The Student Bill of Rights

As the new school year gets underway, teachers sometimes talk about “laying down the law” or “making it clear who is the boss” during the first days and weeks of school.  In contrast to that typical focus on teachers’ rights and students’ responsibilities, I hereby propose the following Bill of Rights for all of our students:

1.  All students have the right to learn from a teacher who deeply understands her subject matter and who deeply cares about each individual student in her classroom.

2.  All students have the right to be safe throughout each school day.

3.  All students have the right to meet their own physical needs during school hours (e.g. bringing a snack, getting a drink, being allowed to use the restroom, etc.).

4.  All students have the right to enjoy an unstructured recess time at least once a day.

5.  All students have the right to be taught by someone who is not reading from a script.

6.  All students have the right to be assessed based on improvement, not just raw performance.

7.  All students have the right to be appropriately challenged across all subjects.

8.  All students have the right to have some measure of choice with regard to at least some of the topics they will study and the assignments they will complete.

9.  All students have the right to receive cutting-edge instruction and to spend significant in-class time focusing on current technologies.

10.  All students have the right to maintain a vibrant life outside school without being burdened with large quantities of homework.