An Inclusive Litany

2/12/96

In a Virginia school, a gang of five students assaulted a lone teenager in a hallway, one of the attackers using a meat hook. Three of the gang were kicked out of school, but not the other two, who were in special education.

At another Virginia school, six students showed up with a loaded .357 Magnum. Five were suspended, but the sixth, who had a "writing disability," was able to stay in school.

In New Hampshire, a 17-year-old pushed a fellow student up against the wall outside the school cafeteria, pressed a starter pistol into the boy's stomach, and said, "I'm going to kill you." The 17-year-old later told the principal that he was "just playing around." The principal did not expel him "because he was in special education."