[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 162 (Tuesday, November 16, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2390-E2391]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    ZERO-TOLERANCE AND COMMON SENSE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM (BILL) CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 16, 1999

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I am submitting the following editorial from 
the November 12, 1999 St. Louis Post-Dispatch in order to make a 
statement in opposition to so-called ``zero-tolerance'' discipline 
policies in our Nation's schools.
  While maintaining discipline and orderly conduct in our schools 
should continue to be a top priority of educators and school 
administrators, we must be mindful that not all misdeeds are worthy of 
the stringent and unbending punishments administered under these 
policies. Such policies fail to allow a more reasonable system of 
addressing each incident separately, thus failing to teach our students 
the values of discipline and tolerance. As I remain outraged at the 
actions taken against the seven students in Decatur, I am hopeful that 
other school boards and districts across America will soon examine 
their own disciplinary policies in order to create a more equitable 
system of punishment.

                    Zero-tolerance and Common Sense

       The Rev. Jesse Jackson's protest of the expulsion of seven 
     students from a Decatur,

[[Page E2391]]

     Ill., high school goes beyond the particulars in that 
     incident and spotlights an even larger issue--the mindless 
     application of so-called ``zero-tolerance'' discipline 
     policies in our schools.
       The seven students were in a fight Sept. 17 at a local 
     football game. There were no weapons, no drugs, no alcohol 
     involved. Nobody was hurt, but someone might have been.
       Punishment was certainly in order. The school board decided 
     to suspend the students from school for two years, without 
     the possibility of attending an alternative school. It cited 
     its policy of zero tolerance for violence. Zero tolerance or 
     not, the punishment was far too severe.
       In the wake of the deadly school shootings at Columbine and 
     in other cities across America, we all have become deeply 
     concerned about school safety. As we should be. But as we 
     seek to root out violence, our lack of tolerance must be 
     tempered with common sense. We've become so spooked by the 
     specters of mass shootings that we are quick to sacrifice 
     children's lives on the alter of control. A 13-year-old Texas 
     boy recently was jailed--jailed--for five days because some 
     parents were troubled by a horror story he wrote for English 
     class. Two 7-year-olds in our region were kicked out of 
     school in separate incidents because they brought nail 
     clippers to school.
       A two-year suspension for the Decatur high school students 
     would have virtually guaranteed that they would become 
     dropouts.
       Under pressure from the Rev. Jackson, the school board has 
     offered a compromise that makes good sense. The students will 
     be suspended for a year, but will be allowed to attend an 
     alternative school. With good behavior and good grades, they 
     can return to their regular school and graduate on time. The 
     students will be punished but given a chance to redeem 
     themselves. It's unfortunate that it took a national 
     spotlight, protests and three days of school closures for the 
     school board to find what it never should have lost in the 
     first place: Its head.

     

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