'Zero tolerence' makes zero sense

THE INGREDIENTS for academic excellence are like a family recipe that has been passed down for generations: quality teachers; engaged parents who make sure their kids come ready and wanting to learn; and a safe, positive school environment.

In an effort to focus on the last one, many educrats across the country, in their zeal to show off their so-called "no-nonsense attitude" have adopted zero-tolerance policies on a variety of student issues, such as safety, weapons, drugs and interpersonal behavior. Frankly, after looking at the ridiculous extremes they've taken these policies to, it's clear to me that zero tolerance makes zero sense.

Zero tolerance came into the limelight after the Columbine tragedy, when the public rightfully clamored for more focus on school safety. Any reasonable person would conclude that taking aggressive steps against school violence is the right thing to do.

But what has happened after Columbine and other school violence incidents is that school officials have taken this to levels of irrationality that frankly defy logic. Their adoption of zero tolerance is the easy way out - just stand behind the slogan instead of implementing and enforcing common-sense policies.

Like a virus, zero tolerance has infected other aspects of the school experience. Every day, the media have another school-news story of educrats and their zero-tolerance fetish run amok. Here are just a few of the ludicrous examples I have compiled over the years as inductees to the Zero Tolerance Hall of Shame:

* A fifth-grade class in California, in a gesture to support our troops fighting overseas, put toy soldiers on their graduation mortarboards. School officials forbade them from doing that unless the gun barrels were removed. Education officials pointed to a California weapons law. I point to stupidity of these education officials.

* A kindergarten student in Rhode Island was suspended for bringing a plastic knife to school to cut cookies.

* A Utah boy was suspended for giving his cousin a cold pill prescribed to both students.

* At Kilmer Middle School in Virginia, every type of student touching was banned, including handshakes, high-fives, and pats on the back.

Having seen firsthand the need for higher standards in terms of discipline, safety, and student behavior, I am the first one to stand up for tougher policies. But these rulings, and others that get decided every day, are a joke. Educrats are hiding behind zero-tolerance policies to avoid making real decisions. If taxpayers are paying you six-figure salaries, it is for leadership and sound judgment, not your ability to read and enforce a ridiculous boilerplate. They would rather look foolish than take a stand.

The real victims are the students, of course. Good kids, innocent kids are punished with the same level of severity as the bad students. It sends a wrong message to students, and it makes education leaders look weak and clueless. The idea that a school would even consider punishing a child for bringing in a plastic knife for his lunch with the same ferocity it would punish a student for committing an assault is why this policy is so wrong.

Fortunately, common sense is starting to return. Lawmakers around the country, tired of seeing the embarrassing misuse of zero tolerance, have begun to take this policy apart. Rhode Island state Sen. Daniel Issa generated headlines and accolades when he took on the zero-tolerance zealots. He called them out with legislation that would prevent school officials from saying that a machete is the same as a butter knife or that a water gun is the same as a .38-caliber loaded with bullets. Educators have to decide things on a case-by-case basis.

The Indiana Education Policy Center's "Zero Tolerance, Zero Evidence" study pointed out that by treating every infraction equally, no matter how minor, the zero-tolerance policy is counterproductive. The reason is that minor offenses will be severely punished and serious ones are rarely punished because serious offenses are infrequent.

I hope other states and school systems will see the momentum this initiative is gathering and proactively do the right (and sensible) thing.

Zero tolerance, while it may appear to be a good tool on paper, is a serious detriment to the creation of a successful school environment. Strictly defined policies bind and chain schools to a rigid course of action, regardless of the circumstances. School officials need to be tough and vigilant, but reliance on a zero-tolerance policy gives them a convenient cop-out and an excuse not to exercise common sense and sound judgment. And that's something we should have no tolerance for.