Students sue school

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Unk's Wild Wild West : One Thread

Friday August 17 11:11 PM ET

Students Sue School Over Suspension

By AUDIE N. CORNISH, Associated Press Writer

BOSTON (AP) - Five high school students filed a lawsuit saying their school suspended them for comments they made on a survey about race relations that were supposed to be kept confidential.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the students, said the district was punishing the students for their beliefs.

``The real crux of everything here is that the students were told their answers were confidential, and that it was completely voluntary to respond,'' attorney Beverly Chorbajian said.

The lawsuit said the students were asked in late January to respond to the survey about race relations at Montachusett Regional Vocational School in Fitchburg, 40 miles west of Boston. School officials allegedly learned their identities from their answers, removed them from class and interrogated them.

The lawsuit said they were suspended for three days in January for what the school called ``behavior causing a dangerous condition'' and making ``racist comments.''

The ACLU said the students answers included comments that minority students were receiving preferential treatment from teachers, and that minorities were responsible for some recent fights.

The suit asks that the suspensions be expunged from the students' records and that one student be reimbursed $25,000 in tuition.

School superintendent Stratos Dukakis referred calls to the school's attorney. A message left at his offices after business hours Friday was not immediately returned.

END

So what do you think?

I think it stinks myself, thought policing in it's most vile form. Fool the kids into admitting something, then give them the shaft. So much for the honest debate of ideas in schools, not to mention the (dis)honesty of the school itself for misleading these kids.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), August 29, 2001

Answers

I think it stinks, too.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), August 29, 2001.

Most kids learn early to answer the questions like they are expected to even if promised that the answers are anonymous. These obviously didn't. Haveing to answer these questions any other way but truthfully is at least part of why things are so fowled up. Given the real feelings and opinions of the people, the .gov would act entirely different. It would probably have us all in concentration camps, or we'd have taken back the country.

-- Just passin through (Nobody@nowhere.com), August 29, 2001.

Rare is the day I cheer engaging lawyers in bringing forth a lawsuit. But, hip, hip, hooray!

For those across-the-board ACLU bashers out there - :^P

In my day, there would not have been a lawsuit. But those school officials responsible for this travesty would have found themselves - after the furor had died down - with heavy repair bills on their personal vehicles. Tires slashed, wires cut, radiators swiss-cheesed, oil pans punctured, dry brakes, etc. It was known to happen.

Payback was a bitch, til I discovered the theory of karma. The utter stupidity of "An eye for an eye" was replaced with a concept that made me a better person. Don't wanna do any more time here than I have to.

I hope those school officials guilty are demoted into areas bereft of decision-making responsibilities...IF THIS STORY AS WRITTEN IS FACTUAL.

-- Rich (living_in_interesting_times@hotmail.com), August 30, 2001.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ