Perhaps you've read or heard of the events surrounding Tony Wroten, the Garfield High School student and basketball player whose enrollment was recently terminated for alleged eligibility violations.
This avid fan of amateur athletics is a vociferous advocate for serious policing of high school "recruiting" and the fudging of residency to accommodate such antics. Nevertheless, the facts of this case are muddy.
Maybe the kid and his family were cheating on residency, but signs also point rather significantly to a modern-world scenario where Wroten spends time with two parents living in separate homes. As such, the "stakeout" conducted to cast judgment on Wroten seems more than a little inadequate.
Perhaps there's more information than that being made public to justify the actions taken against Wroten. For now, however, Jerry Brewer is right:
this "scandal" is the wackiest one in local high-school sports since the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association forced Archbishop Murphy out of the football playoffs last year because its legendary coach, Terry Ennis, died and forgot to check one of his player's physicals.
Terminating a student's school enrollment, as opposed to the lesser route of declaring the child ineligible to compete in athletics, is a drastic step. It shouldn't be done lightly or with inconclusive evidence. By not adhering to such a standard, the adults in this case look more interested in pounding people with the letter of the law rather than fairly governing the real life in which these student-athletes live. As the kids at Archbishop Murphy will tell you, that's not right.
Posted by Eric Earling at December 15, 2008 08:21 AM | Email ThisSo in your last few weeks in office, why don't you cut off the federal funds to the Seattle School District to deal with this injustice? I would think that their actions against Wroten might violate a number of legal requirements they must follow in order for the district to receive federal funds.
What ever happened to the right of a student to a hearing before being expelled from a public school? Since Wroten is not a threat to anyone, he must be allowed to continue in school, until the hearing process is completed.
On the other hand, both of Wroten's parents are still registered to vote at the Renton home that they own. Although neither of Wroten's parents appear to have voted in the 2008 election, or for the last several years.
Posted by: Richard Pope on December 15, 2008 09:09 AMForgive me, but who cares? That those involved are indicating that this took place because the kid is black ("Garfield boys basketball coach Ed Haskins addressed the crowd. Calling Wroten's dismissal 'an injustice against an African American,' Haskins said of Wroten,)(Thereby teaching these kids even MORE built-in victimhood then they already have learned... if that's possible.) is all I needed to hear.
He'll live. And so will we. They actually have a basketball program at Renton, too, ya know. And if the concern is his education (which, of course, it what it should be for true conservatives) then basketball is secondary to that, and he would probably be better served out of a Seattle Public School.
So, I'm filing this one under "So what?" and hoping that postings might engage us in the Sound POLITICS part of Sound Politics.
Posted by: Hinton on December 15, 2008 09:10 AMPlease to explain to all, why anyone should take your legal advice.
(I'm pretty sure Eric won't!)
Your score card isn't looking real good.
Posted by: Medic/Vet on December 15, 2008 09:44 AMYour make the mistake of thinking for a moment that the USDOE or OCR would ever initiate fund withholding from a state or school district for a violation of law. OCR rarely finds against districts in simple complaints, let alone taking the step of withholding federal financial assistance.
If OCR would perform its statutory duty, however, and actually utilize its power to intiate fund withholding, we'd actually start to see some compliance with the law from these schools, instead of their continued efforts to thwart the law.
OCR could start by withholding funds from any district caught not having performed the required Self Evaluation under Section 504 and the ADA -- which NO district has ever complied with. I challenge you to find one school district in WA which actually performed it. Sorry Eric -- OCR does NOT care.
Posted by: School Marm on December 15, 2008 10:36 AMI can see if the student's family was cheating on residency to get into a more preferable school, then the district should be going after the kid and kicking him out. It's a very simple procedure to have your child go to a school into another district - approval from both superintendents - if you don't have it, you aren't allowed to attend.
Posted by: Doug on December 15, 2008 10:40 AMNaturally, those kids can't directly gain from high school or college football (but just about everyone else does from high school football departments to college athletic programs and their overpaid coaches). And if they eventually manage to swim upstream against all odds and get into the NFL, they're already bought and paid for by their sponsors. If these kids get injured or disqualified along the way, they're dropped like nothing more than expendable assets.
This post is just the tip of the iceberg and I doubt if the media is really willing to cover such a story. Let's face it: people don't purchase USA Today for its award-winning bland news coverage. Most guys go straight for the Sports section to check out their winning (or losing) bets. Sports gambling is the working man's stock market.
Posted by: RobertinBellevue on December 15, 2008 01:05 PMFrom what I read, the parents aren't separated. They just have a second home across from Garfield. It isn't uncommon to have the SRO stake out the house to see if in fact normal comings and goings are happening, that one would expect from someone who legally resides at the house. Otherwise it is a sham, and the school is within its rights to kick out the student.
I don't know why Garfield chose to do this, but I have to assume that they knew there was a good case to be made that he is ineligible. Other schools can file action, and have the season ruled null and void. It seems more fair to boot the kid back to Renton now, then to have everyone's season ruined by the family misrepresenting their residency.
Posted by: janet s on December 15, 2008 04:22 PMThose two factors practically guarantee that while this kid may hit the 17ft fade-away jumper like theaters punch out movie tickets, "education" ain't on the agenda.
Posted by: Hinton on December 15, 2008 11:47 PMHowever, there are students each year who play sports for one school while attending another. If one district doesn't offer a particular athletic program, then a student may continue the academic program in their school while attending after school sports in another.
Posted by: Doug on December 16, 2008 09:02 AM