Two articles in my daily paper have caused a fair amount of deep thinking. I would like to pass on some of my thoughts about how these two articles might improve our educational opportunities for the children of Federal Way.

Mark A.R. Kleiman, a professor at UCLA, was quoted this week on how to reduce crime in Seattle. His basic theme is that offenders need to be punished quickly for their first offense, so that it is clear to the offender that his/her behavior is not acceptable to the community. Such decisions as “Deferred Sentence,” and other less than immediate measures, he believes only lessens the authority of society to regulate the behavior of its members.

“The problem is practices that work don’t fit the slogans of either side,’ Kleiman said, arguing that citizens should demand effective practices.” He cites the practice that Hawaii has recently embarked upon swiftly sentencing offenders to lesser sentences in non violent crimes. The rate of re-offense dropped significantly. Mr. Kleiman also favors pushing back the start and end of the school day for middle and high school students “To prevent after-school crime.” Significantly he calls for “Social Agencies and Education” to play a more significant role. He suggests that the “Arrest Rate” of each high school grade be a public statistic.

This article seemed to collaborate the facts that were in another article about the Temple, Texas school district. This district, of 8,000 students has reintroduced the paddle to their schools! This is certainly a pretty good example of “prompt discipline!” I thought, after reading this article, that this must be a school district with some real problems. So I decided to check their web-site and the Texas Education Authority’s, their Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, site for some hard data on this school district.

What a surprise! This district was segregated until 1971, has approximately 1/3 of its students from White, Hispanic and Black populations and is 67% “Economically Disadvantaged” (A Texas term I think). OK, looks like a difficult district to me.

However, in the only high school in the district there have been 187 National Merit Scholars, they are on the “Newsweek” list of the “Best High Schools” and are cited for a “Blue Ribbon (A Texas Citation). In addition they are very close to Ft. Hood, the largest military installation in the country, which would suggest that the student population might be very transient.

Clearly we don’t have any school districts in this state that can compare to this district when it comes to achievement! Federal Way School District had only 1 National Merit Scholar this year.

This suggests that “Consequence” has a significant role in education in Temple, Texas, and maybe it is the lack of significant consequence wide spread in our schools that may be a significant part of the problem. Our schools are very tolerant of behaviors that are detrimental to learning.

Recently there has been a significant discussion about “Bullying” in schools. Isn’t this just another behavior that should have significant consequences for the first offense? What are the consequences for disrupting a class or not completing assignments? Evidently they are not significant enough to cause attendees to alter their behaviors.

Two years ago the Legislature decided that there “Were just too many students failing the Mathematics test” to make passing it mandatory. What a message to send to attendees! How many athletes are not passing the state exams and are still playing sports?

These kinds of “Inactions” all send a message that we are prepared to “Tolerate” behaviors that are destroying our children’s future.

The rationale that “These are just children” has lead to a plethora of excuses for behaviors that are not productive to either the child or society.

Where could this stop? I would suggest at the school house door. There are plenty of rules and regulations currently in place to make it clear to both parents and attendees that they can be excluded from the school house. According to the article on Temple they have only had to paddle one student to markedly improve their school’s deportment.

Examples such as this can make a very significant impression on many.

Federal Way would have to produce over 500 National Merit Scholars to be in the running with Temple. It would seem that tolerance of negative behavior just might be part of this problem.

It might also be part of the problem for crime in the city when you read of people doing inappropriate things who are not dealt with in any significant manner.