Exclusionary discipline and education not mutually exclusive

“Don’t abandon disciplined students” [Opinion Feb. 15] haunts us with the need for practical and effective solutions.

Instead of abandoning such individuals to neglect, crime and hopeless despair, why can’t the educational and judicial entities of our state get together and develop a cooperative method of solving the problem that could address this situation to the benefit of all concerned?

For those former students to be reclaimed from their predicament, could we not devise a method whereby they could be sentenced by the juvenile-justice courts to complete their high-school diploma? And not in a reform school, but in a reform setting in school.

Funds for this could be transferred from the judicial system to the educational system to cover the varied costs of their education. Upon completion of their high-school diploma, the charges against them could be dropped, their records cleared and their future may hold potential for effective citizenship and independence, that could result from education and job training and lead to a “brighter future” that the writers recommend.

It has been well said: “Better Yale than jail.”

--Graham Hutchins, Port Angeles