I couldn't agree with your post more Benjammin, but remember your criticism was used to put in place the zero tolerance policy we criticize now as being bad form.

I dislike zero tolerance policies because they take judgment out of every equation they touch - sentencing guidelines, three strikes rulings, drug laws, weapons policies. The public administrators in this situation are left with no decision to make except what was prescribed by the zero tolerance policy - they don't have to be dunderheads to do that, they would be dunderheads not to follow the policy. The folks who establish dunderheaded policy and can change it - the school board, not the superintendent or principals or teachers. But your community has to be comfortable with the alternative to a zero tolerance policy - people in places of public responsibility making judgment calls.

So which will it be - are they dunderheads, or are they public authorities capable of exercising common wisdom over something like a weapons policy? We can't have it both ways.