Annette Albright, a woman few have heard of before tonight (myself included), took the stage on the closing night of the Republican National Committee's convention and connected two dots that not enough Americans are correlating: public schools and the criminal justice system. Last year was my first year in a Title I tuition-free charter school in Tampa, Florida, and I saw and endured things that were equally appalling and understandable. If you want to see criminal justice reform in our country, we must start with our schools.
The Obama-Biden administration pressured public schools to dramatically stem the number of suspensions and expulsions, particularly as they related to students of color and students with disabilities. As a direct result, dangerous students remained in the classroom and understood quickly they would not be held accountable in any real way for their behavior. Moreover, their peers saw the behavior being excused and were inspired and/or empowered to act out. The results of this approach are still being felt a decade later with out-of-control students and administrators who were set up to fail.
The Trump administration rolled back many of these Obama-era policies starting in 2018. But the Biden administration appears ready to reimplement them and may even go further. President Biden nominated Catherine Lhamon to head the [Office of Civil Rights], the same position she held in the Obama administration, where she spearheaded the initiative to insert the federal government into school discipline policy. Lhamon has telegraphed her intentions for her second tenure in the position, saying, “I’m deeply worried about the kinds of discrimination that may be allowed to proliferate if there’s not an effective and meaningful civil rights backstop.” -RealClearEducation, October 18, 2021
Nobody wants kids to be suspended or expelled from school, especially not hard-working parents who don't have the time or flexibility to sit at home with their child while they serve their sentence. Teachers don't want their students to miss classes because it puts that child at a severe disadvantage of being behind on an already-demanding curriculum.* Administrators don't want students to miss school because butts in seats equal dollars in budgets. The only people who want those kids kicked out are the offenders who go home to play video games or sleep all day, and the students who feel threatened by the behavior.
*Teachers want students to succeed, but we don't have the ability to stop a 60-minute class of 34 students to address constant disruptions so there is a degree of relief when the source of the behavior problems is absent.
Shortly after classes resumed in 2024, a student transferred into our school and I soon learned this student had been in and out of this school a number of times since their early elementary days. One day the cell phones of the entire class were collected by one of my colleagues; I was given the box and decided to keep them until lunch. This student was so livid they did not have their phone during English Language Arts class that they threw a desk over their head and onto the floor, screaming like a banshee. That wasn't enough, so the student punched a tablet and cracked the screen before walking out of my classroom. The kids and staff all knew about this student's "anger issues," but nothing was done to discipline the bad behavior. Unusually bad behavior with no consequences? Discouraging but not surprising.
That was one student during one class period in one school in one state. The very next hour, I broke up an inappropriate physical event between a boy and a girl; he was so embarrassed that he (a minor) claimed I assaulted him, called his mother, and his mother called the police demanding I be charged. Thankfully, the security cameras cleared me of all wrong-doing. I hope you no longer wonder why good teachers are hard to find and harder to keep.
We can lament the status of families and broken homes in the country, just like we can wring our hands about taking prayer and civics out of schools, but none of that will change policy. As a teacher, I want an administrator empowered to run their school the way they see fit, and school boards focused on students, not elections. As a taxpayer, I want education that is driven by gains and not standardized tests that prove little more than too many kids have anxiety. As a mother, I want my kids to develop a love of learning and critical thinking, and they can only do that when they are safe.
On this closing night of the RNC convention, regular people who have known and worked for Trump are speaking. They talk about his unique perspective and ability to strengthen the core of an institution. I don't play golf or dabble in real estate, but I have a feeling if anyone can topple the failed state of public education and rebuild it correctly, it's President Trump. If we can do that, we can shift the culture away from permissible violence that starts in our schools toward productive citizens who better themselves, their communities, and our nation.
President Trump is worried about the number of Americans being left behind, as we all should be. The first place they're passed over is public education classrooms. Teachers are too unprepared and unsupported to deliver on all of the demands and expectations thrown at them by people who rarely if ever step onto their campus.
I am not excusing the poor behavior of these students or their parents who are too tired, oblivious, or proud to correct it. I am not blaming educators who were doomed to fail by a system so convoluted it sabotages its own purpose. What I am calling for in the clearest possible words is this: raze the Department of Education and build a public education system worthy of American exceptionalism.
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