Blog Group 6: Chicago School Draws Scrutiny Over Student Fines

For the sixth & final blog, our group has decided to post an article about a Chicago charter school that fines students upon receiving a detention. Although this system is efficient, according to school officials, it has sparked a heated debate in regards to whether or not this disciplinary system is truly helping students. Additionally, the fairness of this system has been called into question. What are the possible advantages or disadvantages of this type of disciplinary system? In your personal opinion, do you think this system is appropriate for a public school? Why or why not? 

Chicago School Draws Scrutiny Over Student Fines

By Tammy Webber, Associated Press 2/20/12

CHICAGO (AP) — A sense of order and decorum prevails at Noble Street College Prep as students move quickly through a hallway adorned with banners from dozens of colleges. Everyone wears a school polo shirt neatly tucked into khaki trousers. There's plenty of chatter but no jostling, no cellphones and no dawdling.

The reason, administrators say, is that students have learned there is a price to pay — literally — for breaking even the smallest rules.

Noble Network of Charter Schools charges students at its 10 Chicago high schools $5 for detentions stemming from infractions that include chewing gum and having untied shoelaces. Last school year it collected almost $190,000 in discipline "fees" from detentions and behavior classes — a policy drawing fire from some parents, advocacy groups and education experts.

Officials at the rapidly expanding network, heralded by Mayor Rahm Emanuel as a model for the city, say the fees offset the cost of running the detention program and help keep small problems from becoming big ones. Critics say Noble is nickel-and-diming its mostly low-income students over insignificant, made-up infractions that force out kids administrators don't want.

"We think this just goes over the line ... fining someone for having their shoelaces untied (or) a button unbuttoned goes to harassment, not discipline," said Julie Woestehoff, executive director of the Chicago advocacy group Parents United for Responsible Education, which staged protests last week over the policy after Woestehoff said she was approached by an upset parent

Students at Noble schools receive demerits for various infractions — four for having a cellphone or one for untied shoelaces. Four demerits within a two-week period earn them a detention and $5 fine. Students who get 12 detentions in a year must attend a summer behavior class that costs $140.

Superintendent Michael Milkie said the policy teaches the kids — overwhelmingly poor, minority and often hoping to be the first in their families to attend college — to follow rules and produces in a structured learning environment. He points to the network's average ACT score of 20.3, which is higher than at the city's other non-selective public schools, and says more than 90 percent of Noble graduates enroll in college.

While fights can be an almost daily occurrence in some urban high schools, Milkie says there's only about one a year on each Noble campus.

By "sweating the small stuff ... we don't have issues with the big stuff," he said.

Milkie said the fines also help defray the cost of administering after-school detention and the salary of the network's dean of discipline, which otherwise would divert money intended for education.

But Donna Moore said the district is manufacturing problems that lead to unproductive badgering of students, including her 16-year-old son, who had to repeat ninth grade at Noble's Gary Comer College Prep after racking up 33 detentions and several suspensions.

"It was nothing egregious, but just that the little things added up: a shirt unbuttoned, shoes not tied, not tracking the teacher with his eyes," said Moore, adding that her son has an attention disorder. "It's not normal to treat a young adult as a 2-year-old ... kids internalize that."

Woestehoff and Moore said some families have removed their children from Noble schools because they couldn't keep paying the fees, though Moore said her biggest complaint is the infractions. Milkie said Noble sets up payment plans and on rare occasions waives the fees, and students never would be held back a grade solely because they couldn't pay.

Even so, Matthew Mayer, a professor in the graduate school of education at Rutgers University, said a monetary fine is "highly inappropriate" because it likely has no bearing on students' academic performance and disproportionately hurts poor families.

"It's almost medieval in nature. It's a form a financial torture, for lack of a better term," Mayer said.

Emanuel defended the school, saying it gets "incredible" results and parents don't have to send their children there. Charter schools are exempt from most district policies.

Parent Tammy O'Neal said her two daughters are excelling at Noble's Muchin College Prep, and only one ever got detention, for not wearing a belt.

"If a kid is prone to getting in trouble and not taking school seriously, then (the fines are) a steep slope," she said. "But why don't you tell your kid to straighten up?"

Chadie Morris, 16, a sophomore at Noble Street College Prep, carries a 3.8 grade-point average at Noble Street College Prep, but figures she has paid $45 already this year for such things as talking in class.

"Sometimes it can be about the littlest things and you can still get demerits," she said. "Demerits are horrible; detentions are horrible."

But the aspiring lawyer, who struggled with absences until her adviser and principal persuaded her to come back, looks forward to attending a one-week summer college program.

Other charter school operators in Chicago and elsewhere said they don't fine students but respect Noble's academic success and its right to adopt its own discipline policy.

Tim King, CEO of Urban Prep Academies, which operates three high schools for boys in some of Chicago's toughest and poorest neighborhoods, said he believes "very firmly in a more therapeutic or restorative approach vs. punitive toward student conduct."

Every student in Urban Prep's first two graduating classes was accepted to a college or university.

At Knowledge is Power Program, a network of 109 charter schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia, middle school students are rewarded for good behavior with a weekly incentive "paycheck" — fake money that can be redeemed at the school store or used to defray the cost of field trip, spokesman Steve Mancini said. The system is phased out by high school because it's no longer needed.

Milkie, though, doesn't plan to change a thing.

"It's a beautiful system," he said. "I don't want to brag, but it is. It's why the kids are so successful."

In this photo taken Feb. 16, 2012, Noble Street College Prep CEO Mike Milke talks with student Gabriela Cervantes during school in Chicago. The school has drawn scrutiny some parents and advocacy groups for its policy of charging students $5 for detentions stemming from infractions that can include chewing gum and having untied shoelaces. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

In this photo taken Feb. 16, 2012, Noble Street College Prep principal William Olsen and students Chadie Morris, left, and Khadijah Hallmon walk through the hall of their school in Chicago. The school has drawn scrutiny some parents and advocacy groups for its policy of charging students $5 for detentions stemming from infractions that can include chewing gum and having untied shoelaces. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

In this photo taken Feb. 16, 2012, Noble Street College Prep students Khadijah Hallmon, left, and Chadie Morris pose in the hall of their school in Chicago. The school has a policy of charging students $5 for detentions stemming from infractions that can include chewing gum and having untied shoelaces. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) Here's a link to the article: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hq-GakXpeysk_4GGa8MILM1SNl1A?docId=16ae6dbff026418fa1d79e53fc96f6ad&index=1

Iran to reveal new nuke achievements

Iran’s president announced that the country would soon reveal a new nuclear achievement. The West fears Iran is attempting to create atomic weapons. However, Iran claims that their focus is only for peaceful purposes (i.e. energy production). What do you think Iran will announce? If it is a nuclear weapon, what action should the United States/World take?

By NASSER KARIMI | Associated Press – Sat, Feb 11, 2012

 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures as he deliver his speech at an Iranian President rally mark the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the country's pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamic clerics to power, Tehran, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012. Ahmadinejad says Iran will soon reveal "very big new nuclear achievements." (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran will soon unveil "big new" nuclear achievements, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday while reiterating Tehran's readiness to revive talks with the West over the country's controversial nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad spoke at a rally in Tehran as tens of thousands of Iranians marked the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamic clerics to power.

Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on the upcoming announcement but insisted Iran would never give up its uranium enrichment, a process that makes material for reactors as well as weapons.

The West suspects Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it's geared for peaceful purposes only, such as energy production.

Four rounds of U.N. sanctions and recent tough financial penalties by the U.S. and the European Union have failed to get Iran to halt aspects of its atomic work that could provide a possible pathway to weapons production.

"Within the next few days the world will witness the inauguration of several big new achievements in the nuclear field," Ahmadinejad told the crowd in Tehran's famous Azadi, or Freedom, square.

Iran has said it is forced to manufacture nuclear fuel rods, which provide fuel for reactors, on its own since international sanctions ban it from buying them on foreign markets. In January, Iran said it had produced its first such fuel rod.

Apart from progress on the rods, the upcoming announcement could pertain to Iran's underground enrichment facility at Fordo or upgraded centrifuges, which are expected to be installed at the facility in the central town of Natanz. Iran has also said it would inaugurate the Russian-built nuclear power plant in the southern port of Bushehr in 2012.

Iran's unchecked pursuit of the nuclear program scuttled negotiations a year ago but Iranian officials last month proposed a return to the talks with the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany.

"Iran is ready for talks within the framework of equality and justice," Ahmadinejad repeated on said Saturday but warned that Tehran "will never enter talks if enemies behave arrogantly."

In the past, Iran has angered Western officials by appearing to buy time through opening talks and weighing proposals even while pressing ahead with the nuclear program.

Washington recently levied new penalties aimed at limiting Iran's ability to sell oil, which accounts for 80 percent of its foreign revenue, while the European Union adopted its own toughest measures yet on Iran, including an oil embargo and freeze of the country's central bank assets.

Israel is worried Iran could be on the brink of an atomic bomb and many Israeli officials believe sanctions only give Tehran time to move its nuclear program underground, out of reach of Israeli military strikes. The U.S. and its allies argue that Israel should hold off on any military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities to allow more time for sanctions to work.

Before Ahmadinejad spoke Saturday, visiting Hamas prime minister from Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, also addressed the crowd, congratulating Iranians on the 1979 anniversary and vowing that his militant Palestinian group would never recognize Iran's and Hamas' archenemy, Israel.

Also at the Tehran rally, Iran displayed a real-size model of the U.S. drone RQ-170 Sentinel, captured by Iran in December near the border with Afghanistan. Iran has touted the drone's capture as one of its successes against the West.

The state TV called the drone is a "symbol of power" of the Iranian armed forces "against the global arrogance" of the U.S.

The report broadcast footage of other rallies around Iran, saying millions participated in the anniversary celebrations, many under heavy snowfall.

Egyptian Soccer Protest

For this weeks Blog Post our group has chosen an article about the riot that erupted from a protest at the end of an Egyptian soccer game last week. This protest took the lives of many innocent bystanders and left the stadium in ruins. So we are asking you to respond to this question for the week "is a sporting event the right place to begin a protest with so many people in these close confines?"

 

Egypt soccer match brawl leaves at least 73 dead

An Egyptian soccer match between two longtime rivals — the Port Said team and the Ahly of Cairo — turns deadly when hooligans supporting the winning team attack opposing players and fans.

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Players for Cairo's Ahly soccer club run for safety after rioting… (Ahmed Hassan / Associated Press)

February 01, 2012|By Jeffrey Fleishman and Amro Hassan, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Cairo — An Egyptian soccer match between two longtime rivals descended into a violent echo of the bloodiest days of last year's revolution as hooligans supporting the winning team stormed the field, attacking opposing players and fans in clashes that reportedly killed at least 73 people.
The fighting on the pitch quickly took on broader political overtones. The Muslim Brotherhood, which controls nearly half of the new parliament, laid blame for the bloodshed on thugs connected to toppled President Hosni Mubarak who are plotting to destabilize the country.
The clashes broke out in the town of Port Said after that city's team won a rare victory over the visiting Ahly, a powerhouse club from Cairo. Port Said supporters swarmed the field immediately after the game. Ahly players and fans ran for cover beneath the stadium and into locker rooms as chaos spread.
PHOTOS: Dozens killed in soccer riot
The locker room "looks like a morgue," said Ahmed Nagui, an Ahly coach.
The bloodshed stunned a nation that has been enduring protests and violence since last year's revolution overthrew Mubarak. There have been sharp animosities between the two teams — Port Said fans attacked an Ahly bus last year. But nothing suggested the level of hostilities that erupted Wednesday night, another sign of how combustible Egypt is as it unsteadily attempts to move toward democracy.
"The events in Port Said are planned and are a message from the remnants of the former regime," Essam Erian, a member of parliament with the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said in a statement.
Security officials feared the riot could provoke retaliation by die-hard Ahly fans, known as Ultras. The group, a mix of university students, workers and democracy advocates, helped defend Tahrir Square against Mubarak loyalists last February, and was involved in the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Cairo in September. Its members also have been on the front lines in the recent deadly clashes between antigovernment protesters and riot police and soldiers.
Ultras, a catchphrase for supporters of many clubs, have become an ingrained, if erratic, phenomenon in the antigovernment protest movement against the police and the ruling military council. Many regard themselves as protectors of civil liberties who will not hesitate to hurl stones and Molotov cocktails at police, as they did in clashes in November and December that killed scores of people.
It is uncertain how they will respond to the soccer melee. Ahly fans have announced a march on the Interior Ministry in Cairo for Thursday. The ministry, barricaded by concrete and barbed wire, is the despised touchstone of the corrupt Mubarak regime and a symbol for many activists of the revolution's failure to force the military from power.
Smoke colored by the light of flares clung to the spectator stands in Port Said's stadium as millions of bewildered Egyptians watched the nation's newest wrinkle of deadly unrest unfold on television. Police appeared both overwhelmed and unwilling to respond, often watching while frantic fans raced past them. One player said the scene looked like a war.
"There are 11 deaths at my hospital. Two other hospitals include 25 deaths. Three fans have also died in the stadium," Hassan Esnawy, the manager of Port Said's Amiry hospital, said in a televised interview. "Some died of stampede, and others died of suffocation."
Egyptian TV later quoted medical authorities as saying at least 73 people had been killed. Some were beaten, but the Health Ministry reported that most appeared to have died of suffocation, head trauma and stampede-related injuries. TV footage showed fans clashing with knives and other weapons. More than 1,000 people were injured.
Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the nation's military ruler, dispatched military planes to Port Said to pick up Ahly players and fans and return them to Cairo. The Egyptian parliament called for an emergency session Thursday.
Indications that the situation was unusually volatile came when Port Said fans threw fireworks at Ahly players before the match. Hooligans tried unsuccessfully to rush the field during halftime, but there were no confrontations during 90 minutes of play. Moments after the game, which Port Said won 3 to 1, hooligans sprinted across the field to attack Ahly players and fans.
Two Ahly players were injured, and the team quickly blamed police for not preventing the onslaught.
"The security forces left us, they did not protect us. One fan has just died in the dressing room in front of me," veteran Ahly player Mohamed Abou-Treika yelled while speaking on the phone to a TV channel. "To hell with football if the situation is like this…. Are people's lives that cheap?"
Another Ahly player, Mohamed Baraket, said: "People have died, we are seeing corpses now. There are no security forces or army personnel to protect us."