Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You recommend suspension.
You realize the severe downside of his expulsion. Students will protest it. The offender's parents will fight it. His talent will go unrealized at the college football level and school spirit will wane as his team nosedives out of the season.
In light of these serious consequences, you re-evaluate the three-strikes policy and decide it's just a little too strict. You think it's perhaps better to punish offenders on a case-by-case basis, deciding what's best for the student, rather than nailing him to arbitrary laws. In this case, you recommend the boy be suspended for two weeks and forced to attend anger management classes.
The football team wins the championship and the offender goes on to great success at the state university. But meanwhile, the effects of abolishing the three-strikes rule soon become evident at home.
With no deterrent beyond suspension, students in your district begin fighting regularly. Within a year, the school has lost its original peaceful charm and property values are close behind.
"It's a very political job," says Schneider. "You're basically a politician who works for a school board. You just have to hope you can convince the board to make decisions in the best interest of children. You can do that as long as you have those interests at heart."