Slog
News & ArtsMonday, August 6, 2012
The Ladies Louisiana, Land of Slutty Teen Witch Hunts
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 2:17 PM
Ah, Louisana, the land where sex education in public schools is optional and birth control isn't uniformly taught, but where mandatory teen pregnancy tests in school (at the threat of expulsion) are apparently an issue, according to the ACLU:
In a Louisiana public school, female students who are suspected of being pregnant are told that they must take a pregnancy test. Under school policy, those who are pregnant or refuse to take the test are kicked out and forced to undergo home schooling.
Welcome to Delhi Charter School, in Delhi, Louisiana, a school of 600 students that does not believe its female students have a right to education free from discrimination. According to its Student Pregnancy Policy, the school has a right to not only force testing upon girls, but to send them to a physician of the school administration’s choice. A positive test result, or failure to take the test at all, means administrators can forbid a girl from taking classes and force her to pursue a course of home study if she wishes to continue her education with the school.
This is in blatant violation of federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
Today, the ACLU of Louisiana and the ACLU Women’s Rights Project asked Delhi Charter School to immediately suspend this discriminatory and illegal policy...
Hat tip, Joe.
2
@1, she was no virgin. It was just a lie about a one night stand she was hiding from Joseph that got out of control.
5
I must be a masochist. I keep turning down offers to move to real states to live in Louisiana.
Seriously, though, I think our school system is fucked up beyond all repair, and it's only a matter of time before the republicans here are giving all education funding to religious schools. They're already giving them a bunch with the new voucher system, and not holding them to the same standards as public schools.
Seriously, though, I think our school system is fucked up beyond all repair, and it's only a matter of time before the republicans here are giving all education funding to religious schools. They're already giving them a bunch with the new voucher system, and not holding them to the same standards as public schools.
6
Oh, and it is policy here that if a girl in public school is pregnant, she gets sent to an alternative school - the same one the expelled kids get sent to. Of course, nothing happens to the boy who impregnated her.
8
Gosh, it really makes me wish we had charter schools here in Washington. If only we could get an initiative on the ballot for the fourth fucking time...
9
@2: Ever hear the song "Mary" by Lou Barlow? The sweetest song you'll ever hear about that very thing.
11
You can read the policy in its entirety here:
http://www.delhicharterschool.org/www/dc…
Relevant section is page C15, or page 130 in the PDF.
And yeah, it is seriously messed up and I cannot fathom how that is in any way remotely legal. And viciously sexist.
http://www.delhicharterschool.org/www/dc…
Relevant section is page C15, or page 130 in the PDF.
And yeah, it is seriously messed up and I cannot fathom how that is in any way remotely legal. And viciously sexist.
12
Also, the ACLU references federal law which is staggeringly clear:
This is why charter schools are *so* dangerous.
§ 106.40 Marital or parental status.
...
(b) Pregnancy and related conditions.
(1) A recipient shall not discriminate against any student, or exclude any student from its education program or activity, including any class or extracurricular activity, on the basis of such student's pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy or recovery therefrom, unless the student requests voluntarily to participate in a separate portion of the program or activity of the recipient.
This is why charter schools are *so* dangerous.
14
Don't you hate it when conservatives point out examples of teachers behaving badly and use it condemn the entire profession? Or when they point out examples of public schools treating students badly, even illegally, and use it to condemn the very notion of public schools?
Stupid conservatives.
Stupid conservatives.
15
I know I don’t really need to write this - we all know this, with varying degrees of resentment and anger, that women have always been dealt with more harshly for becoming pregnant than the men who impregnated them.
Next step for LA: allowing a girl's classmates to stone her, JIC one of them planned on marrying her one day.
Next step for LA: allowing a girl's classmates to stone her, JIC one of them planned on marrying her one day.
16
Charter schools - private schools receiving public dollars, good at cherry-picking and/or excluding students. Just what Washington needs. But the ones in Utah have definitely been a financial boon for legislators and their friends and families.
17
@16 is absolutely right. Here in Louisiana, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is the final arbiter on charter schools, after the local school boards have approved them or with low-performinc schools the state has taken over. My representative on BESE (who I did not vote for) just happens to have a sister who runs a charter school company, and the company just happened to have been awarded control of several schools in the Recovery School District (state-run schools) after her brother was elected.
Oh, and Jindal's campaign made a huge donation to his campaign (something like $15,000), which made it possible for him to be elected over the more qualified candidate (former superintendent of the highest-performing district in the state).
Do every thing you can to fight against charter schools. That stance might get me in trouble with my friends in TFA, but they are just plain bad for education.
Oh, and Jindal's campaign made a huge donation to his campaign (something like $15,000), which made it possible for him to be elected over the more qualified candidate (former superintendent of the highest-performing district in the state).
Do every thing you can to fight against charter schools. That stance might get me in trouble with my friends in TFA, but they are just plain bad for education.
18
Holy God. This amazing even by their standards. People approve of this? This is something they want to see in their community? What the hell is wrong with that place?
20
Lemme guess: the doctor that the principal has the option of sending her to is a fundamentalist right winger who will counsel her to have the baby.
21
One problem with the same policy for fathers is a largish percentage aren't students but older men. You know: pillars of the community.
23
It helps your school's average GPA to kick out the young mothers. You don't even have to call them drop outs this way.
24
Understand that this is what charters can do - they can call the shots on anything a student does and then kick them out. It's wrong and it's not public education. Keep in mind, that in Seattle, for example, we have a high school with a daycare for pregnant teens who want that option. All the other high schools would keep a girl in school because it would be illegal to kick her out.
And that's just the extreme - charters can give out demerits or fines for behavior they don't like. It sure creates a more disciplined school but is it legal or fair?
And that's just the extreme - charters can give out demerits or fines for behavior they don't like. It sure creates a more disciplined school but is it legal or fair?
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