Principals Feud With Safety Agents - October 11, 2007 - The New York Sun

Principals Feud With Safety Agents - October 11, 2007 - The New York Sun

The arrest of a high school principal is triggering a dispute between principals and police-appointed security officers on the issue of who has authority over school discipline.

The principal, Mark Federman, was arrested Tuesday after protesting the treatment of one of his students. School safety agents arrested the student after she resisted an attempt to prevent her from entering her school before the official start time, allegedly punching an agent.

Mr. Federman interfered, in an attempt to prevent the student from being made a spectacle of, the president of the city principals' union, Ernest Logan, said yesterday. The school safety agents were about to escort her through the front door in front of a crowd of students. After a scuffle, Mr. Federman and the two safety agents were treated for minor injuries at a hospital.

The executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Donna Lieberman, defended Mr. Federman, saying he was "trying to protect a student," and Mr. Logan said the incident echoed concerns of principals across the city who are clashing with safety agents.

"These are schools; these are not prisons," Mr. Logan said. "We need to move away from the criminalization of young people in this city."

No, that's exactly what they are. They are preperation for the prison that the world is becoming. Might as well get used to it now.