Bill introduced to prevent schools from punishing children over childish things. Suspensions for pointing fingers and saying BANG! would become illegal.

EASTON-In light of recent headlines highlighting more incidents of administrators removing students from school for seemingly harmless acts of childish imagination, state Sen. J. B. Jennings, R-7-Baltimore and Harford counties, said he thought the time was right to introduce a bill he hopes will put a dent in “zero tolerance” discipline policies in Maryland public schools.

“We really need to reevaluate how kids are punished,” he said in an interview with The [...]

City punishes teachers less than students for drug use

For over a decade, employees of Bay City Public Schools in Michigan have worked under a labor contract that gave them lenient punishments for drug possession and intoxication on school grounds. Under school policy, students caught with alcohol and drugs were punished more severely than their teachers.

According to language incorporated into the contract in 1997, employees could be caught drinking on the job five times, under the influence of drugs three times [...]

New York City’s public schools change ‘discipline code’ REDUCING penalties for smoking, cursing AND cutting class

Students who misbehave in New York City’s schools are facing leaner penalties this school year, particularly if they smoke, curse or cut class.

Hoping to result in fewer suspensions for students in grades kindergarten through 12th, the city’s updated discipline code has been relaxed on what constitutes out of classroom punishment.

‘Our goal is to make sure the schools are providing a safe environment for our students, but also we just don’t [...]

DC GOVT WORKERS DOUBLE DIPPED UNEMPLOYMENT CASH

By Nikita Stewart, Updated: Wednesday, April 18, 7:00 AM

Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s administration has fired 61 city employees for collecting unemployment benefits while working for the District government, city officials said Tuesday.

The city’s Department of Employment Services, which oversees the jobless-compensation program, said in February that dozens of current and former city workers had received the fraudulent payments.

The checks ranged from a few hundred dollars to more than $20,000 per employee since 2009 — or about [...]

400,000 Suspended Students in California – Black Males Most At Risk

The Civil Rights Project recently released a report showing alarming trends in suspension rates in California public schools. Researchers compiled data from the Office for Civil Rights covering approximately 500 different districts for the 2009-2010 school year, during which more than 400,000 students were suspended at least once. As the study points out:

“That’s enough students suspended out-of-school to fill every seat in all the professional baseball and football stadiums in the state…”

Yikes.

Here are some results [...]

Multiple suspensions from school: marijuana, grafitti, ‘possession of burglary tool,’ jewelry

The teen was suspended from school three times
He was on suspension when he was shot in February, after officials caught him with a ‘marijuana pipe’ and a baggie with drug residue
Trayvon was kicked out of school in October for graffiti after he was allegedly caught with a ‘burglary tool’ and a bag full of women’s jewelry
Officials also suspended him once for skipping school and tardiness
Tearful parents say their son is [...]

Outrage after cop uses taser on 9-year-old truant — twice!

Officials in the Madison County village of Mount Sterling expect a packed house tonight when the village council meets for the first time since suspending Police Chief Mike McCoy and essentially disbanding the police force on Friday.

Mayor Charlie Neff issued the suspensions after he was told that a village police officer had shocked a 9-year-old boy with a Taser earlier in the week during an arrest. Neff said McCoy should [...]

NFL memo warns teams on faking injuries

From AP:

NEW YORK (AP) — To the fake handoff and fake field goals, add fake injuries. The NFL sent a memo Wednesday to all 32 teams warning of fines, suspensions and loss of draft picks if the league determines players faked injuries during a game. Yet several players admit its an accepted practice, and some coaches hinted they are not above [...]

It’s Getting Very Scary Out There: Greek Two-Year Note Yield Surges 213 Bps to Record 35.19%, More Italy Stock Suspensions

by ZH

First there has been an unsubstantiated rumor that Spanish PM has resigned based on an El Pais editorial, and then we have the fact that Greek 2 year bonds have just collapsed by another 2% to an all time record 35.19%. The cherry on top are reports that Intesa Sanpaolo and some other volatile bank shares are suspended after continuing their last week plunge. One [...]

Vicious hit in Stanley Cup game leaves player with severe concussion – VIDEO

While some debated whether or not Aaron Rome would be suspended for his wicked hit on Nathan Horton in the first period of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, there was no debate amongst the NHL officials. Rome was suspended for four games for his hit meaning he’ll sit out the rest of the finals. With the Bruins ruling Nathan Horton out of the playoffs with a severe concussion, [...]

FOX News confused Tina Fey for Sarah Palin. Honest mistake, but still plenty hilarious

You don’t have to be a political junkie to identify Sarah Palin. Anyone would recognize her. Anyone, that is, except her employer, Fox News.

On Sunday, the station aired a segment about Palin being “50-50? on getting into the 2012 campaign. Thinking it was the former Alaska governor, Fox used a picture of 30 Rock’s Tina Fey, staring as Palin, in an SNL skit from 2008. Oops.

(PHOTOS: Chasing Sarah [...]

HS bans student from prom for taping invite to school wall

SHELTON — It began as a simple gesture. Shelton High School senior James Tate just wanted to make his good friend, Sonali Rodrigues, feel special.

So instead of the usual way of asking her to the senior prom, Tate and two friends went to the high school campus in the middle of the night and posted 12-inch tall, cardboard letters on the outside of the building — at the main entrance.

The message that many saw when [...]