Free Republic

...after 30 years of the institutionalized intellectual vandalism of our city’s most precious and needy children, when will we call it DELIBERATE regularity? If LAUSD was a private company, it would have collapsed a generation ago like the stinking necrotic tumor it is. LAUSD is a criminal enterprise – a $30 billion dollar (allegedly $11B operations, $21B construction) protection racket that extorts tax dollars under the pretext of improvement and higher scores. It makes schools I’ve seen in Calcutta, Rio, and Nairobi look like Cal Tech and MIT. ....LAUSD makes us lament the good old days before Brown v. Board...

CULPEPER, Va. — A bomb threat shut down an entire Virginia school district Thursday, canceling classes for more than 7,200 students in eight public schools, as well as hundreds more in area religious schools and child care centers. Culpeper County Schools spokeswoman Marla McKenna said she couldn't discuss the content of the threat, which came on the heels of three deadly U.S. school attacks in the span of a week. "You simply can't be too cautious," said Superintendent David A. Cox. "The safety of our students and our employees is our number one concern." Police teams planned to sweep all...

NEW YORK (AP) -- A gay man charged with helping his lover loot a wealthy school district has asked a judge to rule that state law protecting spouses from having to testify against each other also applies to same-sex partners. Stephen Signorelli, fighting charges that he stole at least $219,000 from the Roslyn, N.Y., school district, is seeking to bar testimony by his longtime companion, Frank Tassone, the district's former superintendent. Auditors say that in all, $11.2 million was taken from the Long Island district. It is considered among the largest thefts from a U.S. school system. Tassone pleaded guilty...

A former Franklin High School student who stabbed a classmate in the back during a fight in the halls of the school pleaded guilty yesterday to aggravated assault and a weapons charge.  Fitzgerald Elliot, 17, will face five to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced by Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong, who heard the plea bargain arrangement yesterday, the day Elliot's trial was to have started.  In return for pleading guilty to the lesser offenses, prosecutors dropped the most serious charge against him, attempted murder. He faced up to 20 years in prison on that count.  Assistant Somerset...

Teens arrested in fight LOS ANGELES (AP) - Four students were arrested Friday after a lunchtime fight kept a high school in Watts locked down for several hours, causing minors and one student to have an asthma attack, authorities said. One student at Jordan High School was arrested after kicking a police officer in the mouth, and three others were arrested for disobeying orders to disperse, said Ellen Morgan, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Student suspended for bringing knife for project 10:16 PM 4/04/02Doug Erickson Education reporter indentA Madison sixth-grader has been suspended and could face a yearlong expulsion after bringing a serrated table knife to class to dissect an onion for a science project. indentThe boy's parents are fighting the disciplinary action, saying the district has taken its zero-tolerance weapons policy to a ridiculous extreme. indentThe family has requested that a school district hearing on the incident Monday be open to the public, in the hope that publicity will help the child's case. indent"Does 'no tolerance' also mean no common sense?" asks...