Remember what I said yesterday about how we're fucking doomed because public school administrators are fools? I offer you further proof.
First, a school in Queens who have a "no 911 calls for any reason" :
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein yesterday vowed to investigate a Queens high school policy that may have cost a teen girl her health.The Daily News reported yesterday an official at Jamaica High School barred school deans from calling 911 in an emergency - just weeks before 14-year-old Mariya Fatima suffered a stroke her family says could have been less devastating.
Klein called this a violation of Department of Education policy and instructions he had sent to principals early this year.
"We'll look into it and take appropriate action," he said.
Former Jamaica Assistant Principal Guy Venezia sent a memo to school deans on April 12 banning 911 calls "for any reason."
Mariya began to vomit at school on April 27 and collapsed in the hall, but her family says help did not arrive until 90 minutes later.
Seriously. What the fuck??? The article goes on to say that the schools do this because they have high crime and don't want a paper trail about that crime. So I'm wondering, are they allowed to call 911 if there's a shooting? A big brawl? I just don't get how a public school in the "most advanced" nation on the planet has such a dangerous, ridiculous policy. I'd expect to hear this from some slum in Indonesia, maybe.
Second, how about North Carolina school:
SAMPSON COUNTY, N.C. â On the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, students at one high school were not allowed to wear clothes with an American Flag.Under a new school rule, students at Hobbton High School are not allowed to wear items with flags, from any country, including the United States.
The new rule stems from a controversy over students wearing shirts bearing flags of other countries.
Gayle Langston said her daughter, Jessica, was told to remove her stars and stripes t-shirt.
âToday she wanted to wear her shirt, and I had to tell her no,â said Langston. âShe didn't like it at all because I knew it would get her in trouble. Of all days, 9/11, she could not wear her American Flag shirt.â
The superintendent of schools in Sampson County calls the situation unfortunate, but says educators didnât want to be forced to pick and choose which flags should be permissible.
Jesus Holy Stupidity. Is this a joke? Is this from the Onion? I have a brilliant idea about how you can "pick and choose" which flags should be permissible: how about THE FLAG OF THE COUNTRY YOU ARE IN, MORONS. That'd be the good ol' stars-n-stripes. Do they not fly the U.S. flag on school grounds, either? I mean, if you can't pick and choose. If they aren't flying an Iranian flag then goddammit they better not fly an American one, either. Because that would be confusing and wrong.
IDIOTS.
Comments (13)
My kids can wear the stars-n-stripes on their clothing at school. They can also wear their jammies. But that no-911 calls stuff is beyond idiotic. It's sad that stupid-school administration stories don't shock me anymore.
Posted by | September 12, 2007 10:13 AM
Posted on September 12, 2007 10:13
LOL Carin - I remember wearing my PJs (flannel pants were especially cool) in high school. Hardly anything was banned except t's with alcohol or tobacco.
These so called school administrators are "thinking" too much and have way too much time on their hands.
Posted by | September 12, 2007 10:43 AM
Posted on September 12, 2007 10:43
There's no limit to stupidity available for view at many public schools. There are plenty of dedicated people there, for sure--martyrs, even--but lord, the stupdity of the system itself...
And I'm the ed. business. I should feel the need to rise to their defense, but...nope.
Posted by | September 12, 2007 11:03 AM
Posted on September 12, 2007 11:03
I think that most of these "zero tolerance" policies stem more from a pre-emptive attempt to avoid being sued than anything else. After all, as we all know, common sense goes right out the window once the litigation meter starts ticking.
When I was a kid, however, this would never have been an issue. The school dress code was so strict it even prohibited the wearing of jeans and t-shirts of any description, so the question of which flags were OK to wear was moot. Granted, we all looked like dorks, but at least there were no clothing-related controversies and the edumacators could concentrate on things like the actual curriculum.
Posted by | September 12, 2007 11:35 AM
Posted on September 12, 2007 11:35
When I was teaching in NYC, we had (at one of my schools) Tie Day one day a week. The kids had to dress up, we had a school-wide assembly with guest speakers, etc., etc. The kids hated it, of course, but they did what they were told.
And guess what? Their attention was better on those days, their posture was better on those days, and their behavior--not only to me but to each other--was vastly better on those days.
But uniforms are evil because they limit CHOICE. And as we know, the main reason for going to school is to do whatever the hell you feel like doing.
Posted by | September 12, 2007 11:39 AM
Posted on September 12, 2007 11:39
Soon, only the rich will want to have children. Why? Because everyone else will not want to submit their children (and by extension, their sanity) to the mess that is our nation's public schools, and only the rich will be able to afford decent schools.
In the meantime, Single Girl Me will continue to seethe because I have to contribute to the mess that is the Chicago Public School system.
Vouchers Yesterday!
Posted by | September 12, 2007 12:07 PM
Posted on September 12, 2007 12:07
THE FLAG OF THE COUNTRY YOU ARE IN, MORONS
If Miss South Carolina is right... most of the students probably thing North Carolina is the country they're in.
Posted by | September 12, 2007 12:16 PM
Posted on September 12, 2007 12:16
they have a lot of crime and want to avoid a paper trail?
isn't a paper trail better than a blood trail?
what do these crooks have to hide? will the 911 call lead to an investigation that uncovers the fact that 90% of the school funding goes into mysterious untraceable administrative costs?
hmmmmm?
Posted by | September 12, 2007 12:37 PM
Posted on September 12, 2007 12:37
So many people decry NCLB and its goal of bringing EVERYONE up to a level of proficiency. Admittedly, the law has problems. And the goal is one that we have NEVER tried to meet before: true equity AND true excellence, for ALL citizens. We should give ourselves a little bit of a break here, and realize that we're trying to do what has never been done before. It's going to be a long road.
If we give up on that, what we'll end up with is an absolutely tiered system, in which the Children of the Leaders get a good and rich education, including the ability to reason and think cricitally, while the Children of the Led are corralled into enormous rooms, probabaly taught by video, patrolled by police, with an education focused on bottom-level reading and math skills.
O, brave new world.
Posted by | September 12, 2007 12:41 PM
Posted on September 12, 2007 12:41
If I were this girl's parents, I should have added, I would be beyond furious. Poor thing.
Posted by | September 12, 2007 12:59 PM
Posted on September 12, 2007 12:59
Even though they are probably doing it for the wrong reasons (ie PC idiocy), the school policy is actually in line with The Flag Code, Title 4 United States Code, Chapter 1 Paragraph 8 (d) which says "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery." ()
Posted by | September 12, 2007 4:10 PM
Posted on September 12, 2007 16:10
I'm *so* homeschooling.
Posted by | September 12, 2007 8:47 PM
Posted on September 12, 2007 20:47
I so wish my local school district would pass that law. I'd run right down to Bob's Tax Preparation, borrow his Uncle Sam suit, paint my kids red-white-and-blue and walk into the office and raise some Cain.
I'm with you--total BS. Actually, "BS" doesn't quite cover it.
Posted by | September 13, 2007 10:28 AM
Posted on September 13, 2007 10:28