A charter school recently made headlines for punishing a mischievous student by throwing him into the quarantine of a padded cell in the expectation that the trauma would build his character.
This corrective measure was official policy, not the initiative of a rogue staff member. This philosophy of reform is probably not typical even of other charter schools, but certainly is unheard of in any public school. It could never happen in any non-charter, non-private school because child abuse is forbidden there, no slack is cut and no cover-up is tolerated.
Unruly children are sent to “SAVE” rooms, where instruction continues uninterrupted in small groups, sometimes individually, under close supervision.
Charter schools are forever proclaiming the glory of their freedom from the teachers union contract. That is understandable because they do not want to lose their liberty to shock inconvenient kids into submission.
Ron Isaac
Bayside
