Thursday, June 16, 2005
Why Some People Hate the Public School System
For the vast majority of my educational career (13 of 20 years) I attended public schools in CA. In addition, both my grandmother and mother are former CA public school teachers, so I guess you could say that I have long standing bias in favor of public education. That being said, I think that there are times when public educators do things that are so incredibly STUPID and without merit that they deserve at least some of the wrath inflicted upon them by people generally opposed to public schools (or at least opposed to the amount of money governments spend on public education).
Case in point is the recent flap over a “bolo tie” worn recently by a Maryland high school senior at a graduation ceremony. Assuming that even a de minimums amount of the press reports are true, it would appear that the school issued regulations stating that graduates had to “dress appropriately” for the ceremony to ensure that everyone acted in a respectful dignified manner. In addition, the rules appeared to state that anyone deviated from this “dress code” would be denied a diploma and a chance to participate. The offending student, of Native American heritage, decided to wear a suit with a “bolo tie” that was traditional among his ancestors and relatives. School officials, for reasons that remain unsatisfactorily explained, ruled that the student had violated the graduation regulations and, therefore, refused to allow his participation.
Kicked out of graduation for a “bolo tie;” are you kidding me!?!? This wasn’t like wearing cut-off jeans or a revealing dress, this was a respectful tribute to his heritage that was well within the regulations, reasonably interpreted, that were established by the school. Non-traditional, sure, I suppose you could say that, though hardly unusual. What was the point of signaling this child out? To make a point that the school is the arbiter of appropriate attire? What possible constructive purpose could that serve? The whole incident simply defies explanation. What’s worse is that the school board and district appears to be totally unapologetic, which has lead to the recent escalation of the dispute between the family and the school. Bottom line is this, the school was, without question, totally out of line, period, dot, end. I can’t think of any argument that justifies their behavior in this situation. The inflexibility demonstrated and then in the face of well-deserved public scrutiny, their willingness to stand by what can best be described as an asinine decision, is what makes people think ill of public schools and the personnel that controls them. Decisions like this, while in no way representative of the majority of public school employees, nevertheless gives the entire enterprise a bad name.
No one ever talks about all of the good things that a school or school system does, especially when they go and do something like this. Schools, and more importantly their officials, need to be far more understanding and far more flexible if they are going to work their way back into the good graces of the American public, which is by and large where so many of them belong.
Case in point is the recent flap over a “bolo tie” worn recently by a Maryland high school senior at a graduation ceremony. Assuming that even a de minimums amount of the press reports are true, it would appear that the school issued regulations stating that graduates had to “dress appropriately” for the ceremony to ensure that everyone acted in a respectful dignified manner. In addition, the rules appeared to state that anyone deviated from this “dress code” would be denied a diploma and a chance to participate. The offending student, of Native American heritage, decided to wear a suit with a “bolo tie” that was traditional among his ancestors and relatives. School officials, for reasons that remain unsatisfactorily explained, ruled that the student had violated the graduation regulations and, therefore, refused to allow his participation.
Kicked out of graduation for a “bolo tie;” are you kidding me!?!? This wasn’t like wearing cut-off jeans or a revealing dress, this was a respectful tribute to his heritage that was well within the regulations, reasonably interpreted, that were established by the school. Non-traditional, sure, I suppose you could say that, though hardly unusual. What was the point of signaling this child out? To make a point that the school is the arbiter of appropriate attire? What possible constructive purpose could that serve? The whole incident simply defies explanation. What’s worse is that the school board and district appears to be totally unapologetic, which has lead to the recent escalation of the dispute between the family and the school. Bottom line is this, the school was, without question, totally out of line, period, dot, end. I can’t think of any argument that justifies their behavior in this situation. The inflexibility demonstrated and then in the face of well-deserved public scrutiny, their willingness to stand by what can best be described as an asinine decision, is what makes people think ill of public schools and the personnel that controls them. Decisions like this, while in no way representative of the majority of public school employees, nevertheless gives the entire enterprise a bad name.
No one ever talks about all of the good things that a school or school system does, especially when they go and do something like this. Schools, and more importantly their officials, need to be far more understanding and far more flexible if they are going to work their way back into the good graces of the American public, which is by and large where so many of them belong.
# posted by mouldfan : 8:14 PM
