You’ve got to be kidding me. But no, students in a U.S. school were told to go home because they had t-shirts on with an American flag on cinco de mayo. As an immigrant, http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/06/california-students-sent-home-wearing-flags-cinco-mayo/>(Students told to go home for wearing American flag t-shirts to school)

As an immigrant,I am truly scratching my head. Where did commonsense go? Since when can’t kids wear American flag t-shirts? Since when did free speech evaporate?

Within 48 hours, of course, cooler heads prevailed and the assistant principal’s order was voided by the school superintendent. But the lesson was learned–educators took their eye off common sense, education, the public good, and other realities that should be front and center for our schools Case closed, we hope.

The bigger picture is that this is but another example of our education leaders not their eye on the prize, not focused on the goal of teaching and learning, taking sides among student groups, etc. The goal should be education. Where did that go?

And, of course, this brings me back to special education and how it is broken. Why? Because, here too, we have lost sight of the goal–teaching and learning for all students. Instead, we saddle schools with rules, regulations, lawsuits, fear, lack of trust, etc.–that truly have nothing to do with teaching and learning. And we get further from the goal that would serve us all.

Let’s hope the t-shirts can lead the way back to common sense.

About Miriam

Miriam Kurtzig Freedman, JD, MA—an expert in public education, focused on special education law— is a lawyer, author, speaker, consultant, and reformer. For more than 35 years, Miriam worked with educators, parents, policy makers, and citizens to translate complex legalese into plain English and focus on good practices for children. Now, she focuses her passion on reforming special education, with her new book, Special Education 2.0—Breaking Taboos to Build a NEW Education Law. Presentations include those at the AASA Conference, Orange County (CA), Boston College (MA), CADRE (OR), and the Fordham Institute (DC). Her writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Education Week, Education Next, Hoover Digest, The University of Chicago Law Review on line, DianeRavitch.net, and The Atlantic Monthly on line.

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