30 days of Raps about Principal Mark Cerutti

Thanksgiving Break

"30 Days of Raps" will be observing Thanksgiving break. See you after the holiday weekend!

Day 10: Rap Criminal

Rap criminal
without committin' a crime
If you're gonna diss The Man
Then be prepared to some time
Out of school
For breaking the unwritten rule:

"Don't criticize your elders
Even when they act the fool"

I say, break it
If there's a punishment
Then take it
It's OK to find
your discontent
And awake it

And bring it out
Into the form of a song
And hand it out to your friends
To sing along

There's nothing wrong
With a little verbal fit
We all have anger
It's what you do with it
that really matters
And writing it down is fine
Given a choice, I'd rather
see it line by line

Than blow by blow
Or even shot by shot

I think we can agree on that
Maybe not

Zero Patience for Zero Tolerance

Zero Patience for Zero Tolerance
Link to original

Tuesday, November 25, 2003 By Wendy McElroy

News shows recently showed video of 14 police officers charging a crowded high-school corridor with guns drawn in a drug sweep. Students at Stratford Creek High School in Goose Creek, S.C., were forced onto their knees or against walls, while dogs sniffed their backpacks for drugs.

None were found. Although the incident was extreme, it was not an aberration but the logical consequences of "zero tolerance" policies, defended by both the school and the police. Zero tolerance must be abandoned, especially in connection with children.

Zero-tolerance policies have resulted in some children being placed in the criminal justice system. Two examples currently in the news: A Missouri judge ruled that a 6-year-old boy suspected of killing his grandfather could be charged as an adult; a New Jersey prosecutor's office has charged a 7-year-old boy with molesting a 5-year-old girl in an incident that the defense attorney describes as "playing doctor."

For most children, zero tolerance is experienced in schools with administrative rules that purportedly enforce safety and discipline. Arguably, the administrative rules are actually a reaction to federal threats to cut funds. For example, in 1994 Congress passed the Gun-Free School Act by which states had to implement zero tolerance on weapons or lose federal money. Many schools rigorously interpreted zero tolerance to include the prohibition of anything even looking like a weapon. They adopted broad definitions of dangerous behavior, which allowed for no exceptions.

Soon the media spilled over with stories of young children being suspended or treated like felons for playing with water pistols, paper guns or even for pointing their fingers at each other and saying "bang."

The punishment for possessing an obvious toy became the same as for possessing a real weapon because zero tolerance means zero distinctions. Zero tolerance takes discretion and evaluation away from educators and mandates responses that can be wildly inappropriate. Behavior that used to be corrected by detention or a trip to the principal's office now receives suspension, expulsion or even police involvement. What used to be the last resort has become the first and only option.

In Madison, Wis., Chris Schmidt, a sixth-grader with a spotless record, faced a year's suspension because he brought a kitchen knife to school for a science project. Asked about the case, Valencia Douglas, an assistant superintendent of schools in Madison, said, "We can't say, 'You're a good kid, so your mistake doesn't have as much force, or importance behind it.'"

And so, an 11-year-old is taken away in handcuffs for drawing a picture of a gun; an 8-year-old faces expulsion for a keychain that contained a cheap nail clipper; a fifth-grader is suspended for drawing the World Trade Center being hit by an airplane ... The stories go on and on.

The quantity of these incidents illustrates that the vicious consequences of zero tolerance are not isolated events. They are embedded into one of the most important institutions of society: the educational system. When the school principal in Goose Creek justified police pointing guns at innocent students, he did so by saying he would use "any means" to keep his school "clean."

A backlash is developing among students who are reportedly saying the same thing nationwide. Many schools now resemble prisons with hidden security cameras, metal detectors, guards, random searches, drug-sniffing dogs, and searches without warrants. 

Zero tolerance is commonly justified on the grounds of children's safety. But, in studying "unsafe" schools that had enforced zero-tolerance policies for four years, the National Center for Education Statistics found little change (Skiba & Peterson, 1999).

In commenting on the study in the journal "National Association of Elementary School Principals," Roger W. Ashford wrote, "The study concludes, however, that even though there is little data to prove the effectiveness of zero-tolerance policies, such initiatives serve to reassure the public that something is being done to ensure safety. Therefore, the popularity of zero-tolerance policies may have less to do with their actual effect than the image they portray of schools taking harsh measures to prevent violence. Whether the message actually changes student behavior may be less important than the reassurance it provides to administrators, teachers and parents."

Everyone recognizes that zero-tolerance policies were developed in response to legitimate concerns, such as those raised by the high-school shootings at Columbine. But, increasingly, people are also recognizing that zero tolerance creates as many -- and perhaps more -- problems than the original difficulties they were meant to solve.

Alternatives are being suggested. For example, Richard L. Curwin and Allen N. Mendler have co-authored a book entitled "As Tough as Necessary: Countering Aggression, Violence, and Hostility in Schools" (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1999). They advocate a wide range of responses to school violence, which depend upon an evaluation of the circumstances surrounding each incident. The responses include "counseling, restitution, behavioral planning, behavior rehearsal, suspension with training or educational experience, and police referral."

Another alternative is homeschooling.

There is little evidence that zero tolerance produces safety. Instead, it strips away the safeguards of a peaceful society: compassion, due process, good will, presumption of innocence, tolerance, discretion, humor ... It victimizes the most vulnerable citizens: children.

Wendy McElroy is the editor of ifeminists.com and a research fellow for The Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif. She is the author and editor of many books and articles, including the new book, "Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the 21st Century" (Ivan R. Dee/Independent Institute, 2002). She lives with her husband in Canada.

Respond to the Writer

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

Day 9: Suspension

Some people stop to mention,

"It's not like it's the death penalty --
it was just a suspension."

But there's a crucial point
They musta not understood--
What the kid did
was arguably good

Peaceful expression
And trying to be understood

And for that effort
He got dissed
He's not a violent kid
Maybe that's the point you missed

It's creative, as the school admitted,
"Musical expression"
And not a real threat
I hope we learn the lesson

But it doesn't look good
With the Ceruttis of the world
ruling the 'hood

(No suspensions this week!
Knock on wood)

And no calls to the cops
Must be a miracle
Zero tolerance
Has made us hysterical
As a nation
It's fear domination
And it's frankly insane
Fear and the media
Messin' with our brain

To think a song is a threat
When there's a lack of intention...
Or that a CD exchange deserves suspension...

Defies easy comprehension

TONIGHT: Board of Education Meeting

Tonight's Board of Education meeting provides an opportunity to voice your feelings about the climate at Brookfield Central in a public forum.

Tuesday, November 25
7:00 p.m.
Central Administrative Offices Board Room
13780 Hope Street, Brookfield

Day 8: The Lesson

You're a free kid
In a free country
And you can become
What you wanna be

But just don't try it out
When you're on school grounds
Because at school that's out of bounds

And your ambition
generates suspicion
(And they'll prolly suggest
You have a mental condition)

So you have to wait
For a little while
Before you start expressing
your own style

In oh-three, enthusiasm
triggers a punishment spasm

And if you try expression
You might be taught a lesson:

Point missed,
Class dismissed.

Download Sashwat's Banned Rap Album

You can download the rap album that got Sashwat suspended for 5 days (and threatened with expulsion).

Click here to download Sashizzle: Minus The -izzle* (29 Mb .ZIP file).

Or just click the album cover here:

I wouldn't recommend bringing it into school, unless you have a passionate lawyer on your side.

If you'd rather just download the song that was cited as the reason for the suspension, click here to download "Mista Cer-fruity (A Song for our Principal)".

Day 7: Zero Tolerance, Pt. 2

Zero tolerance
Equals
Zero making sense
Equals
Zero evidence
That a crime
Has occurred
Have you heard?

About the lemon drop
And the plastic knife
And the drawings of the soldiers?
First-aid kit blade
finger guns
water guns
paper guns
Pringle can rocket
and a
Rubber band & finger?
All suspension bringers

9 suspensions
Of common sense
9 examples of
"Zero tolerance"

At their worst, the kind of zero tolerance policies opposed by the American Bar Association send a chilling message to children, said Dasbach.

"These policies teach children that justice is inflexible, and doesn’t care about circumstances, or fairness, or good sense," he said. "And they teach children that they have no rights -- that they are criminals if they play innocent childhood games, say the wrong thing, or share a lemon drop candy with a friend."

Quote from Lemon drop drugs and paper guns: Zero-tolerance laws get bizarre

See also:

Students punished for snorting Kool-Aid; have 'zero tolerance' rules gone insane?

Ohio School Suspends 1st-Grader For Having Plastic Knife

'Patriotic' Stick Figure Drawing Troubles School

Ohio School Suspends 1st-Grader For Having Plastic Knife

Banned in School: Zero Tolerance Paranoia

Zero-tolerance vs. common sense

OUR HORRIBLE CHILDREN | Zero Tolerance Idiocy In Schools

Day 6: Zero Tolerance, Pt. 1

Zero tolerance
Equals
Zero making sense
Equals
Zero evidence
Of a crime
Taking place

Day 5: Short and Sweet

Here's a rap
About the Cerutti trap

He shafted a kid
For what he did

Wha'd he do?
He made a song or two
Or fourteen
And some were kinda mean

Specifically
One was all about
The principal
And how he wanted him out
About the rules
He's layin' down in school
And his itchy finger
He's a po-lice bringer

For any thing
Any little thing
The po-lice
Mr. Cerutti would bring

That's why the kid
Did what he did
And wrote the song
That got him done wrong

"Mista Cer-fruity" Mp3 audio file

Click here to download the song that inspired all the hubbub -- "Mista Cer-fruity (A Song for our Principal)". Be warned -- it's as filled with swears and homophobic comments as the lyrics make it appear to be.

Day 4: Pep Rally (Student Mix)

We wanna gather
Let's go beg for permission
A student rally
Is looked at with suspicion

The principal
Sees us as a threat
Even though he ain't seen nothin' yet

Here's the story--
We gathered in the gym
To have some fun
and raise enthusiasm

He made it hard
And before the rally had ended
Two volleyball players
Had been suspended

Suspended from the school
and from the team and homecoming
Cerutti wanted to show
the pain he could bring

To anyone
Who challenged his might
Essentially,
He's looking for a fight

And he'll get one
But there's no need to smack
We just turn our backs
When it's his turn to speak
That really burns him up
It reddens his cheek

He wants our respect
But that goes both ways
If he talked to us, not at us
Maybe we'd hear what he says

NY Times: In Schools, Bad Behavior Is Shown the Door

This New York Times article about discipline in the Connecticut school system looks into how the number of suspensions in that state have risen radically over the past few years -- nearly doubling over the course of the two years following the Columbine school shootings.

Perhaps Connecticut is the exception, not the rule. Or perhaps not. The first paragraph below certainly sounds to me like it could be describing the nation, rather than just one state.

In Schools, Bad Behavior Is Shown the Door
(Link to original)
By JANE GORDON

Published: November 16, 2003

In the state's school systems, zero tolerance has become more than a catch phrase, more than just a stern warning that misbehaving students had better shape up. It is the way schools now do business, an almost unyielding policy that has been living up to its name.

As a result, students are being kicked out of schools like never before. The number of suspensions jumped about 90 percent from 1998-1999 to 2000-2001. In the 2000-2001 school year, 90,559 children were suspended from school around the state, up from 57,626 two years earlier. The State Department of Education did not provide statistics for earlier years, but education experts said the numbers have never been higher.

Even kindergarteners haven't been spared. For that grade alone, the rate of suspensions/expulsions almost doubled over a two-year period, to 901 for the 2002-2003 school year, from 463 in 2001-2002, according to figures provided by Jeanne Milstein, the state's child advocate. She said they were suspended and expelled for such things as fighting, defiance, and temper tantrums. "I would have been suspended from kindergarten," she said.

Some researchers, child advocacy groups and parents blame the increase on the fallout from the zero-tolerance policies that swept the country during the Reagan-Bush years and became entrenched after the Columbine shootings in 1999. The evolution of the policies mirrors the climb in suspension and expulsion numbers in Connecticut's public schools, as administrations coping with less money and fewer services pull problematic students out of the classroom, then out of the school. In Newington, for example, the high school began a policy about five years ago to not only automatically suspend students caught fighting at the high school, but also have them arrested and charged with breach of peace.

Some administrators said they weren't thrilled with the zero-tolerance trend, but said it is sometimes a struggle for teachers to keep control of their classrooms.

"I think it's a horrific practice except in extreme cases when we remove the child from harming himself or harming his classmates," said Dr. Doris Kurtz, the superintendent of schools in New Britain. "But education comes under attack when you do, and when you don't. Many schools don't have the means to deal with these kids. The principal can't sit there and babysit children all day, there are no in-school suspension rooms and someone to watch over them, there is a severe lack of resources. So they suspend them, because sometimes it's the only avenue.

"The other kids have rights, and parents want to see their children being educated," she said. "Some children come with problems and issues so severe, even at very young ages, they disrupt the whole school setting."

And it's not just urban schools that are struggling with discipline. New Fairfield schools have had more expulsions in the first couple of months of this school year than in any of the five full years that Dr. Kathleen Matusiak has been superintendent.

"A lot of the issues have to do with bringing weapons - box cutters, knives - to school, not necessarily with an intention to hurt," Dr. Matusiak said. "Some have involved alcohol and drugs, poor judgment. We have clearly articulated conduct codes that don't tolerate those things in our schools. Our schools are for teaching and learning."

Zero tolerance first appeared as the name of a 1986 program that impounded boats carrying drugs. In 1994, the Gun-Free Schools Act became law and called for a student to be expelled for one full year for carrying a firearm to school. Schools broadened the policy, using the same severe disciplinary measures for varying degrees of behavior.

"A lot of this has to do with kids who are very undisciplined, especially at the urban schools, where the children haven't received discipline at home," said Susan Patrick of the Governor's Prevention Partnership, a nonprofit anti-drug-abuse organization. "It's very complicated and messy. I'm in agreement with zero tolerance for keeping dangerous weapons out of school, but the extension of it, to broadly address disruptive behaviors, I don't agree with that at all."

The organization convened a task force to look at the issue, documenting that increased rates of suspension and expulsion contributed to increased risks of a student dropping out of school.

"On the other hand, educators have indicated that they are experiencing increasing frequency and severity of disruptive behaviors among students," the report said. "The task force believes the emerging pattern in Connecticut public schools increasing use of suspension and expulsion as mainstays of our disciplinary response to behavior problems should be reversed."

They also trained 500 student assistants to move into the schools to identify disciplinary problems and work with families to devise a plan for support. Ms. Patrick said the task force found that about 10 to 20 percent of students in the public schools required mental health services. The other 80 to 90 percent, she said, had other needs, including improved parent education and better teaching training.

The dismissal of very young children from the classroom, for example, surprised many people. They said that questionable behavior in a 5-year-old can be interpreted quite differently than that in a 16-year-old.

"It's inexcusable to expel a kindergarten child," said Shelley Geballe, co-president of Connecticut Voices for Children, a statewide advocacy group. "The goal of a kindergarten program should be to provide the skills of not only academics but behavior. Zero tolerance that results in pushing out kids is wrongheaded, and I get concerned particularly now that we have a reduction in access to mental-health services, we have teachers who may not be well-trained in understanding the emotional and developmental needs of young kids, and you have the No Child Left Behind pressures that provide further incentive to push kids out to get those standardized test scores up."

A mother with a boy in the Hartford school system said her son, who is now 10, has been suspended repeatedly over the years for aggressive behavior. He is now being tutored for two hours a day outside the classroom.

"I've tried to explain to the principal that suspending my son is not going to better him in any way," the mother, who asked that her name not be used, said. "He needs to be sitting in a structured classroom, he needs teachers who understand children and know how to maneuver around them. To suspend little kids, it's ridiculous. At 10 years old, these are the most important years of school. If you don't get it then, you're not going to get it."

Steve Edwards became principal of East Hartford High School in 1992, after the school's administrators had embraced zero tolerance and suspension numbers were high.

A student brought a gun to school soon after Mr. Edwards arrived, and he was promptly expelled. Not long after, another student was found with a small pocket knife in his pocket. "He never brandished it," Mr. Edwards said. "I don't know how we even discovered it was there."

The Board of Education expelled him, too. Mr. Edwards disagreed with the second punishment, deeming it too extreme for the offense.

"The young man who had the gun had extensive history, the other kid had a couple of detentions. But they both received the same punishment," said Mr. Edwards, who left the high school last year to become vice president of the National Crime Prevention Council. "There was no flexibility, no taking into account the history of the child. So we took a different approach after that."

The approach changed so drastically that in the final eight years of Mr. Edwards' 10-year tenure at the school, not one child was expelled from East Hartford High School, he said. Counseling, a vocation component or volunteer work in the community, and a continuance of the education of the child, somewhere in the school if not in the classroom, contributed to the decrease, he said.

In Bridgeport, a city whose suspensions and expulsion rate climbed to 7,271 in the 2000-2001 school year from 6,606 the year before, a philosophical change has taken place. The city's superintendent, Sonia Diaz-Salcedo, who left the New York City school system four years ago to run Bridgeport's schools, said she was determined to bring the numbers down. The past two years she has done so. Two years ago, the number decreased to a little more than 6,500. Last year, it dropped to 6,286.

"Teachers were using suspensions and expulsions a lot," Ms. Diaz-Salcedo said. "We talked to our staff about student discipline, we've done a lot of professional development. Over all, we've tried to instill a very different message about students and the culture in schools. We are promoting a culture of caring."

Efforts to bring down expulsion and suspension rates can backfire. Hartford teachers protested when three middle-school students were suspended for five days last year for assaulting a substitute teacher. Teachers accused the administration of trying to improve the struggling system's public face without making significant changes and met with the police to try to force the school system to report violence to the police.

The State Department of Education numbers document a wildly fluctuating record for Hartford, with 226 expulsions and 1,076 suspensions in 1999-2001, and a decrease of expulsions, to 43, the next year, according to education department figures. But suspensions jumped to 9,248.

The state determined in a report this year that there were no "persistently dangerous schools" operating in Connecticut, but talk to Hartford teachers. They disagreed.

"We've had so many staff injured," said Tim Murphy, president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers. "We have seen a tremendous effort to reduce the numbers of suspensions and dropouts, but at what expense? We're facing a very hostile environment, and we are very exposed here."

Hartford schools have long been the Achilles heel of the state educational system, and little has worked to change them. Gangs in the schools, stories of parents assaulting teachers, including a case of a parent who struck a school principal two years ago, has contributed to a sense of futility in certain city schools.

"Every instance of bullying is supposed to be reported," Mr. Murphy said. "It's widespread, invasive in this school system. But the Hartford schools are telling us there were only three cases of bullying in the whole system last year. Are you kidding me?" He laughed bitterly. "There is a kind of belief that you have to tolerate a lesser standard of behavior now, for inner-city kids especially. We object to that strenuously."

Sandy Cruz-Serrano, senior advisor to the Hartford superintendent of schools, said she is aware of the union's complaints.

"In reviewing our discipline code, we are addressing the issue of accurate reporting," she said. "The Hartford Federation of Teachers continues to partner with us on this revision. "States vary in their definition of expulsion and suspension. In Connecticut, expulsions can range from 11 to 180 days and must be approved by the local board of education. Suspensions are handed out by the school administration, to a maximum of 10 days. Once a child is removed from school, the district is bound by law to provide a minimum of 10 hours a week of instruction. Doctors at Hartford Hospital said they are seeing higher numbers of students brought into the emergency room, as administrators at a loss for what to do with belligerent students call police to bring the students to the hospital for psychiatric evaluations. New Britain High School said it seeks the evaluations to determine the cause of the behavior, instead of simply punishing students for it.

"An increasing number of kids from any number of towns, and various schools, are ending up in the E.R. because they've had a fight," said Dr. Lisa Karabelnik, a child psychiatrist at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford. Dr. Karabelnik said she had seen about 50 students for psychiatric evaluations in the emergency room since school began this year, almost one child per day. The hospital prefers that schools contact the Wheeler Clinic in Plainville, which operates an emergency mobile psychiatric service for children.

"Unfortunately," she said, "most of the schools dealing with these children don't have the resources now to work with them successfully."

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

Day 3: Pep Rally (Cerutti Mix)

[Note: This song is based in part on this episode, and events related to it.]

(Chorus)
Pep rally ("Noooo!")
Pep rally ("Noooo!")
Pep rally ("Noooo!")
Here comes a pep rally

Pep rally ("Noooo!")
Pep rally ("Noooo!")
Run for your life
Here comes a pep rally

There's gonna be
A pep rally today
And I'm nervous about
What the kids might say
I'd rather not have
All those kids together
'Cuz a group of teens
Equals stormy weather

Because the principal is me
And I really like order
Look close and you'll see
I'm an order hoarder

(Chorus)

I'm not crazy about kids
Especially if they're yappin'
That sort of thing makes me
itch to be slappin'
Some suspensions down
on a player or two
'Cuz they practically managed
to pull off a coup

They got a better response
from the kids in the stands
Than I ever do
With my rules and demands

(Chorus)

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk
But if there's a pep rally
I'm not coming to work

Vote in Milwaukee J-S Poll on Sashwat's suspension

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a poll on their website, asking "Do you feel the suspension of Sashwat Singh was too harsh or deserved?" Go to this page and vote -- the poll is on the right side of the page. So far there have only been 7 votes, so your participation will make a big difference.

Day 2: Cerutti Calls The Cops

Cerutti calls the cops
Cerutti calls the cops
That's what Sashwat
Was trying to stop

Cerutti calls the cops
Cerutti calls the cops
Write another rap song
And you're gonna get dropped!

'Cuz he's locked and loaded
And aimed at you
Better shut your mouth
That's what you better do

No dissent allowed
Just fall in line
Mr. Cerutti thinks
That would be just fine

Cerutti calls the cops
Cerutti calls the cops
That's what Sashwat
Was trying to stop

Cerutti calls the cops
Cerutti calls the cops
Write another rap song
You're gonna get dropped!

All this rappin'
has got to stop

Write about Cerutti and
you're gonna get popped

About this Project

"30 Days of Raps about Principal Mark Cerutti" was inspired by the suspension of Brookfield (Wisconsin) Central High School honors student Sashwat Singh. Sashwat -- a member of the school band and choir, who ran for class treasurer -- was suspended for the content of an original rap CD which he made on his home computer over the course of 3 months. Nominally, the suspension was due to a song on that CD which was about the school's principal -- specifically, these lines:

...SACK muthaf**ka leave this f**kin' town
If you don't then I'll f**kin' beat your ass down!

(click here for the full uncensored lyrics)

Did those lyrics amount to an actual threat against the principal? No. As explained in this site's first rap, a "beat down" in a rap song is a common literary device -- a metaphor. Furthermore, rap songs, like all other fictional media, are told through a narrative voice -- a character in the fictional piece, distinct from the author. This is seen, for example, in how writers create movies where buildings blow up and people die, without the writers themselves wanting those things to actually happen. As I state in my first opinion article about the suspension, there are countless examples of threatening lyrics in songs that were never considered to be real life threats. Indeed, area newspaper columnist Laurel Walker said of the song, "It's hardly threatening". And in the "Fact Finding for Expulsion" document prepared by the district's superintendent, nowhere is it said that Sashwat threatened his principal. Not even the school claims it was a real life threat.

Instead, what Superintendent Matt Gibson said in his review -- 3 times -- was that Sashwat's CD "may have been more intended by Sashwat as musical expression than any contemplated action to threaten [Principal Cerutti, and others named in the CD]'s safety". Another statement of his indicates a view that's clearer than that -- he says (according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) that he did not "find the desire in the student to actually act on those lyrics." A threat, however is "a declaration of intention to harm, injure, etc." (From Webster's New School & Office Dictionary, emphasis mine.) The superintendent's own words show that he did not think there was an actual threat made.

The settlement agreement requires Sashwat to see a school counselor or psychologist in the week following his return to school, "regarding his feelings that prompted him to compose the track of the CD that regarded Principal Cerutti." More than anything, that bares the truth of what Sashwat was punished for: having certain thoughts and feelings, and expressing them into a song -- not for threatening the principal. It's important that that point is understood, because it makes all the difference.

Threatening the principal is an act which is deserving of punishment -- expressing one's feelings about the principal through a creative medium is not. Setting the record straight in that respect -- and clearing up other points of confusion surrounding this case -- is the first reason this focus area was created.

It's important that people understand what really happened, and that it was wrong, and why. Over the course of the next 30 days, those points will be explained and clarified in as much detail as possible, in plain prose as well as in rap form.

Secondly, there is another issue which has been shoved to the side during the controversy regarding Sashwat's CD, and the other aim of "30 Days of Raps about Principal Mark Cerutti" is to bring that issue into the light, and keep it on the light until it has been resolved. The issue is the heavy-handed way in which Principal Cerutti runs the school, according to many accounts. Reports seem to show that he has unduly restricted the students in their planning of activities and events, that he has fostered an atmosphere of discontent among the students, and that he has been overly harsh in his punishments. (He even suspended a kid for writing a rap song about him, believe it or not! ;-))

The rap song Sashwat was suspended for was primarily intended as an expression of discontent with the principal's methods and conduct. It was, in other words, a protest song -- an echo of a sentiment which has gained prominence in the school, only two months into Mr. Cerutti's reign at BCHS.

In that light, we can see Sashwat's supension for what it really was: the heavy-handed reaction of an unpopular person of authority, and an attempt to silence a voice of dissent. And in that light, it becomes all the more clear that it should be opposed -- and that this person of authority, and the dissent he hoped to stifle, should be examined more closely. And that is job number two of "30 Days of Raps about Principal Mark Cerutti": examining the means and methods of Principal Cerutti, and providing a forum for airing the dissent that he wishes to stifle.

Lastly, it is the view of the author that the precedent that was set by the disciplinary settlement of the Sashwat Singh Rap CD case was a bad precedent, and should be reversed. It is my hope that said precedent will indeed be reversed, either through a change in the official position on that case, or through a new, similar case which has a different disciplinary result.

I believe that it is reasonable and sensible for school administrators to investigate things that they feel might be a (physical) threat or danger to the school, its staff, or the student body, and that if a threat or danger is found, then it is appropriate to take the disciplinary measures necessary to eliminate the threat and discourage its potential for recurrence. However, if the investigation reveals that no actual threat or danger exists, it is simply wrong to wield a punishment as if it did exist.

The only possible offense that merited punishment in Sashwat's case was for distributing prohibited materials -- in this case, a plastic disc with music on it. If it's against the rules to possess or transfer compact discs, then he should have been punished for that (although that rule shouldn't exist, but that's another issue). And if the policy of Brookfield Central is to give kids 5 days of suspension for the possession and transfer of compact discs, I should think that would be a matter of deep concern to a great many parents.

Whatever policy (or improvised vengeance) was behind Sashwat's suspension, it needs to be repaired, and here at "30 Days of Raps about Principal Mark Cerutti", we aim to help the community of Brookfield bring about that repair.

Day 1: The Principal Cerutti Beat Down Rap

The Principal Cerutti Beat Down Rap

by Lance Brown

Mark Cerutti’s hair
Might be black, brown, or blond
It doesn't really matter
‘Cuz he's got a magic wand

And with a wave he can make
Any problem go away
Like for example, if a CD
Had uncomfortable things to say

About Cerutti himself
And his authoritarian rule
He’ll just call 9-1-1 and have the cops
Straighten out the school

Rumor is, the rap just reflected
Most of the student body's desirin’
Sashwat Singh's not the only one
Who’s wished for the principal's firin’

(Not by fire, Mark - don't worry
It's sort of a metaphor.
All it means is you'd be shown
The proverbial door.)

In rap, a “beat down”
Is a metaphor, too--
Not a promise of physical attack

And to see it for other
Than what it really was
Takes eyes that are totally wack.

To make a student feel bad
For expression via song
It takes a village to do that
And it's utterly wrong

Utterly means entirely
Which means without exception
Those who support this punishment
Are flawed in their conception

Of right and wrong
And of wrong and right--
And it’s too bad Singh’s lawyer
Gave up without a fight

Hey kids! Bad news –
Freedom of speech may have to wait
Until you graduate from school
Let’s hope it’s not too late.

Cerutti? That man's fruity
And I don't mean that he's gay
I mean he's nuts
If he thinks he can control
What all the students say—

Or rap, as the case may be
Whether on school grounds or off
As Colonel Klink would say to Shultz
"Don't be a dumkopf!"

That's an old-school reference
To a Bob Crane show
I laid it down to show
That I'm old enough to know
What's up and what's not
And what's right and what's wrong--

And what's wrong
Is suspending a kid
For writing a song

Cerutti, Singh was right
You should be run out of town
My advice? Do it before
The next metaphorical beat down.

Teens: submit comments to the Journal-Sentinel

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel solicited comments on Sashwat's suspension, but in the end they only published three comments -- and none of them were from Brookfield Central students! Below is their invitation to submit comments. Let them know what you think about Principal Cerutti, and that they should publish the opinions of BCHS students!

Know a teen who has opinions on Singh's case and whether suspension or expulsion is enough, not enough or too much? Have him or her send comments to jsjump@journalsentinel.com, or call (414) 224-2364.

Each response should include the student's name, age/grade level and the name of the school.

Brookfield Students Speak Out

Want to speak out? Post a comment here, or send an e-mail! (Comments will be used anonymously unless you specify otherwise, and may be corrected for spelling or typos.)

Quotes from current students at Brookfield Central High School:

----------

As a student at BCHS I know how Sashwat feels about Mr. Cerutti, and I know there are many others who feel the same way. I find it outrageous that the administration is making such a big deal out of this when there are other more important issues going on at our school. There are kids smoking, drinking, and doing drugs and they're worried about what one person is saying. I don't know about you, but I was always told talk about how I feel and to tell the truth. If I can do this, then why can't Sashwat. I think the School District of Elmbrook needs to reevaluate this situation and think about what really matters.

----------

I'm a freshman at Brookfield Central and most of us at this school are very mad at what the administration is doing. Our school is very musically inclined and we know what is right and what is wrong. Freedom of Speech is not taken seriosuly anymore. In our district it is so common that things like this happen. The district doesn't realize that no one except for the district agrees with the way they handle situations. Every single day a police car carries at least 1 kid from our school. We aren't bad kids but Mr.Cerutti decides that he can't handle it and needs police involvment. That causes way too much controversy. What can I do to take action?

----------

...I am a student(senior) at BCHS and beyond disgusted with the way Cerutti has decided to run our school this year. The man lies directly to our faces and expects us to eat up his propaganda. ...I am also a soccer player who by the end our season had more than half of our fans removed for reasons anyone would deem ridiculous. Well any information you need help with I'm on board...

----------

...I would really like to help out. I dont want my Senior year (next year) ruined because of Cerutti. Just tell me what u need to be done.

----------

From this article:

Students said that the assembly was not out of the ordinary and that it could be a case of students reacting to Cerutti's tougher style.

"Because Cerutti has been more strict than usual with the Homecoming events. People were a little more resistant to what he was doing, like the seniors standing up and turning around, that's not (what normally goes on)," junior Michelle Hoelker said.

----------

I hope Cerutti won't be able to take this shit anymore and switches schools, leaving your class with a better principal for your senior year. I'm sick of all of these new policies and rules. Just let us be kids.

Check back for more comments from Brookfield students, and post your own!

Submit a Rap or Poem

Have a rap or poem about Principal Mark Cerutti, or the goings-on at Brookfield Central, or zero tolerance policies, or school violence, or police in school, or any other related topic? Post it here in our comments section! Selected poems and raps will be featured as unique entries on this site.

Currently, we're only set up to take text lyrics, but check back soon if you've got a recorded rap or poem you'd like to submit.

Is anyone in Brookfield interested in hosting a recording session at their home computer? If you have digital recording equipment, you could perform a public service by hosting a recording jam for those who want to lay down some rhymes about Mr. Cerutti. Then we can upload them here so everyone can hear them!

Just keep it off of school grounds kids -- or you know what could happen!

Suspension of student was too harsh, some say

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's "Jump" teen section:

Suspension of student was too harsh, some say
(link to original)

Last Updated: Nov. 16, 2003

We asked for your thoughts on the suspension of Brookfield Central High School student Sashwat Singh, 15, for making a rap CD at home that allegedly threatened his school's principal. Here's an edited sampling of what a few of you had to say:


Kelly MacAvaney, 16, junior, Greenfield High School: "I think that suspension in Singh's case was too much - especially since he did not distribute his CDs around school. The so-called threats in the track which insulted the principal seem simply reflective of the genre style during this time. Therefore, his CD was obviously created in the name of art - an often-debated topic, of course, but nonetheless quite an appropriate label in this case. True, guidelines need to be established in order to protect students and teachers from potential Dylan Klebolds and Eric Harrises (the killers in the 1999 Columbine High School shootings), but in Singh's case, this CD is not the creation of a gloating terrorist but an aspiring artist. (Completely off topic: I found it amusing that Sashwat's principal seemed threatened by getting his (expletive) beat down.)"

Cat McMurtry, 16, junior, Shorewood High School: "I think Principal Cerutti was just a little bit overzealous in his punishment of Singh. A five-day suspension from school seems just a bit harsh for allegations of "gross disobedience" and "misconduct" that the superintendent callously brushes away. I can definitely understand the position Singh takes, in that one should be able to record what one desires without persecution. He didn't take any physical actions against the principal, and this seems to be the first notable encounter Singh has had with the administration. However, I don't think the suspension was entirely undeserved. Had it been me as principal, I would have done the same thing, but perhaps to a lesser degree. I don't think we can blame Cerutti for being concerned about a CD circulating within his school, talking about 'beating his (expletive) down.'"

Nicholas Young, 15, Professional Learning Institute: "I think he shouldn't get kicked out of school because of what he expresses about the principal. I myself write raps about my teacher. They need to understand that this is the way we express our emotions about them. Also, I think that the teacher or principal shouldn't take it seriously. For example, Eminem writes about killing Kim (his former wife), but Eminem just did it to show his expression about the whole drama that was between them, about her cutting her wrists and then their divorce."

From the Nov. 17, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

FOXNews Commentary: School Principals Gone Wild

FOXNews.com - Views - JoanneJacobs.com - School Principals Gone Wild

This commentary about out-of-control school administrators features the following excerpt about Principal Cerutti:

But since Columbine, school officials see no limits to their right to police student speech and behavior.

In Brookfield, Wisc., a 15-year-old honor student was suspended for rapping -- on a CD he made at home -- about beating down the principal's ass. The vulgar boast was taken as a violent threat, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Over the course of three months, Sashwat Singh wrote and recorded a 32-minute, 14-track rap compact disc featuring rants that made reference to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts. He denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school. One track is a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer.

I'd love to know more about the class treasurer rap. And he dissed his mom? That Eminem fellow has a lot to answer for.

School administrators called the disc, which includes a song about the principal, Mark Cerutti, and conditions at the school, "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.

. . . The vulgar lyrics suggest that if Cerutti doesn't get out of Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down." Singh, a Brookfield Central junior, also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.

In his home on his own time, Singh rhymed rudely about the principal; he gave or sold the disc to a few classmates. The boy's lawyer now says he was expressing his opinion that his school is run like a "police state." No kidding.

Read the full story below:

School Principals Gone Wild

Friday, November 14, 2003
By Joanne Jacobs

Guns drawn, police officers raided the crack house, forcing criminals to the floor, handcuffing those slow to obey, searching them and using dogs to sniff out drugs.

Oh, but it wasn’t a crack house. It was Stratford High School in Goose Creek, S.C.. There were no criminals. Just kids who’d made it to school by 6:45 a.m. Police found no drugs, no weapons.

The principal of Goose Step High, as Michael Graham calls it, said students were seen on surveillance cameras acting suspiciously. If suspects were on videotape, why not get warrants to arrest them, rather than treating every student as guilty until proven innocent?

The Charleston Post & Courier (requires registration) reports on the raid:

Shortly after Sam (Ody) sat down in the cafeteria, a coach came up and told the students at his table to put their hands on the table. When the students asked why, they were told it was the principal's orders.

Then a police officer came over and bound Sam's hands behind his back with yellow restraints, took him into the hallway and told him to face the wall as a dog smelled his bag. He watched as his binders and folders were dumped out on the floor.

Then the principal, George McCrackin, patted him down, checked his shoes and took out his wallet, asking him where he got the approximately $100 he was carrying, Sam said. The student said he told McCrackin he had just gotten paid at his job at KFC.

"The people I hang out with are not drug dealers," Sam said. "We play basketball. We have nice clothes because we have jobs."
The school is 80 percent white. But 70 percent of students searched are black, like Sam Ody. It's going to be lawsuit time in Goose Creek.

Courtesy of BackCountry Conservative, here’s a discussion of the raid by locals, including police officers. They’re not happy either.

School vs. Bloggers

On his blog, Wesley Juhl joked about an irritating friend. "Kill Alaina!" he wrote. A month later, he was called to the dean's office at Valley High School in Clark County, Nevada. For the blog post and another making a vulgar comment about a teacher, Juhl was suspended. Then administrators realized Juhl's variance to attend Valley had expired; they forced him to transfer in his senior year to a new high school. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports:

Juhl, 18, is still wondering what authority allowed the Clark County School District to punish him. His journal was not a school assignment and was not posted using a school computer or a school message board.

"The dean told me that what I'd written wasn't school appropriate," said Juhl, who was Valley's homecoming king this year and also was president of its drama club. "He said it wasn't appropriate for a journal. I just feel like I've been violated, like they've punished me for expressing my personal opinion."

The dean didn't notify the police, suggesting the school didn't think Juhl was making a real threat.

Another Valley High blogger, Angie Scaduto, also was questioned by the dean about a blog post which began: "I almost killed everyone today."

The entry went on to explain all the things that had gone wrong that day, she said, and wasn't a threat against anyone. She also was asked about things she'd written about her mother and the fact that she'd said she'd taken cold medicine during lunch one day at school.

The only thing she did at school was take cold medicine. Apparently, Valley High has total tolerance for coughs, sneezes, sniffles and headaches.

If students are making death threats or planning to start an antihistamine ring operating out of the girls' restroom, call the cops. (Preferably not the Goose Creek commandos.) If teen-agers are rude, profane or "inappropriate" on their own time, it's none of the school's business.

But since Columbine, school officials see no limits to their right to police student speech and behavior.

In Brookfield, Wisc., a 15-year-old honor student was suspended for rapping -- on a CD he made at home -- about beating down the principal's ass. The vulgar boast was taken as a violent threat, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Over the course of three months, Sashwat Singh wrote and recorded a 32-minute, 14-track rap compact disc featuring rants that made reference to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts. He denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school. One track is a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer.

I'd love to know more about the class treasurer rap. And he dissed his mom? That Eminem fellow has a lot to answer for.

School administrators called the disc, which includes a song about the principal, Mark Cerutti, and conditions at the school, "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.

. . . The vulgar lyrics suggest that if Cerutti doesn't get out of Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down." Singh, a Brookfield Central junior, also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.

In his home on his own time, Singh rhymed rudely about the principal; he gave or sold the disc to a few classmates. The boy's lawyer now says he was expressing his opinion that his school is run like a "police state." No kidding.

A Is For Absent

Lauren Lee, 14, got an A in honors geometry at Sherwood High School in Montgomery County, Maryland. But Lee doesn’t attend Sherwood. She goes to a Catholic high school. This is taking grade inflation to new levels. From the Washington Times:

Two of the four teachers at Sherwood whose classes Lauren never attended gave her A's anyway, according to the Sept. 26 progress report school officials recently mailed home.

She didn't do as well in physics ("incomplete") or art (no credit), but it was an admirable performance for a student with 0 percent attendance.

Letters

Jim Hash, U.S. Army, Retired, of Reynolds, Ga., writes:

In regard to the class that built a trench to experience World War I, I thought your idea of knocking off a few students every day and extra credit for creative bayonet techniques was helpful. But I really think there should be mustard gas, so students could really feel what it was like to be a WWI soldier.

If the teacher was truly serious about imparting the grim realities of war to his students, I would suggest the following films be aired in class:

The Lost Battalion: WWI; Band of Brothers, episodes 3, 5, 6 & 7 (or Saving Private Ryan): WWII: We Were Soldiers: Vietnam

Joanne Jacobs writes about education and other issues at JoanneJacobs.com. She’s writing a book, Ride the Carrot Salad, about a start-up charter high school in San Jose.

Respond to the Writer

Lyrics to "Mista Cer-Fruity"

This is the song that was used as a justification for Sashwat's 5-day suspension.

WARNING -- this song contains many many swears, as well as homophobic and violent lyrics.

Mista Cer-fruity (A song for our Principal)

by Sashwat Singh

This song may get me an extra fuckin’ sale,
But then again this song could put me up in jail.
This fucker calls the cops for any-fucking-thing.
Girl I saw your belly button (Psshh Wada-Bing).

Bring in the stupid fuckin’ cops, (pause)
Arrest every single fuckin’ chop. (pause)
Find any-fuckin’ thing,
That the kids fuckin’ do,
And sweep em all out like a mop.
BITCH!

When will you learn that we don’t like you here?
We fuck free, smoke free, and drink our fuckin’ beer.
Chill out, and let us have some fun.
Don’t punish us cuz there’s a hotdog up your bun.

You come in, actin’ like a child,
You act all, mother-fuckin’ mild.
But you’ve been here for one fuckin’ month,
And half our kids are fuckin’ filed.
MOTHER-FUCKA!

That is un-cool,
You shouldn’t run our school,
When will you realize that you’re a fuckin’ tool.

Don’t try and straighten us out DICK!
Don’t call the po-po on us PRICK!
We don’t give a fuck bout what you fuckin’ say,
I said we don’t give a goddamn FRICK!
BITCH!

“Cerruti is a faggot, Cerruti is a faggot”
And it’s fuckin’ true maggot,
You’re a fruity Bob Saget.

Get the fuck outta Brookfield SLUT!
Go home and fuck your boyfriend IN THE BUTT!
Run around in search of fat dicks to suck,
But don’t do it anywhere here NUT!

SACK (mother-fucker) leave this fuckin’ town!
If you don’t then I’ll fuckin’ beat your ass down!
You think you’re some kinda mother-fuckin’ clown.
But don’t fuck with me, I’m mother-fuckin’ brown!
BITCH!

Get the fuck outta here.
Go play hide-and-go-fuck-yourself asshole.
You better back the fuck up before you get smacked the fuck up.
No one wants you anywhere near here, so go to the grocery store and get me a fuckin’ beer.
Don’t fuck with our cheers at our games.
Fuck the bodyguards at them too. That’s a shame.
You’re goin’ down in the Hall of Fame,
For the gayest principal that ever came.
Right under Feldman, Bitch.
EAT A DICK YOU FUCKIN’ PRICK.

Cover & Songlist for "Minus the izzle*"

Click here to view the cover and songlist for Sashwat's CD, "Sashizzle: Minus the -izzle*" in a pop-up window.

Charlie Sykes: Hypersensitivity & hypocrisy

Hypersensitivity & hypocrisy
(link to original)

Nov 13 2003
By Charlie Sykes

WARNING: Hide this column from your kids.

You've read about the 15-year-old Brookfield Central student who got suspended for writing an insulting rap song, but before we get all grown up and indignant, I'd like to remind you of something we used to sing on the school bus:

(To the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic")

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school,

We have tortured every teacher,

We have broken every rule.

We have bound and gagged the principal

And tossed him in the pool

The school is burning down.

Granted this was all pre-Columbine, but it was pretty graphic stuff. Especially the chorus:

Glory, glory, what's it to ya?

Teacher hit me with a ruler,

I hid behind the door with a loaded .44,

And she ain't gonna teach no more no more.

These days, if a busload of kids sang that song, they'd be surrounded by a SWAT team. Violence! Guns! Threats! Expulsions! News at 10!

Of course, we didn't actually mean any of those things we were singing about.

Nobody tied up the principal and tossed him in the pool. Nobody burned down the school. And everybody understood that.

But we were different than kids today. Right? Because when they sing songs about violent things, they might actually be planning mass killings. Or not.

Maybe, just maybe, they are just singing songs. A lot like we did.

What's different now is that a lot of grownups have a hard time telling the difference.

In Brookfield, Sashwat Singh rapped that if the principal didn't get out of town, Singh would "beat (his) ass down." That was enough to get him suspended for five days for "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense equivalent to arson, making a bomb threat or bringing a gun to school.

Police even followed him home and confiscated his computer.

Nobody, however, seems to think he poses any kind of a threat to anybody. He insists he was just making a rap CD with words that rhymed.

It was apparently nasty stuff, and he probably should be made to serve detention and write letters of apology. But his CD was hardly as nasty as the lyrics teenagers in places like Brookfield listen to hour after hour, without either comment or alarm from the adultocracy.

How many parents really have any clue what their kids are listening to? The lyrics about "bitches and hos." The obscenity-laced paeans to thug culture, cop killing, drugs and rape.

How many care? We're part of a generation that's afraid to say "no" to our kids, because we don't want to be too judgmental, too much like our own fuddy-duddy parents.

So we hide behind zero tolerance.

Here's the irony: Adults can't bring themselves to condemn the violent lyrics of rap culture, but we can come down with all of our post-Columbine bureaucratic wrath when a child tries to imitate them.

Some role models we are.

Charlie Sykes is a WTMJ radio personality, author and journalist. Contact him at sykes@620wtmj.com.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

Walker: Sashwat proves a good judge of music

Sashwat proves a good judge of music

County Lines
by Laurel Walker
E-MAIL | ARCHIVE

Sashwat Singh is smarter than the raunchy rap CD that got him in trouble at Brookfield Central High School would lead you to believe.

"A lot of rap music is garbage, including mine," he told me Monday, after learning he would be returning to school Tuesday after a five-day suspension and wouldn't face a threatened expulsion.

Well, he's got that right.

A sizable segment of society eats up these kinds of vulgar, violent, homophobic and misogynic expressions that make up much of rap. That kids today imitate it - Brookfield's Singh, 15, among them - should surprise no one.

In fairness, one of Singh's raps is amusing - a campaign song used in his successful run for class treasurer, minus the gratuitous profanity he added to the recording.

But most of the compositions on Singh's homemade, 14-track CD are garbage - shocking in both the imagery and language used.

Singh's song about his principal, Mark Cerutti, and its perceived threat, is apparently what brought the administration down on his head. It's full of graphic sexual and homophobic images as well as some variation of the f-word 40-plus times in a spread of 2 minutes and 43 seconds.

There's reason, I think, to have disciplined Singh - for blatant disrespect of authority and extreme profanity - particularly since he handed out the CD to friends at school. But it's hardly threatening, and treating it on par with gun possession and a genuine threat was overreaction.

Singh, who admits he'd never talked to the principal before writing the rap, said the song is really about discontent with the principal's overuse of police at school. The message - if that's what it is - obviously got lost in all this.

Dilip Singh understands his son's frustration and shares his concern about principals who act like "highly paid 911 operators" by calling police rather than dealing squarely with issues on their own.

"But I don't agree with the way he (Sashwat) expressed it," Dilip Singh repeated.

After his family hired an attorney who defended Sashwat's First Amendment rights, the school district superintendent ruled the suspension was sufficient discipline, provided the junior meet with a counselor upon his return to school.

Worse than the song about Cerutti, though, was Sashwat's ode describing his mother in unspeakable terms. The same mother, I presume, whom he admirably portrayed in one line of another song: "My mother told me not to swear."

Sashwat explained: "I'd gotten grounded after a dance, and I was in a really bad mood" when he immediately wrote and recorded the denigrating song on his home computer. "It's not one of the songs I'm really proud of."

Dilip Singh said he's listened only to the song about the principal and the one about his wife, but his wife has not. At least not yet. Perhaps the lesson Sashwat needs most is to sit across the table from his mother while she listens, heartbroken and mortified, to the terrible things her son sang about her.

If Singh feels any remorse, "I mainly feel bad about the song I wrote about my mom because I don't feel that way."

A junior who entered school early and now is enrolled in honors and advanced placement classes, Sashwat Singh shares on one of his raps a particularly pertinent pearl of wisdom about purchasers of his CD:

"You know what sucks? You're (expletive) paying two cents for every one (expletive) minute I put on this CD so I'm kinda wasting your time right now. . . . I'm wasting your money and (expletive)."

Exactly.

From the Nov. 12, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

Brookfield Central Makes the NY Post's "Weird But True" Column

From the New York Post's "Weird But True" feature:
(link to original)

November 10, 2003 --
A student at Brookfield Central HS in Wisconsin got suspended for making a CD in which he rapped that if Principal Mark Cerutti didn't get out of town, he would "beat your ass down."

Sashwat Sing, 15, was also charged with "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense as serious as making a bomb threat.

District won't seek to expel

District won't seek to expel
(link to original)

But Brookfield student who made explicit CD must see counselor

By REID J. EPSTEIN

repstein@journalsentinel.com

Brookfield - When Sashwat Singh returns to Brookfield Central High School today, he knows he'll be pegged with questions about the rap album that earned him a five-day suspension. He also knows he won't be able to answer most of them.

"I'm going to have to ignore most of it," he said. "Because if I make a disturbance in the school, they'll try to suspend me again for that."

An agreement Monday between the Elmbrook School District and Singh's family dictates that the district will not move to expel the 15-year-old junior, but requires him to see a school counselor to "make sure that he's not a Dylan Klebold-type kid," said Singh's Milwaukee-based attorney, Andrew Franklin.

Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris fatally shot 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999.

Franklin called Singh's reinstatement "a victory for free speech and a relatively decent compromise."

Mark Cerutti, the Brookfield Central principal, suspended Singh Oct. 29 after acquiring a copy of the student's homemade rap CD, which contains what the school said was a threat to Cerutti. On one of the disc's 14 tracks, Singh raps that if Cerutti doesn't leave Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down."

Matt Gibson, the Elmbrook School District superintendent, said Monday that he found the lyrics about Cerutti to be threatening but did not "find the desire in the student to actually act on those lyrics."

Singh also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.

Gibson declined to comment on the rest of the disc, titled "Minus The-izzle," which contains rants that reference illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts, denigrations of Singh's mother, classmates and high school, and a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer. The track about Singh's principal is the only one school officials found worthy of punishment.

Cerutti initially defined the disc as "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.

Singh said he did not intend for the disc, which he spent three months producing using equipment on his home computer, to be a threat, but that it was "just random words that rhymed."

In his official review of Singh's suspension, Gibson wrote that because Cerutti wasn't the only person mentioned in threatening language on the disc, he would not move to expel Singh.

"It doesn't mean that the principal didn't feel the comments were threatening," Gibson said.

Suspension won't be purged

Franklin said he hoped the district would expunge the suspension from Singh's record, but that getting the boy back in school was more important than fighting a legal battle. Had Singh not agreed to drop his opposition to the suspension, the district could have moved to expel him, which would have brought an additional suspension of up to 10 days.

"Do we think we could win an expulsion hearing? Yes," Franklin said. "Do we think we could win a lawsuit? Yes. But that's not in the kid's benefit to go through all of that."

Singh said he was disappointed the suspension was not revoked, but that he is looking forward to going back to school.

"The administration basically tried to make it sound like they were going to expel me and now they're doing us a favor," he said. "We're going to give up now because it's not worth going through the struggle."

During his suspension, Singh, a junior enrolled in honors and advanced placement classes, was able to retrieve homework assignments from his classmates, and he will be able to make up work he missed. He did not miss any exams. Classes were dismissed on three additional days, prolonging Singh's absence until today.

Singh, who is in the school band and choir, said his rap album saga may make him more popular with his classmates, but "I don't know if it's in a good way or not."

From the Nov. 11, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

Student may be expelled for rap

Posted Nov. 08, 2003

Student may be expelled for rap
(link to original)

CD contained threatening lyrics against principal

The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE — A school superintendent Friday delayed deciding whether to hold an expulsion hearing for an honors student for making a rap CD with a lyric that officials say threatened the principal.

Matt Gibson, Elmbrook School District superintendent, said he extended Friday’s deadline to Tuesday morning to gather more information about the case of 15-year-old Sashwat Singh.

Mark Cerutti, Brookfield Central High School principal, suspended Singh Oct. 29 for a lyric on Singh’s homemade rap compact disc.

Gibson extended the timeline for the next step during a 90-minute meeting set up at the request of Andrew Franklin, the boy’s attorney. “We had a good two-way communication,” Gibson said. “We gained some time to work through the issues.”

Gibson and Franklin declined to talk about the specifics of the meeting, citing Singh’s privacy.

Singh was suspended for “gross disobedience or misconduct,” which would put Singh’s actions on par with a bomb threat, arson or bringing guns to school.

His 32-minute, 14-track CD includes references to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts, Franklin said.

The rap about Cerutti suggests that if the principal doesn’t leave Brookfield, Singh will “(expletive) beat your ass down.” It also uses sexually explicit slurs to describe the principal.

Singh will return to class on Tuesday unless Gibson seeks expulsion.

Franklin called the lyrics “absolutely not a threat” and said there were better ways to deal with the issue than suspension or expulsion.

Franklin said Singh was enrolled in advanced placement courses and enjoyed music classes.

Cerutti did not return phone messages from the Associated Press on Friday.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles

Editorial: Strong rap on the knuckles
(link to original)

From the Journal Sentinel

In this post-Columbine world, Brookfield Central High School authorities had no choice but to suspend Sashwat Singh for creating a rap CD with violent and offensive lyrics, in which Singh denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school, and apparently threatens his principal.

As Ken Cole, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, points out, schools can't afford to take lightly any threat, even one buried in lyrics and made outside school. It "isn't a matter of all in good sport or fun," Cole said. "If some incident occurs a month from now, someone will say, 'You knew back then.' We have to treat every incident very seriously."

Beyond that, authorities - from parents to schools to police - need to send the message that violence and obscenities are unacceptable, no matter how prevalent both are in popular culture. Too often, adults are willing to let that message slide, often in the interest of trying to "relate" to children. That's laudable, but sometimes kids just need to be told "no."

Thus, the suspension issued by the school seems entirely appropriate under the circumstances. It also seems to be sufficient, unless further investigation reveals more disturbing elements in this incident that would warrant expulsion.

Singh did not bring a gun to school or try to sell drugs. The junior is a member of the school's band and choir and is enrolled in Advanced Placement and honors courses.

What he did may have been no worse than what kids his age have been doing since time immemorial: being outrageous just to annoy adults and win the admiration of his peers. And while the lyrics he wrote are certainly disturbing, they are hardly more disturbing than the lyrics of award-winning rapper Eminem and other popular artists.

So if further investigation reveals that Singh's transgressions are limited to the CD, it would seem that he has paid his debt to society. Anything more would be overkill.

From the Nov. 8, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

Teen's CD ranted against principal; he's suspended

From WCCO.com/Associated Press:

Teen's CD ranted against principal; he's suspended
(link to original)

Friday November 07, 2003

BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) A high school honor student who created a rap compact disc with rants about drugs and sex faces possible expulsion over a lyric that officials say threatened the principal.

Mark Cerutti, principal of Brookfield Central High School, said he first became aware of the CD Oct. 29 and suspended 15-year-old Sashwat Singh later that same day.

``Content is one part of the rationale for the action that's being taken,'' Cerutti said.

Administrators said the disc amounted to ``gross disobedience or misconduct,'' which would put it on a par with a bomb threat, arson or bringing guns to school.

As described in Friday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the 32-minute, 14-track CD includes rants referring to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts, and it also denigrates classmates, his mother and the school.

The rap about Cerutti, who came to the school at the start of the school year after working in Madison schools and as a consultant, suggests if he doesn't leave Brookfield, Singh will ``beat your ass down.'' It also uses sexually explicit slurs to describe the principal.

Matt Gibson, superintendent of the Elmbrook School District, said the five-day suspension was appropriate, and a ruling on further sanctions would be made before Singh's return. School was not in session for three days since the suspension was ordered, so Singh is due back Tuesday.

Gibson said he was ``fact-finding to determine whether or not to move it toward expulsion.''

If administrators seek expulsion, Singh would be suspended for up to 10 more days and a hearing would be held.

Singh said the CD, recorded over the course of three months and made with home-computer equipment, included lyrics that were ``just random words that rhymed,'' and were not meant as a threat.

``I didn't think I had done anything wrong.''

His father, Dilip Singh, said he couldn't understand why his son was given the school's harshest penalty.

Other such offenses ``have to do with drugs and guns,'' Dilip Singh said. ``When you look at what he did and compare one to the other, it doesn't make sense.''

However, ``I don't approve of that kind of language,'' Dilip Singh said.

The suspension may mark the first time a Wisconsin high school student has been removed from school for a song he wrote, said Ken Cole, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

He said a threat couched in music ``isn't a matter of all in good sport or fun. If some incident occurs a month from now, someone will say, 'You knew back then.' We have to treat every incident very seriously.''

Sashwat Singh is a member of the school's band and choir and is enrolled in Advanced Placement and honors courses.

He sold two copies of the CD a month ago and gave three others away, with one finally reaching Cerutti.

Andrew Franklin, the teen's attorney, said the boy was simply ``expressing himself'' and the school has no right to discipline him.

``They're kind of like love songs and fantasies,'' he said. ``It's a long list of outrageous things that he throws out there. I think it's an attempt to make him look like a deviant or a threat.''

``Nothing about this is inherently more threatening than an Eminem CD,'' he said.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

Student Gets a Bad Rap

Posted by Shane @ Bureaucrash:
(link to original)

Sashwat Singh, a 15-year-old Brookfield High-school honor student, is facing expulsion for "threatening" lyrics in a rap CD he produced on his home computer. The contentious lyric that seems to be the source of the school's complaint apparently involves a reference to the principle's "gettin' beat down if he don't get out of town" -- clearly not a threat, but rather a stylistic idiom that's a regular part of the genre he was performing in. I could build a better case for the claim that last week's stadium full of Packer's fans is guilty of assault against Daunte Culpepper, due to the inevasible cries to "Kill Him!" being yelled from the stands.

School suspends teen for rap lyric

School suspends teen for rap lyric
(link to original)
(copy at DMUSIC w/comments posted)

Brookfield student says song not meant as threat

By REID J. EPSTEIN
repstein@journalsentinel.com

Last Updated: Nov. 6, 2003

Brookfield - A 15-year-old Brookfield Central High School student's homemade rhymes earned him a five-day suspension and could get the honor student expelled because of a lyric deemed threatening toward the principal - perhaps the first such case in Wisconsin.

Over the course of three months, Sashwat Singh wrote and recorded a 32-minute, 14-track rap compact disc featuring rants that made reference to illegal drug use and explicit sexual acts. He denigrates classmates, his mother and his high school. One track is a rap he used when campaigning to be class treasurer.

School administrators called the disc, which includes a song about the principal, Mark Cerutti, and conditions at the school, "gross disobedience or misconduct," an offense on par with making a bomb threat, bringing guns to school and arson.

But Singh's father, Dilip Singh, said he couldn't understand why his son was given the school's harshest penalty.

The other offenses "have to do with drugs and guns," Dilip Singh said. "When you look at what he did and compare one to the other, it doesn't make sense."

Sashwat Singh insisted the lyrics weren't meant as a threat, but "just random words that rhymed. I didn't think I had done anything wrong."

The vulgar lyrics suggest that if Cerutti doesn't get out of Brookfield, Singh will "beat your ass down." Singh, a Brookfield Central junior, also uses a slew of sexually explicit slurs to describe Cerutti.

"I don't approve of that kind of language," Dilip Singh said.

Cerutti said that he first became aware of Sashwat Singh's CD on Oct. 29, and that he was suspended later that day.

"Content is one part of the rationale for the action that's being taken," Cerutti said.

Matt Gibson, the Elmbrook School District superintendent, said he was "fact-finding to determine whether or not to move it toward expulsion." Gibson, who called the decision to issue Singh a five-day suspension "appropriate," said a ruling on further sanctions will come before Tuesday, when Singh is due back in school.

Case may be a first

Singh's suspension may mark the first time a high school student in Wisconsin has been removed from school for a song he'd written, said Ken Cole, the executive director of the Madison-based Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

Cole said a threat couched in music made outside school "isn't a matter of all in good sport or fun. If some incident occurs a month from now, someone will say, 'You knew back then.' We have to treat every incident very seriously."

A member of the school's band and choir who is enrolled in Advanced Placement and honors courses, Singh recorded and made the album with equipment on his home computer. Then, a month ago, he sold two copies to classmates and gave away three others. One of the copies landed in Cerutti's hands, and Oct. 29, the principal suspended Singh for five days. School has been dismissed on three days during that time, making Tuesday the first day Singh can return to school.

Dan Macallair, the executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, said the suspension is indicative of a national trend toward zero tolerance in schools.

"We're punishing kids for things that we adults never would have been punished for when we were that age," he said. "If we try to criminalize every comment that adolescents made, all our kids would be locked up."

Neither Macallair nor Cole was familiar with any other case of a student being disciplined for a song recorded outside school.

If Gibson moves to expel Singh, the boy would be suspended for up to 10 more days, and an expulsion hearing would be held then.

'Kind of like love songs'
Andrew Franklin, Singh's Milwaukee-based attorney, said the boy was simply "expressing himself" and the school has no right to discipline him, even if some people object to portions of the CD on moral grounds.

"They're kind of like love songs and fantasies," he said of the disc's content. "It's a long list of outrageous things that he throws out there. I think it's an attempt to make him look like a deviant or a threat."

Franklin said Singh's lyrics do not constitute a threat to Cerutti, with whom Singh had never spoken.

"Nothing about this is inherently more threatening than an Eminem CD," he said, referring to the rapper who has been criticized for defaming women and gays in his lyrics. "He was expressing a viewpoint about how he thought the school was operating as a police state."

Cerutti referred questions about the disc's lyrics to Gibson, who said Thursday that he had not yet listened to it.

After Singh's suspension, Brookfield police followed him home and confiscated his home computer. Police returned the computer Nov. 4.

Dilip Singh said he has yet to listen to the entire disc but did read the text of the lyrics.

Sashwat Singh said his parents "weren't as mad as I thought they would be."

In any case, Singh said he wasn't a fan of his principal, who came to Brookfield Central at the start of this school year after working in the Madison schools and as an education consultant.

From the Nov. 7, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)