Mayhem in the Classroom

[Valin]

The Weekly Standard:

St. Paul's disastrous quest for 'equity' in school ­discipline.

Katherine Kersten

Apr. 18 2016

 

St. Paul

 

The most dangerous places in St. Paul, Minnesota, these days may not be the city’s tough East Side or Frogtown neighborhoods, but its public schools.

 

At Como Park and Humboldt high schools, police have been called to quell riots involving dozens of students. At Central High School, a teacher was body-slammed by a student and hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury. "Classroom invasions" by students settling private scores have become a fact of life.

 

At elementary schools, meanwhile, out-of-control kids overturn chairs and attack their classmates, as teachers stand by helplessly. A teacher caught in a fistfight between two fifth-grade girls was knocked to the ground with a concussion.

 

Public schools should be among our communities' safest places. Why do St. Paul's schools increasingly resemble Lord of the Flies?

 

The transformation dates from 2011, when superintendent Valeria Silva launched her "Strong Schools, Strong Communities" initiative. The plan sought to engineer a dramatic reduction in the suspension rate for black students, who here, as nationally, are far more likely to be suspended than white students.

 

(Snip)

[SrWoodchuck]

:

St. Paul's disastrous quest for 'equity' in school ­discipline.

Katherine Kersten

Apr. 18 2016

 

St. Paul

 

The most dangerous places in St. Paul, Minnesota, these days may not be the city’s tough East Side or Frogtown neighborhoods, but its public schools.

 

At Como Park and Humboldt high schools, police have been called to quell riots involving dozens of students. At Central High School, a teacher was body-slammed by a student and hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury. "Classroom invasions" by students settling private scores have become a fact of life.

 

At elementary schools, meanwhile, out-of-control kids overturn chairs and attack their classmates, as teachers stand by helplessly. A teacher caught in a fistfight between two fifth-grade girls was knocked to the ground with a concussion.

 

Public schools should be among our communities' safest places. Why do St. Paul's schools increasingly resemble Lord of the Flies?

 

The transformation dates from 2011, when superintendent Valeria Silva launched her "Strong Schools, Strong Communities" initiative. The plan sought to engineer a dramatic reduction in the suspension rate for black students, who here, as nationally, are far more likely to be suspended than white students.

 

(Snip)

 

 

Gee, who'dathunkit? Microcosm of society. Not all society...just around 13% of it. Maybe we should throw reparations tax money at it? Baby-daddies & baby-mommies have more important stuff to do...