My stepson, who teaches in an Alternative High School in the Metroplex, was interested in the changes to the LISD dress code that were announced this week. (An alternative high school deals with students who are disciplinary problems on their own campus, who are at risk for being dropouts or being sent to correctional institutions before they ever finish school.) Without clearly-defined rules for conduct and/or appearance, these kids just take over. They are not being controlled, nor are they being taught. Besides not being taught academically (because standards are nonexistent), they're not even taught how to function in the real world. It's appalling.

The superintendent of LISD is basically saying, "We can't enforce the rules, so let's just change the rules to accept what the kids want to do." My son, who has learned that working within the system is impossible for a good teacher these days, is happy to be in an alternative setting which supports discipline and learning. He has told me, "The Peter Principle is multiplied in the education system. I believe that in order to advance into administration, the person has to surrender more parts of his/her brain, until becoming Superintendent, which usually means no brain function at all." His response to the LISD rule changes was:

I know that this is terrible, but it is not any worse than the defacto policy of giving kids passing grades when they haven't done any work. The cell phone policy is just as bad. I know that they used a legitimate reason to justify it, but the fact is, what the kids actually use the cell phones for is to text message all day while ignoring what they are supposed to be learning. There was a survey not too long ago in which 70% of all parents said that they were aware that cell phones are used to cheat on tests.

Of course, you also see a lot of kids with weird hair and visible tattoos and even ear lobes with gaping holes in them working at grocery stores and fast food restaurants these days, so as long as this is the limit of their ambition, they can get by with a Jerry Springer/trailer park lifestyle. I don't know how this fits in with the mandate to prepare all kids to attend college, but these decisions are not made by teachers. They are made by administrators who have no respect for teachers and are trying to appease parents who are ok with letting their children live a feral existence.

He has expressed the view of many teachers who have to conform to the current rules of school systems all over. He worked in the private sector for many years before entering the teaching field, and although he is dedicated to teaching, he knows that his "calling" is thwarted by administration and the system, and the result is that education does not take place.

The elimination of most of the dress code at LISD is evidence of further deterioration of standards, both here and across this nation. It's just a shame.

S

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