Thursday, March 29, 2007
Orwell Alive and Well on Bransford Avenue
Posted by Bruce Barry on Thu, Mar 29, 2007 at 11:19 AM
Metro public school parents mobilizing to block or at least slow down the school uniform steamroller that whizzed through a school board meeting earlier this week have just 12 days to get it done. (The parent group, MPASS, has launched a blog.) MNPS director Pedro Garcia's hand-picked pro-uniform "study" committee of school principals chose fealty to the boss over research-based educational policy making when it recommended Tuesday that all schools and all grades require "standard school attire" (SSA) starting in the fall.
The proposed SSA policy lists the various benefits the committee thinks uniforms "will" have, giving no attention to the fact that published research in education finds no such effects.
Research and policy merits of school uniforms aside, perhaps everyone can agree that the committee that drafted the proposal opted for the Orwellian in paragraph H-5: "No portion of the Standard School Attire policy shall be construed as in conflict with a student's Constitutional right to free expression."
The proposed SSA policy lists the various benefits the committee thinks uniforms "will" have, giving no attention to the fact that published research in education finds no such effects.
Research and policy merits of school uniforms aside, perhaps everyone can agree that the committee that drafted the proposal opted for the Orwellian in paragraph H-5: "No portion of the Standard School Attire policy shall be construed as in conflict with a student's Constitutional right to free expression."
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