I believe for the most part the zero tolerance policies actually come from elected school boards, not from administrators. Lord knows what happens in other states, or even out-state in Minnesota, but every single administrator I know hates that kind of proscriptive discipline because it keeps them from using their own judgment. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the underlying attitude of “what are we paying them for?” is the cause of such policies. The vast majority of elected school board members are not trained in education and often know nothing about education when they start. (Though of course, many become very knowledgeable and effective during their time in office.) But the discourse about education has become so toxic that people with neither knowledge or experience in the field feel perfectly okay with micro-managing every aspect of school life. It’s really very disheartening.
