Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Miller: ‘Let educators run their schools’ WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) last week introduced two pieces of legislation designed to put teachers and principals back in charge when it comes to suspending unruly students and to free schools from endless federal court consent decrees that micromanage day-to-day decisions in the classroom. “With many of our education laws today, the harm far outweighs the benefits. The law is intruding everywhere in schools, dictating every single day-to-day action, even hour by hour. There is no trust in the people to run their schools,” Miller said in a speech to the organization Common Good, a bipartisan legal reform coalition. “Both these bills would help unravel some of the red tape that has tied our schools in knots for too long.” Miller’s “Fairness in School Discipline Act” seeks to correct the widespread misconception over what federal law requires in the way of due process when a student is suspended for unruly behavior. For example, when a student is suspended for 10 days or less, principals are obligated only to explain the reason for the suspension to the student and to let the student tell their side of the story. Miller’s bill clarifies that federal law does not require schools to let the student appeal the principal’s decision in these cases. Miller said that some school systems, such as the New York City system, have 100-page regulations outlining the schools’ obligations in suspending students. “This legislation would be a first step to bring back some common sense in this area. It would be a first step in letting educators run the schools,” Miller said. Miller’s “Restoring Authority to Schools Act of 2004” seeks to limit federal court oversight of schools to curing only violations of federal law in the least intrusive manner and to limit the length of the oversight to two years in most cases. While citing the benefits of court orders that have helped to desegregate schools and ensure full access for disabled students, Miller said many federal court consent decrees are overly broad and continue even when the original violation has been corrected. “There are simply too many crazy, complicated consent decrees out there that micromanage educators’ day-to-day decisions, even when there’s no ongoing violation of federal law,” Miller said.