children out of school in america - University of Tennessee Digital ...

Many districts still have the power to expel children.
But school officials prefer to use other means
of permanently excluding children. Tantamount to
expulsion is "voluntary withdrawal." Technically
no blight remains on the child's records and the
child (theoretically) may not be precluded from reenrolling
in another school in the district after
a while. But it often results in permanent exclusion.
One Massachusetts student recalled that "the school
told me 'Either get thrown out or withdraw.' I didn't
really care, I was 16." Another student said "the
principal told me I was on the verge of being thrown
out but that it would look better if my parents took
me out instead."
That there is no formal record of "voluntary withdrawals"
as disciplinary actions is a strong school
bargaining tool to force parents to exercise the withdrawal
"option." A Denver school official explained:
"The difference between an expulsion and a
withdrawal is that officials always gain parents' consent
for a withdrawal. Sometimes they just have to
request consent but other times they have to threaten
parents first with the child's expulsion."1 That "this
process is fraught with danger" is recognized in at
least one school district whose superintendent is
"doing away with it."8
Similarly, dropout figures hide the fact that the
triggering device may have been a suspension or
threat of expulsion. "A child with a record of being
a 'problem' child ... is really encouraged to leave
school. . . . I suspect that his life is made so unpleasant
that he wants to leave.... But the line is
hard to draw between being told and actually [being]
made to leave."9 In Davenport, one teacher said
that students at West High School are asked, "Do
you want to drop out or do you want us to kick
you out?"lO
1 Interview with Robert P. Cotwell, Principat, East High
School, Denver, Colorado, t t/6/73. This practice was
corroborated by Wesley Johnson, Principal of West High
School, Denver, Colorado, in an interview on 11/7/73.
8 Dr. Louis J. Kishkunis, Superintendent of Schools, Denver,
Colorado, I t/6/73.
9 Interview with Joseph G. Sateriale, Assistant Superintendent,
Secondary Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
10/12/73.
10 Interview with Dennis Koch, Teacher-In-Charge and
Susan Hartung, Teacher, Center for Continuing Education
Drop-In Center, Davenport, Iowa, I t/9/73.
Some school districts, like Davenport, Iowa, use
the formal suspension process very little. Instead, the
school district uses more subtle devices, one of which
is the so-called "drop card." A "drop card" has been
used as a lever to push children out of school in
Davenport, though its proclaimed function is to keep
clerical records of children who drop out. During the
parental conference which is required for a suspended
student to get back into school, parents have been
told that if they do not sign the card, their child will
not be permitted to return to school at all. If he
tries to return, he would be taken immediately to
the school board for expulsion.
If a parent signs the card, school officials may then
use this permission to exclude the child from school
permanentlY without going to the school board in
the event of a subsequent offense. The "drop card"
is used as a contract waiving future recourse to
protest disciplinary action as well as admission of
present guilt of the charge because of the parental
signature,u
11 Interview with a Davenport, Iowa official who asked to
remain anonymous.
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