirty word.

The ACLU sent a letter to the school demanding that school officials take no further disciplinary action against Marcus because of this incident, remove all records about the discipline from Marcus’ files, assure that they will not censor, discriminate, or retaliate against Marcus or his mother and apologize to both Marcus and his mother.

The Lafayette Daily Advertiser reported today that the superintendent of the Lafayette Parish School District said Marcus was not disciplined for using the word “gay” to describe his mother and vowed that the district would not apologize.

“An apology is not due. The child was not singled out because his parent is gay.”

The superintendent strongly denied that the child was made to write repeatedly, “I will never use the word ‘gay’ in school again,” as alleged by the ACLU.

According to the Lafayette Daily Advertiser, the superintendent asserted early on Tuesday that Marcus was actually sent to a behavioral clinic a week later because he was disrupting the classroom and not completing a classroom assignment. However, he couldn’t explain why the school district didn’t have the documentation to support the real reasons for the child’s discipline. Later that day the superintendent said he couldn’t release the additional documents to the media, because they involved the discipline of a child and would violate child privacy laws.

I realize that there is always two sides to a story. Usually the truth is found somewhere between the two versions. The school looks very bad so far and the superintendent is destroying the school’s credibility.

I’m sure we haven’t heard the end of this story.

Withdrawn

Rachele Boim, the freshman expelled from Rosewell High School because of a story she wrote in her private journal, has decided she needs a fresh start. Three days after returning to school, Rachele has withdrawn.

Rachele's dad told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Emotionally, she could not cope. She was well received by students. And the faculty were fine. But she is the kid who wrote the story that was interpreted to threaten the life of a teacher, and that stigma was really difficult for her to deal with.

The incident, which included Rachel's being led out of class by an armed officer, has turned her life upside down and that a new school would be best for her.

This has had a profound adverse effect on her and the entire family. We just want her to be able to disappear. She wants to be able to disappear.

As I posted here, Rachel was expelled from Roswell High School after a teacher discovered a fictional story she had written in her personal journal. Rachel’s journal was confiscated by a teacher because Rachel passed it to another student during class. The teacher kept the journal instead of returning the it at the end of the class. The teacher read the journal then gave it to school administrators. Rachele was suspended, than expelled for “inappropriate writings.”

I am saddened by this turn of events. I had hoped that Rachele would be able to handle the notoriety that came with the unjustified overreaction of school officials to her therapeutic writings.

When schools rely upon zero tolerance policies to punish students there are lasting consequences. Students with otherwise outstanding school records are tainted forever with suspensions and expulsions in their records. They are stigmatized as dangerous and troublesome.

Schools should be required to use discretion, commonsense, and fairness in all dealings with students, especially when imposing a punishment.

Zero tolerance is causing too many undesirable and unacceptable consequences. It should be abolished or modified to require consideration of an alleged offender’s intent.

Expelled Student Returns

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports here and here that Rachel Boim returned to school yesterday.

After an absence of 2 1/2 weeks and an avalanche of publicity, Rachel Boim returned to Roswell High School on Monday, where she was assigned some new teachers.

To help give her a "fresh start," Rachel was transferred from the art class in which her journal was confiscated, said school district spokeswoman Susan Hale.

Because her story described the shooting of a math teacher, she also was assigned to a new math class.

"I don't think we feel that the [math] teacher is in immediate danger," Hale said. "It's just that this has become a very awkward situation for the teachers and the student."

As Rachel and her parents prepared to climb into their mini-van Monday for the short ride to the school, David Boim had a quick word of advice for his daughter: "No personal journals please."

Rachel is receiving a much more thorough civics education than most high school students. Will she also get an intense legal education as well?

Write On

Rachel Boim, the freshman expelled from Roswell High School because of a story she had written in her journal, was a guest columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. In her column, Rachel writes:

When a teacher took up my journal during fifth-period class on Oct. 7, I wasn't concerned that someone would read the story about the dreaming girl. I was more worried that some of my poems would be read.

The following day I was taken out of class by the school resource officer. At first I was really worried that something had happened to one of my parents. When I was told it was about my journal, I thought that it was ridiculous to have an armed guard escort me to the office.

My tribunal was on Oct. 22. It was a closed trial that lasted for three hours. ...I don't think it would have made a difference if the pope had testified on my behalf. The decision was made before I even entered the room.

This experience will not discourage me from writing. If anything it will motivate me to write more stories. I will just have to be more careful about where I write them and who I show them to.

Read the whole thing.

Expelled for Writing

Punishing a student for something the student writes is just wrong. If a student's writing contains specific threats against specific individuals some action may be justified. I certainly believe that schools are obliged to keep students safe. Everything I have read about the Rachel Boim case, leads me to conclude that her high school not only overreacted, but probably violated Rachel's rights.

Rachel Boim, a 14-year-old freshman, was expelled from Roswell High School in Atlanta, for what the school district calls “inappropriate writings that describe the threat of bodily harm toward a school employee." The “inappropriate writings” consisted of “a fictional tale in her private journal about a student who dreams that she kills a teacher.”

The journal entry describes an unnamed student, having a dream while asleep in class. In the dream, the student shoots an unnamed math teacher and then runs out of the classroom, only to be killed by a security guard. After that, the school bell rings and the student having the dream wakes up, picks up her books, and walks to another classroom.

Rachel’s father said “his daughter often carries her personal journal and did not have it in class as part of an assignment when it was confiscated Oct. 7.” Her art teacher took the journal during the class because Rachel was passing it to a classmate.

The art teacher kept the journal overnight, obviously read it, and the next day Rachel was taken from her second-period class by school police.

The The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Rachel was expelled after a closed, three-hour hearing. The school justified the expulsion by stating:

"Anytime the safety and security of our students and staff are put into question, we investigate the situation and, if warranted, take serious action." After reviewing the evidence, the hearing officer felt expulsion was an appropriate disciplinary response.

Rachel will be allowed to attend another school within the Fulton system until the end of the academic year, but the choice must be approved by school officials.

Eugene Volokh at The Volokh Conspiracy, asks, “if she's such a danger to people, why will she ‘be allowed to attend another school within the Fulton system until the end of the academic year?’”

Wednesday's hearing included testimony from Rachel's parents and Georgia's poet laureate. They all testified that the girl's story was nothing more than a work of fiction in a journal filled with drawings, coloring, poems, and other creative expression.

Poet Laureate David Bottoms, said that he tried to convince the hearing officer that the journal entry was a narrative that grew out of creative thought.

"In my opinion, based on my experience as a writer and with more than 20 years of teaching creative writing, this piece of work is clearly an imaginative piece, a piece of fiction -- totally non-threatening."

Rachel is an honors student in biology, French and English literature. She is the captain of her crew team and a voracious reader. She comes from a family of writers.

Rachel’s father said Rachel was treated unfairly:

I believe the school system is asking her to cede her Fourth Amendment right, her First Amendment right and her right to due process. Basically, the school system is saying they decide what is an appropriate topic to write about and what is an inappropriate topic."

He said the family moved to Roswell from Colorado three years ago. Because they lived in suburban Denver at the time, the Boims often talked at home about the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, in which two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves.

"Students today are very aware of the violence around them. The shootings in school, we all hear about that and they affect children. Creative writers, or people who create art, write about what's happening in their society.

At a Friday news conference, it was announced that Rachel’s expulsion was temporarily rescinded. School officials said they would allow Rachel to return to Roswell High School until the school board hears more about the incident.

I like the way Rachel’s family is handling this matter. They have gotten great coverage from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In addition there have been appearances on radio's Neal Boortz, Fox's "Hannity & Colmes" TV show, and CNN. Rachel is getting a great education on civil liberties.

In a follow-up article today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

Rachel can return to school Monday if she wants, but she and her parents are undecided about whether she will go back to Roswell High.

This is only good until November. They could reinstate this," said her father, David Boim. "And then we're back to square one.

Rachel has mixed emotions about returning to Roswell High.

I have a lot of really good friends who go to Roswell High School. I would definitely like to go back," she said. "But I'm nervous about how I'd be treated by the faculty and staff. I feel like they'd be constantly watching me, waiting for me to mess up.

Zero tolerance has become an excuse not to make decisions. School administrators are able to claim they are just following the rules, they are not required to make a decision.

A story in a diary or journal is a far cry from the maps and plans which the Columbine killers wrote and talked about with friends. Zero tolerance policies may have sounded like a good idea in the wake of the Columbine tragedy and other acts of school violence. With no room for reason, interpretation, or common sense, zero tolerance is mindless and wrongheaded. In Rachel’s case, it has clearly resulted in a grave injustice.

Educators are charged with teaching our children; helping them to develop into happy, inquisitive, creative, productive adults, and with keeping them safe. The bureaucrats that expelled Rachel have shown themselves to be unqualified for that task. They, not Rachel, pose a threat to the welfare and future of students.

Rachel’s journal should have been returned to her at the close of class. A private chat with her on the subject of her "passing" anything during class time would have been the appropriate reaction here.

Thanks to Best of the Web for the pointer.

It's The Standards, Accountability And Expectations Std

In his Townhall article Leaving Black Kids Behind Rich Lowry argues that public education perpetuates and exacerbates the country's racial divide. Lowry cites the following facts from Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom's new book, No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning, which he calls " a damning account of how the public schools fail black students:"

The typical black high-school graduate has, in effect, only an eighth-grade education.

The typical black student scores below 80 percent of white students on tests. A majority of black students score in the lowest category -- Below Basic -- in five of the seven subjects on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Seventy-seven percent of white students read at a higher level than the average black student. Only 23 percent of black students, on the other hand, read at a level equal to or better than the average white student.

During the 1990s, average black math scores fell dramatically. Despite two decades of spending and "reforms," black students' achievement in math is at its 1978 level.

The average black student knows less about science than 90 percent of white students.

Black students at elite colleges actually get lower grades than their SAT scores had projected.

I don't necessarily agree with Lowry's assertion that the problem is the alliance between the Liberals and the teacher unions. I do agree that with the solution that Lowry tell us is supported by the Thernstrom's book; schools that emphasize standards, testing, accountability and high expectations. My support of this theory is based on our family's experience with an elementary magnet school. The kids that attended this magnet school performed significantly above the average in middle and high school. I think the reason for this success is high expectations of student performance and the required parental involvement.

Update - Betsy Newmark at Betsy's Page has a link to William Raspberry's take on the Thernstrom's book

William Raspberry bravely gives a plug to Abigail and Stephen Thernstorm's illuminating new book, No Excuses. Speaking frankly and helpfully about the academic achievement gap between black and white students is a lot harder than it ought to be.

It is particularly hard if it is true -- as I believe -- that the gap has less and less to do with racism and more and more to do with the habits and attitudes we inculcate among our children.

I can almost feel the resistance from black Americans to the notion that there is something cultural about the underachievement of black students. Almost as palpable is the easy conclusion on the part of many whites (and I'm not talking about racists) that if black people would just buckle down as other disadvantaged groups have done, many of their problems would evaporate.

And yet -- how hard this is! -- the buckle-down crowd may be closer to the mark. That is not to say that the academic gap (as much as four years by the time of high school graduation) is merely the aggregate result of individual black laziness. It isn't.

But as Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom make clear in their new book, "No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning," a significant source of the gap is in the attitudes toward academic achievement that are prevalent in black America, even among the economically successful, college-trained middle class.