First in Her Class: The valedictorian sued, and the town turned on her

The Weekly Standard ^ | 07/14/03 | Jonathan V. Last

[Lancey Howard]

Why am I not surprised that Louis Hornstine, a New Jersey superior court judge in neighboring Camden County, is buddy, buddy with a mob lawyer?

[tinamina]

This sounds to me like the best argument there is for homeschooling. Look what this girl was able to accomplish and still have time for all that volunteer work because she didn't have to waste all her time on the school grounds. Of course these people got homeschooling on the taxpayer's dime...some lawyer should get ahold of that.

[Trajan88]

How is she going to "study" at Haaavaad if she can't make it to class... oh, that's right... the profs there don't like to give grades below A... she'll be fine.

I had chronic fatigue when I was in high school too... it was brought on by lack of sleep (going to class all day and working and studying at night, etc.).

That's my soapbox rant... please drive through.

Trajan88

[xm177e2]

Atticus Finch was a fictional character

Say it aint so! </sarcasm>

[xm177e2]

This case is NOT a good argument for homeschooling. Maybe you missed the part where she lies, cheats, and steals to inflate her "achievements."

[Ruth A.]

Unfortunately, more money goes proportionately to disabled children than to gifted children. These folks obviously manipulated the system. Shame on the school for not catching it earlier. The parents did not merely want her home schooled--they wanted her privately tutored at tax-payer expense. They wanted to eliminate the rigors of competing in class and with the deadlines and loads the "normal" students would experience. They repeated or avoided courses and teachers to inflate her grades.

If she was able to do so much volunteer work, then the "chronic fatigue" should have been questioned pronto. If I had been one of her teachers and the charges of plagerism came out, I would have to wonder about what passed before me. If I had anything that I could prove was plagerized, I would retroactively flunk her.

Harvard will get what they deserve if they accept her. She will still be considered disabled and allowed special privileges; she will probably plagerize; she will turn to a lawsuit at the drop of the hat.

[AlaskaErik]

A Democrat in the making. She will manipulate the system to her advantage for the rest of her entire life. How sad, but as the Rats are fond of saying, she's a product of her environment.

[powderhorn]

They are creating a offspring which turn into a monster with a high IQ.

A monster, yes. High IQ? With all the advantages she had and all the sneaky tricks Daddy played for her, she should have beaten the number two guy by miles. If you really are smart you don't have to play dirty. I suspect this girl is headed for an eventual big fall.

[Maynerd]

How much money did the school district expend on this pampered princess? Private tutors aint cheap. I bet it's close to a six figure expenditure the district spent on these rich manipulative frauds.

[Brandon]

The judge is not to blame. The school district gets some of the blame, and the way the ADA was written and is being enforced gets another chunk. But the judge, much as the outcome was bad, enforced the law. For four years this student and her family worked the system to maximize her GPA, within the rules of the school district. Once the school district realized what was going on, they tried to change the rules retroactively, and you JUST CAN'T DO THAT. I think the new principal has a good start on rationalizing the rules for choosing the valedictorian in the future, but he should not have tried to make them retroactive. That was his downfall.

[Mr. K]

her father was JUDGE Hornstine... wanna bet a democrap?

[potlatch]

You've posted the two most interesting articles I've read tonight, this and O'Rourke's review of Hillarys book!! Thanks.

[WOSG]

other lesson:

home schooling works! :-)

[xm177e2]

How much money did the school district expend on this pampered princess? Private tutors aint cheap. I bet it's close to a six figure expenditure the district spent on these rich manipulative frauds.

If the district could prove in court that she was not, indeed, disabled, could it hope to recoup some of the money?

[ETERNAL WARMING]

This girl is not disabled.

I agree. She's had 1 on 1 superb education with none of the HS traumas that most kids have to face and still maintain good grades. If she was capable of all those activities, she certainly was not handicapped.

[longtermmemmory]

Its the manipulation game. Using the letter of the law to violate the spirit of the law. Sadly this only eliminates validictorians. Somehow I do not object. Besides the issue is moot. The hostility of the environment causing her not to go to graduation is a money ploy. She had better be ready to get a full body cavity search on her "illness".

[longtermmemmory]

everyone complains until they need a lawyer to guide/solve their problem. Its easy to beat up hard to build. There are pleanty of parents who are exactly manipulative as this father and mother without the aid of a law degree. In miami, parents are screaming because their children failed a minimum competency exam FIVE times and now can't graduate. Those parents are the same as this parent.

How about just eliminating graduation. The diploma is in the mail.

[Lancey Howard]

She had better be ready to get a full body cavity search on her "illness".

Nope. Won't happen.
There's a reason this "judge" hired his friend, the mob lawyer and the rest of the high-powered legal team. The fix was in on this one long ago and it's all over except how much money the school district's taxpayers will be forced to (wink, wink) fork over to the Hornstines.

The New Jersey schools and the Hornstines were made for each other. What a pack of scum.

[friendly]

There's a reason this "judge" hired his friend, the mob lawyer and the rest of the high-powered legal team. The fix was in on this one long ago and it's all over except how much money the school district's taxpayers will be forced to (wink, wink) fork over to the Hornstines. The New Jersey schools and the Hornstines were made for each other. What a pack of scum.

It is always the sophisticated scam for these white collar sociopaths.

Massive tort reform is needed to put the evil Hornstine clan and the rest of the lawyer vermin out of business.

[Lancey Howard]

her father was JUDGE Hornstine... wanna bet a democrap?

In New Jersey it doesn't make any difference.