Zero tolerance policies are about avoiding decision making. No matter what punishment a principal decides on somebody is going to complain, if they don’t get to make a decision because there’s a zero tolerance policy in place then they get a pass.
Zero tolerance policies are about avoiding decision making. No matter what punishment a principal decides on somebody is going to complain, if they don’t get to make a decision because there’s a zero tolerance policy in place then they get a pass.
It gave the liberals a chance to raise the suspension rates for whites (especially boys). So they can suspend and child for drawing a picture of a gun same as a child who actually possesses a gun. They can suspend or expel the boy scout with an axe in the trunk of his car or a key chain swiss army knife tool, same as a child with a switch blade in his pocket.
At the time, liberal judges claimed treatment was racially unequal as “proven” by unequal outcomes. They forced schools to keep minority rapists and gang bangers in their seats. So zero tolerance was introduced as the solution. It was a hope for “more equal” race outcomes in punishment quotas.
Believe it or not, there are still some good public school administrators left. I know one who ignored the zero tolerance policy and swept an incident under the rug. The guy risked his career in order to protect a kid from the system he worked for.