Students behaving badly

[Jaxson]

Our superintendent of schools, Dr. Nikolai Vitti, is correct when he seeks to find solutions to the school-to-prison pipeline.  The facts point to disparities in student discipline that contribute to the disproportionate number of minority students who are treated like criminals in school and then end up becoming real criminals.
Past 'solutions' to this issue proved to be disastrous.  Administrators and teachers, hamstrung by political correctness focused on window dressing that made us feel good about being 'color blind,' but it also meant turning a blind eye toward students' behavior in general.
For example, administrators often pressured teachers to write fewer disciplinary referrals, to water down disciplinary referrals (e.g. making a class 2 offense into a class 1), or to simply suck it up and keep teaching.  Is it any wonder that many teachers, out of frustration, opted to sit on their hands, resulting in misconduct that, while not documented, resulted in more severe infractions in the long run? 
The rules change in the last weeks of school when administrators and teachers suddenly have free rein to do what they should have been doing all along.  Look at the number of suspensions that are handed down to students on the last days of school to keep order.  If this kind of work was done during the first weeks of school, we would not have to be playing these games in May and June.
I am not, however, advocating for a 'throw the book at them' mentality.  The days that a student spends in out-of-school suspension (OSS) are more like vacation days.  The days that a student spends in Alternative to Out of School Suspension (ATOSS) are days that force the parents to find ways to get their children to the designated facilities.  These disciplinary actions have their place, but we should also look to an overlooked resource in our schools - the in-school suspension (ISSP) program.
Most middle and high schools have ISSP, but there is no cohesive program that makes it truly effective for all of Duval County students.  In my experience as a substitute teacher in different schools around the county, I have observed some ISSP programs being strict detention halls and others that were reminiscent of the 'Breakfast Club.'
We already have staffed the ISSP programs, but I believe that training and resources can help us to improve ISSP for all.  As a diversion program, ISSP can play an important role in helping students to learn from their mistakes and to work on their reading and math skills so they can keep up with their peers.

[NotNow]

God bless you teachers.  What an uphill battle faced every day, you have all of my respect.  This is certainly an area where we should focus our attention.

[Dog Walker]

NN,  Don't you know that they are only doing it for the high salaries and time off?  NOT!

That's a job that I tried years ago, but couldn't hack it.  My wife spent twenty-five years in the public schools in three different Florida counties in teaching and administrative positions and I am still in awe and amazement that she could do it.  Takes special people to teach and they don't get enough of our respect.

[BackinJax05]

They need to bring back corporal punishment - and prayer - to the public schools. There were alot fewer problems when the hickory stick - and GOD - were on campus.

[Jaxson]

Let's be honest about religion in our public schools.  If we believe that God is omnipresent, we would not believe that God was somehow evicted from public schools.  What did happen, however, was the federal government removed the mandate that public schools require students to pray.  Students may voluntary pray at school is that is their preference.  The difference is that I cannot lead my students in prayer.  That is fine by me because I attend church for the purpose of religious instruction.  Can we not just simply encourage people to worship in the church, synagogue or temple of their choice?  Based on church attendance as of late, religious institutions could use more prayers...

[movedsouth]

The one thing that doesn't appear to work is the ATOSS place about two blocks from my house. Unless socializing before class to smoke a joint together is part of the program.

I don't have kids myself, so I am speaking as an outsider. But one thing I observe is a "segregation" of schools by economic background of parents. In talking to parents, it appears that Jacksonville has a number of decent schooling options for kids (magnet schools, private schools...) and some choice as to where to send your kids within the public school system. But what happens as a result is that parents who care about the eduction of their children and are involved are picking among these choices, while default neighborhood public schools are left "for the rest". Teachers are really only one part of the education puzzle. Peers and family play at least an equal role. Thinking about my own time in school, it usually matters a lot more what my peers in school think about my behavior, then what the teacher thinks. If it is "cool" to hang out before school to smoke a joint, and all my class mates join in, and my parent(s) don't care, then I don't think there is much the teacher can do.

[Jaxson]

I completely agree about the stratification of our schools by social class.  The challenge of integration was, of course, ending legal separation of the races in schools.  The greater challenge today is working to integrate our socio-economic groups to ensure that all students have access to equitable education resources.  The problem is that school choice results in lower income schools losing their brightest students to magnet, charter, private and parochial schools.  This places the challenged schools in a tougher situation than the neighborhood schools that manage to keep a greater variety of ability levels.  This is why I think that the previously failing high schools moved up in their school grades - because of a concerted effort to keep from having to shut them down.  This meant that the state had to change to rubric for passing because they knew that the remaining schools would have had to pick up the slack.  This also would have meant a drastic increase in student populations in the remaining schools and pressure on them to teach students who would have had no real connection to the new schools except as 'refugees' from their old neighborhood schools.

[BackinJax05]

They need to bring back corporal punishment - and prayer - to the public schools. There were alot fewer problems when the hickory stick - and GOD - were on campus.

yeah, it was just fag bashing, date rape, lynching the uppity darkies, jew baiting, and home economics and sewing classes for girls only.

ah the good old days.

when no one thought two seconds about the effects of child abuse in the home and you couldn't legally be charged for rape if the victim was your spouse.

Jeez. You take all the fun out of sarcasm 

While Im at it, resegreation probably wouldnt hurt either