Can school districts tolerate “zero tolerance” policies?

Can school districts tolerate “zero tolerance” policies? (Via BoardBuzz: NSBA’s Daily Weblog.) I’m glad to see the tide turning on this particular trend:

A new resolution from the American Psychological Association released yesterday says that zero tolerance policies are backfiring and “are not as successful as thought in creating safer environments to learn. These policies, which mandate that schools severely punish disruptive students regardless of the infraction or its rationale, can actually increase bad behavior and also lead to higher drop out rates.”

By the way, if you’re not reading the BoardBuzz, it’s the National School Boards Association blog… a good information source to keep an eye on.