He explicitly linked Decatur to Selma, Ala., and the 1963 March on Washington. But what was at stake then was the momentous issue of whether America intended to keep its promises to an entire people. In Decatur, the issue is whether a high school punishment can be bargained down to a few weeks' expulsion with probation, or merely to one year's banishment to a less desirable school. Invoking Selma and Martin Luther King Jr. for this creates a sense of parody that seems lost on Jackson. But Decatur and Macon County seem to be moving reasonably to cope with their own local problems of disorder.
Macon County has one of the highest crime rates in the state.
In response to these conditions, the schools produced a long policy listing the rights and responsibilities of students, parents, and teachers. The zero-tolerance policy for school violence, bomb scares, and death threats was clearly spelled out, and parents had to sign a statement saying that they understood the policy and had explained it to their children. The policy is not one of the zany ones that expels students for bringing nail clippers or zinc cough drops to school. It's a careful and moderate one, and it has been effective. In 1997, the year before the policy was adopted, there were 25 expulsions.