I, too, have known many excellent and dedicated school administrators, and in no way did I mean to imply that all of them are stupid.  I am only saying that when something like this appears in the news, stupidity is behind it.  Yes, I realize that the threat of lawsuits is a very persuasive incentive, but a school administrator who lacks the courage to resist the urge to persecute a student who is guilty of no wrongdoing does not deserve his/her position.

I'm sure many of us remember the incident a few years ago when a girl opened her lunch and found a butter knife her mother had enclosed so she could use it to eat her lunch.  The girl, knowing knives were forbidden at the school immediately turned it in to her teacher.  She was suspended from school for several days for violating the rule.  Clearly this was a student who was punished for trying to comply with the rules!  If she had kept her mouth shut, she would not have received any punishment.  This is another example of a "zero tolerance" policy becoming a "zero intelligence" policy.  Definitely a stupid administrator, in my opinion.
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Duane Percox [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 10:09 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: OT: Another math question


John Clogg wrote:

>The problem here isn't stupid laws, in my opinion, it's
>stupid school administrators.  It makes sense to have a law
>against sharing prescription drugs, but any police force
>would ignore an incident like this one.  School
>administrators, on the other hand, seem to believe that the
>existence of rules means you must leave your brain at home
>when you go to work, and may not exercise any judgment.
>That's especially disturbing when we consider that these are
>the same institutions that are supposed to be teaching our
>children critical thinking skills!

For the last 24.5 years I have worked with school administrators
and I would say that they represent a similar cross section
of society and performance as other professions. Some are
excellent, some are good, some are not so good and some are
really bad. Thankfully the really bad is a very small percentage.

However, keep in mind something that you and I
rarely have to deal with:

Parents that will sue the administrator and the school
district when the parent feels they and/or their child
has been wronged.

If you operated in such an environment you might find
yourself adhering to rigid organizational rules and
operational guidelines if nothing else for your self
protection.

duane percox

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