The Marion P. Thomas Charter High School kicked out students for minor dress code violations.
Strangely, the story about the expulsions appeared in an Atlanta newspaper, not a New Jersey one.
The students are all African American, as is the staff. It is a segregated school.
“Video uploaded to Facebook shows several Marion P. Thomas Charter High School students hanging out at a public park in their school uniforms after they say they were booted from school over dress code violations. One teen explained he was kicked out simply for having white soles on his shoes…
“It wasn’t just the handful of students at the park who were kicked out, however. Students claim more than half the school was sent home for the alleged violations. Concerned, the man, who describes himself as a youth worker, marched over to the school to confront the staff about their so-called punishment.
“In video of the incident, the man is heard questioning school officials about why so many kids were kicked out into the streets for something so arbitrary as not having a belt or all-black sneakers. A front desk receptionist explains the students were told go home and get the items, and then return to school.
“This is crazy. … Get those things from where? What if they don’t have it?” the man asked. “I’m at the park working with kids, and I see like 50 children walk into the park saying they can’t get into school because they don’t have all-black shoes. I have a problem.”
“That’s saying that because they’re poor, you can treat them like this,” he said of the kids, whom he described as “his scholars.” “You will not do this.”
“Things quickly escalate as the man repeatedly demands to speak to the principal or someone else in charge. He then criticizes school staff, which is all Black, for willingly kicking African-American students out of class over simple dress code violations.
“Y’all are too calm!” he shouts. “It’s all Black people in here and y’all kick Black kids out into the street. What if one of them gets hurt in the park? It’s homeless people sleeping in there. Why are are all these kids in the street?! You are culpable!”
“The man, visibly frustrated, continues asking for who’s in charge of making the dress code policy. That’s when leaders ask him who his scholar is, suggesting he needs to have a child who attends the school in order to make a complaint.“
After the fallout from the video of the incident, the school said it was implementing a new process for dress code violations but did not say what it would be.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What an insane no tolerance, no excuses policy. It’s the first day of school, give the kids a break, a warning, send out advisories via email and snail mail (though the school did send out dress code rules weeks before and its in the school manual).
This also from chalk beat: Malika Berry said her son, Sahir Minatee, a former 10th-grader at Marion P. Thomas, was one of the students turned away Monday because his shoes were not completely black. She said she only learned that Sahir had been kept out of school through online messages, and was never notified by the school.
“It’s illegal,” she said. “Why didn’t nobody inform me that my son was kicked out of school?”
School officials said they called the families of students who were sent out Monday.
When Sahir returned to school Tuesday, she said school employees informed him that his family had not submitted the necessary paperwork to verify they live in the city. (Charter schools must show that their students live within the district in order to receive state funds.)
Berry says she tried to present residency documents to the school this week, but they said the deadline had passed and she would have to re-enroll through the district, which handles both charter and traditional school admissions. After visiting the district enrollment office, her son was assigned to West Side High School, she said.
“I haven’t eaten, I haven’t slept,” Berry said. “My son is stressed out; he has to go to a new school.”
About a third of Newark students attend charter schools.
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The sending district pays the tuition of out of district charter students.
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Why does this surprise anyone – they just got the publicity?
There is no gray in charter schools. It’s too difficult for their “administrators” to make a decision becasue empathy, logic, and mission can cloud their don’t-cross-this-line 1-step decision making.
But this is somewhat surprising. Usually the charters don’t kick kids out until the magic cut off date where they can count the kids (sorry, this “scholar” thing is just illusory) and continue to get state funding and use it in their enrollment brochures.
Check charter enrollments in August/September and Februrary. “Where’d all those kids go?”
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and which schools then suddenly enroll these kids due to being actually PUBLIC — paying the price for taking in all students when the test score game vilifies and blames
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The “Hate You Give Little Infants, F…s everyone.”
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Greed is on display when the concerned man is told if he has children they must attend that school before he can complain.
BS!
If the concerned man had children and he moved them to that publicly funded, private sector, abusive, autocratic, opaque charter school, and he complained, he’d be told if he didn’t like how they run their school, he should remove his children from the school … but before they told him that they’d wait until the public money for the entire school year that followed that child to their corporate crap school was already in their bank account.
That way, if the child returned to the public schools, he/she would be an added burden because the money meant for that child was already gone.
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Now, in Los Angeles public schools, you cannot let students — even high school seniors 18 and over — leave the school during school hours WITHOUT A PARENT OR GUARDIAN ACCOMPANYING THE STUDENT.
The adults at school have promised their parents/guardians that their children will be on campus and supervised at all times during school hours. This is California law, enshrined in the state’s Education Code. The child’s safety must be paramount at all times.
Well, in charter world …. New Jersey’s anyway … apparently, not so much.
That’s what makes this series of videos such a trip.
As you can see here, the administrators at this Newark, New Jersey charter sent home “more than half” of its students over the most minor of dress code violations:
— having a trace of white on their sneakers
— not having a black belt,
… etc.
The kids were told to go home and not return until they are following the dress code. I guess since this was the first week of school, the admin. was out to set a tone, or make a point.
However, in the process of making that point, they could have got kids killed or seriously injured. This African-American man, a non-school youth counselor, sees all these kids, recently kicked out of the school, hanging out at a nearby park during morning school hours, then asks himself,
“Why are these kids not in school, and why are they totally without any adult supervision?”
He then decides to record all that follows on video using his cell phone.
Oh boy, does this get good!
In one video, he tells the school administration that he saw scary “homeless” people on the playground where the kicked-out kids were congregating, and how that puts those kids in danger.
For convenience sake, here’s some of the write-up about this:
https://atlantablackstar.com/2018/08/28/new-jersey-charter-school-caught-booting-mass-of-black-kids-into-street-for-minor-dress-code-violations/
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
ATLANTA BLACK STAR:
“A Newark, N.J., man is demanding answers about what led to several students being kicked out of class at a local charter school this week.
Video uploaded to Facebook shows several Marion P. Thomas Charter High School students hanging out at a public park in their school uniforms after they say they were booted from school over dress code violations. One teen explained he was kicked out simply for having white soles on his shoes.
“Why you ain’t in school?” the man asks. “C’mon bruh, why you ain’t in school?”
“‘Cause I got white on my sneakers,” the teen replies.
Apparently, students must wear all-black sneakers.
It wasn’t just the handful of students at the park who were kicked out, however. Students claim more than half the school was sent home for the alleged violations. Concerned, the man, who describes himself as a youth worker, marched over to the school to confront the staff about their so-called punishment.
In video of the incident, the man is heard questioning school officials about why so many kids were kicked out into the streets for something so arbitrary as not having a belt or all-black sneakers. A front desk receptionist explains the students were told go home and get the items, and then return to school.
“This is crazy. … Get those things from where? What if they don’t have it?” the man asked. “I’m at the park working with kids, and I see like 50 children walk into the park saying they can’t get into school because they don’t have all-black shoes. I have a problem.”
“That’s saying that because they’re poor, you can treat them like this,” he said of the kids, whom he described as “his scholars.” “You will not do this.”
Things quickly escalate as the man repeatedly demands to speak to the principal or someone else in charge. He then criticizes school staff, which is all Black, for willingly kicking African-American students out of class over simple dress code violations.
“Y’all are too calm!” he shouts. “It’s all Black people in here and y’all kick Black kids out into the street. What if one of them gets hurt in the park? It’s homeless people sleeping in there. Why are are all these kids in the street?! You are culpable!”
The man, visibly frustrated, continues asking for who’s in charge of making the dress code policy. That’s when leaders ask him who his scholar is, suggesting he needs to have a child who attends the school in order to make a complaint.
(and on it goes)
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
The first video is him at the park asking and finding out why the kids are not in school.
The remaining videos are him in the office berating the all-black staff, including the principal for what’s going on.
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One more thing:
Apparently, the principal in question doesn’t feel that she herself needs to adhere to any kind of dress-modestly dress code, as she wears a revealing, skin-tight top that accentuates her ample bosom.
What’s THAT all about??!!
Indeed, the hidden-camera framing of the shot in one of the later videos — cutting the principal off at the neck — gets one thinking of a Russ Meyer movie. It’s as is the man is talking to boobs.
For those not getting that reference, GO HERE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Meyer#The_Meyer_physical_archetype
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Wikipedia: (on cult film maker Russ Meyer)
Russ Meyer’s lifelong unabashed fixation on large breasts featured prominently in all his films and is his best-known character trait both as an artist and as a person. His discoveries include Kitten Natividad, Erica Gavin, Lorna Maitland, Tura Satana, and Uschi Digard among many others. The majority of them were naturally large breasted and he occasionally cast women in their first trimesters of pregnancy as it enhanced their breast size even further.
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For the hidden-camera videos, go here, and CLICK the Facebook link beneath the article:
https://atlantablackstar.com/2018/08/28/new-jersey-charter-school-caught-booting-mass-of-black-kids-into-street-for-minor-dress-code-violations/
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Oh yeah, and the follow-up article:
https://atlantablackstar.com/2018/08/30/n-j-charter-school-implements-new-process-after-kicking-dozens-of-kids-out-of-class-over-dress-code-violations/
… which states:
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
ATLANTA BLACK STAR:
“Amid the outrage, the school said it has since changed its policy to one that doesn’t put students in harm’s way.
“While we realize school policies are important, we recognize that our students’ well-being is of utmost importance,” the letter read. “Therefore, we have implemented a process that will not compromise the safety of our high school students.”
“We look forward to working with all our families for a successful and productive school year,” it concluded.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
That’s all well and good.
However, the follow-up article fails to answer the most pressing question question:
“Will the principal still be allowed to wear the boob shirt?”
Again, to see that to which the above question refers, play the video in the lower-right-hand corner of the Facebook page just beneath this article:
https://atlantablackstar.com/2018/08/30/n-j-charter-school-implements-new-process-after-kicking-dozens-of-kids-out-of-class-over-dress-code-violations/
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Ooops. Wrong link to see the principal’s boob shirt.
Try this (and again, play the video in the lower-right-hand corner of the Facebook page just beneath this article)
https://atlantablackstar.com/2018/08/28/new-jersey-charter-school-caught-booting-mass-of-black-kids-into-street-for-minor-dress-code-violations/
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On here’s a direct link to the shirt video:
Excuse me for beating a dead horse on this, but this would never fly in Los Angeles, thanks to folks such as current LAUSD Board Member George McKenna (who’s African-American, btw):
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-0726-banks-mckenna-politics-20140726-column.html#
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L.A. TIMES’ Sandy Banks:
In 2000, I criticized McKenna for imposing such a strict staff dress code in South L.A. that a male teacher couldn’t wear an earring because McKenna considered that a hallmark of gang membership.
I thought that was demeaning to teachers and socially out of sync. McKenna lectured me about students who’d been shot for wearing the wrong thing: “I have an obligation to set standards that are wholesome and safe for students and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
You go, George!
Indeed, what’s “wholesome” about a Newark, New Jersey charter school principal dressing as if she’s out a nightclub trying to meet men … while that same hypocrite is nitpicking her students about something as trivial as the color of students’ belts and shoes?
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When I wrote “but this would never fly in Los Angeles, thanks to folks such as current LAUSD Board Member George McKenna”, I should have said that “this would never fly” is a traditional public school or even and affiliated charter that was under LAUSD oversight.
If this was and “independent” charter, then who the-hell knows? Both the boob shirt and these kickouts over trivial dress code violations have indeed happened in independent L.A. charter schools, and will likely happen again. (well, maybe not the principal’s boob shirt but who knows?)
Once the charter is approved, everything gets opaque and non-transparent.
It’s like the moment in this cartoon where the money-sucking charter school shrinks into a black cute with the words “KEEP OUT”
(at 0:43)
That’s what I’m talking about.
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This article is about saving your kid by purchasing a bulletproof backpack. This is SICK! And the cost is ONLY $700 USD. The US has the highest gun death rate in the world and here’s how to respond, buy a backpack that your kid can hide behind.
…………………………………………………………
An Israeli company is designing military-grade bulletproof backpacks for US school kids
By Chase PurdySeptember 1, 2018
Interest in Masada Armour’s backpack cropped up after a mass shooting in February at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Since then, the company has increased production to more than 500 backpacks per month, according to Agence France-Presse.
“The backpack is designed for regular student use,” of carrying books, a laptop and the like, according to the company’s website. It weighs less than 3kg (6.5lbs) and costs about $700. It can withstand the force of bullets fired from high-velocity rifles, including the AK-47, AR-15, and M-16. The company says it can offer an even stronger backpack by adding ballistic hard plates.
It’s is a sobering reflection of the state of gun violence in America that market demand would push the company to design the backpack at all. The US’s firearm death rate that far exceeds other wealthy countries around the world…
Right now, Masada Armour says its backpacks are heavy, but suitable for college students. The firm, which is located in the northern town of Julis, says it is currently working on designing a lighter backpack for the “type of morphology” of an elementary school kid.
https://qz.com/1376765/us-school-shootings-have-spawned-the-bulletproof-backpack/
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The only way that alleged bullet proof backpack will protect anyone is if they have time to crawl inside of it and pull the zipper shut behind them … if the thing is large enough to hold the entire child. But what caliber of round is it rated to be bullet-proof against — a 22 caliber?
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No airconditioning and lead contaminated water. Indiana’s low state funding is responsible for this happening. So what will be done? How are kids supposed to learn in this environment? How many of these kids have learning disabilities because of the bad drinking water? Hammond is not a high income area.
I wonder why this testing wasn’t done at the beginning of summer break.
…………………….
[NWI Times] Hammond School Board meeting gets heated following lead contamination reports
The School City of Hammond School Board had a heated public meeting on Tuesday following reports of lead found in the schools’ drinking water.
Some teachers said this couldn’t come at a worse time, with some Hammond classroom temperatures reaching in the 90s. Other audience members called for more details of the report.
In an email to staff on Thursday, Superintendent Walter Watkins said seven buildings, including six schools, registered lead levels above the recommended Environmental Protection Agency threshold when tested on Aug. 9-13.
“It was important we put together a sensible, and comprehensive, non-reactionary plan,” Watkins said. “It’s important we took the time to develop a plan to address this crisis.”
The administrators handed out certain details of the test at the board meeting, indicating that a total of 52 water fountains and 28 sinks were taken out of service due to lead contamination levels…
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/hammond-school-board-meeting-gets-heated-following-lead-contamination-reports/article_d328790b-ede2-5568-94f4-65f8a89fd0c6.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
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Racism and classism to the MAX.
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