NPR Illinois has been covering the harsh disciplinary policies at the high-scoring Noble Network of charter schools.
After publishing one piece about “dehumanizing” discipline, NPR learned about another issue. Girls who are bleeding because of their menstrual period and need to go to the bathroom at once must wait for an “escort,” if the incident happens during class. If the escort is late, the girl bleeds on herself. Sometimes they are allowed to tie a sweater around their waist to hide the blood on their trousers, and they won’t get a demerit.
Two teachers persuaded the administration to let girls wear black trousers instead of khaki, to hide the bloodstains.
Would any public school do this to students? Is this inhumane discipline resreserved for low-income students of color in “no-excuses” charter schools?
Be sure to read the comments. Many were posted by people who say they are current or former teachers at the Noble Network.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Child abuse and torture, pure and simple.
How Noble of them.
Why in the world does a high school kid need a bathroom escort in the first place? How does that prepare them for college?
To make sure they use the correct designated one!
LOL. But probably not. This is Chicago. We really don’t care here.
AGGGGH!
POSTED AT
https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Chicago-Charter-Chain-Doe-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Charter-School-Failure_Girls_Students-180503-778.html
And boys should wear WHITE!!!
The kids themselves could fight this with a little solidarity. If one kid isn’t allowed to use the bathroom when she’s having an emergency, every kid should get up and go use the bathroom. Let ’em suspend ’em all. MLK had a lot to say about things like this.
You are right but these schools teach compliance above all.
“Compliance ” , Which is exactly the goal of the Billionaires(LOL) for Education Reform and their paid academics. . . I thought dienne was rather timid in her suggestion. I was wondering are the classrooms on the second floor.
But WHY should students have to fight these battles? These are battles that should never be needed to fight, because they SHOULD NOT EXIST.
I agree completely, but sadly they do exist. Black people shouldn’t have to fight for basic civil rights either, but they do.
I think one key is for the people not affected to fight too, perhaps even more so. Just as it was important for whites to join the Civil Rights Movement, I think it’s important for the boys to be speaking up (and walking out), even though they’ll never have to worry about bleeding through their pants.
I can understand why, “The board did not respond to these statements.”
Young high school ladies once a month are made to feel ashamed. Don’t ever ask for makeup school work and be sure to wear a belt.
This is sickening. Many of these children come from poverty level homes.They need teachers who show love, inspiration and care, not this child abuse.
What else is this board hiding? Thank you teachers for having the strength to speak out.
They value compliance because these are corporate run institutions by and for the benefit of the one percent. Just getting the kids ready for the modern day sweatshops, low pay , no benefits and don’t ask questions.
A disgrace.
So-called reformers have a very, very strange conception of “the civil rights movement of our time.” It apparently involves humiliating and traumatizing teenage girls.
Then again, perhaps it’s been about power, domination, and social engineering all along.
Oh, and money, too…
Why don’t they just put a big red dot in the middle of the girl’s forehead?
Big red M.
A scarlet letter.
That’s some sick mofos that run that school.
On top of all of the humiliation this is a serious health code violation. Any “accidents” left on a chair or other surface would be a safety issue. Bodily fluids can be hazardous materials so send the offending young ladies to the office for hazmat suits!
Not to mention potential toxic shock syndrome or even just a run-of-the-mill UTI.
Yes! At my daughter’s school the admin only opens 1 girls room. It has 3 semi-functional toilets. Girls often bleed through and they delay changing their stuff because they have to miss class and wait in line. I do worry about toxic shock syndrome.
This is a regular public high school, not charter.
Overlooked amidst the hygiene horror is this “defense” of Noble:
“Several commenters defended Noble’s policies. Ashley J Dearborn, a Chicago-based actor, wrote on our Facebook page that she worked with Noble CEO and Superintendent Michael Milkie during the time he co-founded his first charter school, after having taught at a Chicago Public School.
“Mr. Milkie believed if given the right conditions, these Black and Brown kids could excel and compete with the best. They have. In order to achieve this, stringent rules and regulations were developed,” Dearborn wrote.”
Really? She needed to specify “Black and Brown”? And they “achieve” because of Noble’s “stringent rules and regulations”? In other words, without that, they wouldn’t “achieve”? Is that because they’re “Black and Brown”?
“Mr. Milkie believed if given the right conditions, these Black & Brown kids could excel & compete w/the best.”
Oh, & are the “right conditions” those in which students are not allowed to go to the bathroom?! Or does he believe that his students don’t know how to use the facilities because they never learned at home? “…stringent rules & regulations were developed.”
How arrogant & patronizing (& anything but noble) are these “people?” (& I’m putting this in quotes because I wonder if their computer prints would even pass the “I’m not a robot” check.)
Sounds like colonization to me.
Reminds me of “The Help,” when those pissy (yes, this is a situation in which to devolve into potty talk!) Mississippi mothers wouldn’t allow their maids/nannies to use the bathrooms in their homes.
The students should protest by putting toilets outside on the lawn of the (not) Noble schools.
Which would then earn them the Nobel Prize.
I almost can’t read this blog anymore because I just can’t take the absurdity!!!!!!
It just gets stranger and stranger. In New Jersey there was a superintendent found using the high school athletic venue for a toilet on a regular (or as regular as he was) basis. Who’s minding the store?
There’s a term for this, let’s see, what is it? Oh, yes: Educational Malpractice.
I don’t see how this is not a lawsuit. The teacher and anyone else involved should be ashamed.