"Opinion: Obama's school plan is overkill," Carson Wright, 5th Period

In this article, Ruben Navarrette, Jr. argues that the Obama Administration's plan, created by two Cabinet departments, to curb disciplinary problems in high schools. The proposed solution at hand is called the Supportive School Discipline Initiative (SSDI), "which seeks to limit student suspensions and expulsions and provide 'alternative best practices such as restorative justice, peer mediation and positive behavioral supports.'"
Navarrette's contention is that this type of discipline is too soft on disruptive juveniles, and that a sterner approach is needed. As well, Navarrette calls the administration's decision to offer grants to some schools to train teachers and employees on SSDI principles an "overkill," what with the two Cabinets branching out to "micro-manage" school discipline systems.
Navarette's final point is that society shoud "start dealing with those societal factors--such as poverty, despair and broken homes--that help these young people get into trouble in the first place?"

I am a firm believer in the "zero-tolerance" policy. For instance, take bullying--what a massive campaign, what a seemingly nation-wide effort there is to beat down bullying. But to what fruition? The prevalence of the issue is still sharply obvious. Call me unrealistic, but I do believe that if the school discipline programs would shut up, crack down and cut through the crap with a real zero-tolerance policy, a policy that would notice abuse and deal with it swiftly, the bullying problem would be reduced tenfold.
However, there is certainly something to be said for corrective punishment; restorative justice. This is the sort of justice that must be used more often, the sort that will actually help both the victim and the abuser, while showing the abuser why what they did is wrong. So, I must disagree with Navarrette; the Supportive School Discipline Initiative is a strong solution, not a weak link or an overkill.
And at the same time, I must agree with him on his final point regarding "societal factors." It happens, though, that the school environment itself is one of those factors. Improve upon "poverty, despair and broken homes," absolutely--but don't forget about the place children will spend most of their early life in, while you're at it.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/28/opinion/navarrette-school-discipline-white-house/index.html?hpt=us_mid