Why Not Call a Parent?

I don't understand how any school could think it is okay to strip search a child?

The case is centered around Savana Redding, now 19, who in 2003 was an eighth-grade honors student at Safford Middle School, about 127 miles from Tucson, Arizona. Redding was strip-searched by school officials after a fellow student accused her of providing prescription-strength ibuprofen pills.

The school has a zero-tolerance policy for all prescription and over-the-counter medication, including the ibuprofen, without prior written permission.

Wouldn't it have made more sense to call in one of the child's parents?

The Arguments For and Against School Choice

The Rio Grande Foundation recently released a study of New Mexico schools. The analysis includes public school performance estimates of how children would have performed on the Nation's Report card at the local school and district level.

As we know from healthcare discussions, many (especially on the Democratic side of the aisle) are enamored with European approaches to social solutions. As such, I thought this video to be quite relative to the topic at hand:



Hat tip: Stephen Kruiser

Government Continues Expansion of Parenting Role

It looks like the nanny state is about to get a little larger:

"These new initiatives are a creative way for us to continue improving graduation rates, classroom instruction and student and community involvement," Richardson said.

Starting next year, eighth-graders would have to be near proficient or better on a standardized test to be eligible for a driver's license when they come of age, while ninth-graders would have to have an attendance rate of at least 90 percent.

If students fail to reach either benchmark, they would have to wait six months before getting their license. They would be in for a 12-month delay if they fail to reach both benchmarks or if they drop out of school before age 16.

Funny, I always thought it was up to a parent to decide when their minor child could drive. My guess is that this is going to get challenged in court and ruled unconstitutional. At least it should be for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which is:

The Public Education Department still needs to work out many details, including options for special education and homeschool students as well as how private schools would participate.

Nothing like unveiling a new initiative without actually working out the details of the new initiative. The more government tries to overstep it bounds into parenting, the more likely parents are to look for alternative means of educating their children. I know I will.

Parents Should Have Rights

If the school nurse wants to give your kids an aspirin, you need to give them permission. If your kids are truant from school, you can be taken to court and held personally responsible. However, if your teenage child wants to get an abortion, the state's current position is that you don't have the right to know. There is something wrong with this, and according to Steve Terrell, at least one legislator is trying to do something to rectify the situation:

The [House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee] panel is scheduled to discuss abortion (the parental-notification bill, House Bill 239, which would require abortion doctors to notify parents of teenage girls seeking abortions, sponsored by Rep. Larry Larranaga, R-Albuquerque).

It will be interesting to see which legislators don't support a parent's right to know.