Habla espanol? Not in one Kansas school, you don't. This will look awfully familiar to anyone who is knowledgable about Native American history. Native American students were forced to speak English in school and often punished very harshly any time they reverted to their native languages (how ironic that we were saved by those languages in World War II).

Zach Rubio is the son of a Mexican American immigrant who is now a naturalized United States Citizen. Both father and son are fluent in both English and Spanish.

"It was, like, totally not in the classroom," the high school junior said, recalling the infraction. "We were in the, like, hall or whatever, on restroom break. This kid I know, he's like, 'Me prestas un dolar?' ['Will you lend me a dollar?'] Well, he asked in Spanish; it just seemed natural to answer that way. So I'm like, 'No problema.'"

But that conversation turned out to be a big problem for the staff at the Endeavor Alternative School, a small public high school in an ethnically mixed blue-collar neighborhood. A teacher who overheard the two boys sent Zach to the office, where Principal Jennifer Watts ordered him to call his father and leave the school.

Watts, whom students describe as a disciplinarian, said she can't discuss the case. But in a written "discipline referral" explaining her decision to suspend Zach for 1 1/2 days, she noted: "This is not the first time we have [asked] Zach and others to not speak Spanish at school."

Since then, the suspension of Zach Rubio has become the talk of the town in both English and Spanish newspapers and radio shows. The school district has officially rescinded his punishment and said that speaking a foreign language is not grounds for suspension. Meanwhile, the Rubio family has retained a lawyer, who says a civil rights lawsuit may be in the offing.

Needless to say, I think the ACLU will be all over that one in fairly short order. I find it astonishing that we are still doing things like that in this country. The school board of the district in question rescinded the suspension, but the fact that a kid was effectively told that his native language was off-limits even outside of the classroom is downright criminal.

I believe the principle should herself face serious disciplinary action, up to and including termination if necessary. We really don't need people like her in our school systems. We need people who will inspire children, not try to break them.

I'll say the same thing I say about (un)Intelligent Design and the No Behind Left Act: don't fuck with education - that's our future. Telling students they can't speak spanish in the hallway doesn't help anyone, and worse, makes the children involved feel like their culture is somehow worth less than ours. I feel like I'm watching the disintegration of the Amrican Dream right in front of my very eyes. That makes me mad enough to spit.

What the hell is it with Kansas???????