Remember my post on the politics of suspending students? That post described events in Kentucky, but it looks like the same conflicting desires - to reduce school violence, while also reducing suspensions - are in play in Minneapolis, MN.
The result? One injured teacher, one lightly-punished student, and a whole lot of debate:
The 13-year-old boy was running in the hall at the south Minneapolis public school. The teacher told him to stop. He kept running. She put her hand on the lad. Next thing she knew, she was on the floor.
"It's a little fuzzy what happened," said Joyce Thompson Graham, a seventh-and eighth-grade English teacher at Sullivan School. "I was either pulled down, or elbowed or tripped. All I remember is that he said, 'You can't stop me.' "
The kid was right. The teacher couldn't stop him.
Thompson Graham ended up in a hospital emergency room. She suffered a severe injury to her right ankle. She's currently teaching with crutches and a cast.
Punishment for the kid?
Initially, he was given a one-day in-school detention. When another teacher corroborated Thompson Graham's story, the punishment got tougher. He was suspended for two days.
Two days' suspension for what looks like an assault? Thompson Graham doesn't know whether to laugh, scream or hire a lawyer.
The light punishment is the result of a mandate from the school district to reduce the number of suspensions. The idea is to use alternative forms of punishment for these children that are coming from "troubled backgrounds" and who have "unmet needs." But it sounds like teachers in Minneapolis have some "unmet needs" for a safe teaching environment:
The order from district headquarters is to reduce the number of suspensions. The result, [Ms. Thompson Graham] said, is a disintegrating educational environment. Hallways are chaotic. Students frequently are directing obscene language at teachers with no fear of consequences.
[The district's director of student engagement Birch] Jones said it's clear the student was running in the hall, a violation of school policy. It's clear Thompson Graham hit the floor and sustained an injury. And it's clear the student took off running.
But the student's intent, he said, was not clear. Thus, the light punishment.
"This is probably a situation where we could have brought the student, his family and the teacher together," said Jones, calling it a "teachable moment."
Louise Sundin, head of the Minneapolis teachers union, said teachers are being increasingly crushed by these "teachable moments"...
Phil Villaume, an attorney who represents two Minneapolis teachers in cases surrounding lax school discipline, said the problem is not unique to urban schools. He's receiving calls from teachers statewide.
"Administrators are not backing teachers," said Villaume, "even though they have state law behind them."
State law calls for zero tolerance of harassment in our schools. There's no subsection in the law about teachers bouncing off floors being considered a teachable moment.
(Thanks to Devoted Reader and fellow blogger Jim P. for the link.)
Posted by kswygert at February 9, 2004 05:23 PM