HYSTERICAL GRADE-SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION VICTIMIZES A LITTLE KID

At least they didn't call in the SWAT team. Penn Hills School District officials, however, did react swiftly and harshly when Jokari Becker triggered a crisis of near-Columbine proportions by bringing a toy gun to school for a class project. First, they suspended the Dible Elementary School fifth-grader for three days. Then they decided that wasn't punishment enough. So they suspended him for an additional seven days. They decided that wasn't quite punishment enough, either. So on Tuesday, they expelled Jokari. He won't be allowed back in school until January -- at the earliest. At the rate the penalties keep increasing, Jokari soon might find himself strapped on a gurney while Superintendent Patricia Gennari administers a lethal injection.

Gennari did not return calls Thursday, but Melissa Becker, 32, Jokari's mother, was available. She remains dumbfounded over the disciplinary action. "This whole thing is absurd," she said. It's difficult to dispute her assertion. Few would confuse the fluorescent, oversized, green-and-orange plastic toy with a Glock. Jokari brought the gun to school for inclusion in a memory box he was making. He kept it in his book bag until it was time to work on the project.

Jokari never pointed the unloaded gun at a student or teacher. Even if it had been loaded, even if he had aimed it at a classmate, no one would have been in jeopardy. "It says 'paintball' on the gun, but it doesn't shoot paintball pellets," Melissa Becker said. "It shoots water soluble paint. It's a kid's toy." A kid's toy that wouldn't even have ruined anyone's clothes.

This might be mildly amusing if Melissa Becker wasn't a single mother trying to raise Jokari and his 12-year-old brother while completing her education at Point Park University. Her major: Criminal justice. While an appeal of the expulsion is being prepared, Melissa Becker wonders how she is going to juggle her family and occupational obligations. Her son is barred from school, and she is scheduled to begin training next week to become an Allegheny County 911 emergency dispatcher. "I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but of course I'm not going to leave my child home alone," she said.

Meanwhile, Penn Hills residents -- who are facing a significant 4.48-mill school tax increase -- will pay to have Jokari tutored because he apparently is too much of a menace to mingle with other students. The district student discipline code bars students from bringing to school weapons, replicas of weapons or any instrument capable of inflicting serious bodily injury. It's difficult to find any evidence of misconduct by Jokari. Unloaded squirt guns don't cause serious bodily injury.

The code also states, "No disciplinary action should exceed in degree the seriousness of the offense." District officials need to re-familiarize themselves with that portion of the code. They have violated their policies far more egregiously than the student they expelled.

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BRITISH EDUCATION GOES EVEN FURTHER DOWN THE DRAIN

The degrees standards watchdog has warned universities that emergency measures to award degrees amid an academic boycott threaten to devalue the qualifications. As up to 400,000 students prepare for their final exams next week, the Qualification Assurance Agency has expressed concern that contingency plans to beat the industrial action, could put academic standards "in peril". Thousands of lecturers have refused to set, mark or invigilate exams and coursework since starting industrial action in March. Several institutions are preparing to award degrees before students get their full results. Others have appealed to solicitors and doctorate students to help to cover marking.

The warning comes as universities, students and the Government unite to increase pressure on the lecturers to accept the latest offer - a 12.6 per cent rise over three years. Academics, led by the Association of University Teachers, its sister union, Natfhe, and EIS in Scotland, insist, however, that the offer falls far short of their demands and are refusing to ballot members.

The QAA warning comes after fears were raised that the integrity of degrees was at risk. Peter Williams, the QAA chief executive, admitted that universities faced difficult choices. He said that they had "contractual obligations to students, but cannot readily meet these if they are unable to assess students in the normal way". By refusing to award degrees, they could be in breach of contract, as well as jeopardising career prospects. "If, in these circumstances, an institution chooses to continue to assess students and award qualifications, we shall expect it to do so taking every measure available to it to ensure that its academic standards are not put in peril and the value of its awards is maintained," he said. In a letter seen by The Times, Mr Williams said that it was up to each university to decide on emergency measures and to ensure that it adhered to the code of practice. The QAA would examine arrangements if invited to do so by the funding council or the university.

Penalties for dropping academic standards could mean a reduction of funding grants. Several top universities, including Birmingham and Cambridge, are preparing to award degrees on the basis of exams and papers marked so far. Students may take outstanding exams later if they feel their classification would be improved. At Bristol, students will be awarded a temporary unclassified degree, getting marks later. Employers will receive references that will indicate the award expected.

The dispute has split academics, students and universities. Next week 35 student unions - representing more than 500,000 students - will have talks with AUT members to try to persuade them to enter into local pay deals, with a minimum threshold of 12.6 per cent over three years. Last week Aberdeen, St Andrews and Huddersfield universities awarded local rises to staff of 5 per cent from August 1. AUT members at St Andrews had voted to end the boycott, but were overruled by AUT Scotland.

Gaston Dolle, the leader of Bristol student union, is one of 35 student presidents to have broken with the National Union of Students to find a resolution. "Natfhe and the AUT are being too stubborn," he said. "I think if there are a few more incidents like those at Aberdeen and St Andrews, they will realise they're not backed by their members on the ground." Universities, however, fear that the dispute has gone on too long to avoid serious disruption to degree examinations. Finals at most institutions should begin next week.

More here

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

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