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Principal rescinds new discipline policy
Ohanian Comment:It is unfortunate the principal caved in on this. Sending students to the office for trivial infractions is probably indicative of teacher refusal to face up to what it means to be a responsible professional. I remember a teacher at my middle school who had "standards," by which she meant she sent students who came to class without a pencil to the office. It also meant that she tailored her lecture-regurgitation course after a college course and a very high percentage of students failed. But principals have to deal with individual teachers, not issue edicts.
In twenty years of teaching, I could count on one hand the number of students I sent to the office. This policy was based on what happened early in my career. The principal required me to witness the punishment he meted out to a kid I did send. He made the kid hold out his hands and then the principal, a big man, hit the kid's hands as hard as he could with a ruler.
I vowed never again to send a student to the office. And I didn't. I hope that I don't sound too sanctimonious in saying, when you decide to take care of your own dirty linen, you learn a lot, and you don't have to live with the horror of how other people deal with it.
When Learning Magazine asked me to write an article about "Discipline," always a hot topic in teaching, I agreed because in those days I never turned down an opportunity to get my words out in the mass media. I thought I didn't give a hoot about the philosophy and pedagogy of discipline, but I definitely grew into the topic. In researching the topic, reading tons of books promising discipline "solutions," I discovered that I actually did care about the subject a lot and, much to my surprise, I discovered I had very deep-held convictions. One might actually call them a philosophy. For those who care about such things, the essay, There's Only One True Technique for Good Discipline, is included in my essay collection Who's In Charge? A Teacher Speaks Her Mind. Ha. Amazon has used copies for $.51.
By Antoinette Konz
A day after Western High School teachers were ordered not to kick students out of class for nonviolent behavior such as swearing, using cell phones and plagiarism, their principal rescinded the policy after teachers complained.
But principal Louis Hughley Jr. said the problem that prompted his short-lived policy remains -- too many teachers are sending too many students to the office for disciplinary problems they should be handling themselves.
And he says he's not the only Jefferson County principal wrestling with the issue.
"We have some teachers who are calling for security (to remove students) for every little thing -- things like dress-code infractions, not bringing class materials," Hughley said. "A lot of kids are missing too much class time, and when your test scores are at the bottom of the state, you can't afford to have your kids miss instruction."
But Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, said Hughley went too far with a blanket edict that undermined teachers' ability to control their classrooms.
"If a teacher has a problem and they need to call security, the teacher should have the right to call," he said. "If they are calling for questionable reasons, it should be dealt with individually between the administrator and the teacher."
The issue illustrates some of the frustrations that principals and teachers are experiencing as they try to keep order in the classroom.
Male High principal Dave Wilson said at the beginning of the year he wrestled with too many students being sent to the office for minor offenses such as dress-code violations.
"Our dress-code policy is not overbearing, but there is a division line between correctable offenses and not-correctable offenses," he said. "We were having a number of students being put out of the classroom for committing a correctable offense that should have been dealt with in the classroom."
Wilson said he handled the situation by meeting with his staff. "We have greatly reduced the number of kids being sent out of the classroom for correctable offenses," he said. "We are still getting a few, but it's much better than it was."
Hughley's initial memo to Western teachers said they could no longer have students removed for the following: failure to follow directions; failure to remove or put away electronic devices (such as cell phones); profanity or vulgarity to other students; horseplay; gambling; forgery; and plagiarism.
The memo said teachers could have students removed for: verbal abuse or profanity toward staff; intimidation, harassment or striking staff; arson; assaulting or fighting other students; bomb threats; pulling fire alarms; theft; and any kind of drug-related infraction.
Yesterday, after meeting with teachers' union representatives, Hughley sent a second memo rescinding the policy changes.
"We will have a faculty meeting … and I am requesting that all faculty members attend this meeting and give us your input, concerns and questions," Hughley said in the new memo.
Francis Hoffman, a retired teacher, said her granddaughter, who attends Western, was once sent out of the classroom because of a uniform infraction.
"She missed an hour of her algebra class because the teacher said she was not wearing the correct uniform and because she said my granddaughter got mouthy with her," Hoffman said. "My granddaughter was wrong for getting mouthy to her teacher, but I don't think she should have been sent out of class for that."
But at the same time, Hoffman said she believes teachers should have some discretion over discipline in their classrooms.
"I think if a certain teacher is abusing the process, that teacher should be talked to," she said. "I don't think a blanket policy works in situations like this, because you never know what can happen inside a classroom."
— Antoinette Konz
The Courier-Journal
2007-11-16
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