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Suit Yourself: Uniforms in Public Schools

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This paper was written in 1996 to give you a bit of perspective to its potential relevance today.

Whether it is a suit and tie at the office, a sports jersey during the big game, an apron for cooking, or fatigues for boot camp, uniforms have been a way of life for millions of people throughout the centuries. People wear uniforms whether they are required to or not and most of the time it is beneficial. It would make sense then to apply this practice to the public schooling system where the effects would be and have been proven to be beneficial. While many argue this to be a violation of constitutional rights; their freedom of expression is jeopardized, others say school is not about expression. Mandatory uniforms in public schools is about reducing the cost of clothing for families, slowing the amount of clothing related crimes, and improving the academics and achievement levels of students.

“LEGAL BEAT: COURT LETS PUBLIC SCHOOL REQUIRE UNIFORM,”

reports Margaret A. Jacobs, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal. According to Jacobs, a Judge in Arizona recently ruled against the complaints of a parent who fought one of the school district’s policies that require students to wear uniforms. This is the first time that this issue has been upheld by a judge without allowing the parent’s denial. In Miami, Dallas, and other parts to eh country, many schools are pushing the same agendas, hoping to either mandate, or at least encourage the students to suit up in common attire.

What the could be considered ‘common attire?’ When most people think of uniforms, they probably remember scenes from movies such as “TAPS”, “Dead Poets Society”, and even the latest Sharon Stone film, “Diabolique”, all of which are movies that portray young boys in dark blue or black crested jackets, ties, white collared shirts, dress slacks, and dress shoes — rather unappealing. What schools are asking for is not an upper class recognition of formality, rather a sense of unity and pride through a common medium.

At All Saints Episcopal Day School in Phoenix, a typical parochial school, students wear uniforms. For the boys, white polo-style shirts with a school symbol above the heart, dark blue corduroy slacks with a black or brown belt, black or brown penny loafers or dress shoes, and a haircut above the ears is the required attire. The girls wear long socks that approach the knee, below-the-knee length plaid skirts or jumpsuits, white blouses, buckle shoes in black or brown, polished to perfection, and no pierced ears or clip-on earrings. During P.E. class, everyone wears the same clothing which consists of navy blue shorts, tennis shoes, and a white T-shirt and white socks. At All Saints, the students are required to provide their own uniforms which has raised the issue of cost. If schools did require students to ‘suit’ up, who would pay for it? It would make sense that the school districts would be responsible for providing the clothing, but that would mean raising some taxes. It is obvious that the parents should pride the clothing for their own children.

Clothing for school can be expensive, especially with the demand for students to impress their peers with the latest fashions. According to Philip Walzer, a columnist who writes for The Virginian-Pilot, a clothing store in Baltimore that specializes in uniforms for schools touts very reasonable prices for both boys and girls. Pants are priced as low as $7 and no higher than $13. Shirts, fitted for both boys and girls, are only $5 (4). While the average pair of Levi’s 501 jeans demands a whopping $25 to $30, it is obvious that uniforms are easier on the pocketbook. What about those who don’t have a pocketbook to begin with? Many parents maintain that school administrators neglect the fact that there are many families that can barely afford to eat, let alone afford uniforms for their children. Parents also believe there are additional costs involved that aren’t as apparent. They say that most kids won’t wear their uniforms after school, forcing them to purchase clothing that uniforms were intended to replace. According to the ACLU, the cost of one uniform for a girl is approximately $35 and there isn’t enough financial help (Jacobs, 2). With these problems at hand, certain individuals and groups have found ways to provide assistance to families who cannot afford to purchase uniforms for their children.

In Phoenix, Arizona Denis Wagner, Staff writer for the Arizona Republic reveals the existence of a private organization called the Stardust Foundation, headed by Jerry Bisgrove, president of Stardust Development, a company that purchases, reconditions, and resells land to prospective builders, purchases clothing for students at Phoenix Prep who otherwise could not afford them (1). One of Oakland’s districts has also found financial aid through a private organization willing to pay $15 to low income families with a maximum of two children and $30 for families that have three or more children. This fails to console Ann Brick, an ACLU attorney fighting against the prospect of mandatory uniforms. She says, “a single girl’s uniform costs $33 to $34 and the assistance is inadequate.” According to Jane Bond Moore, an Oakland Unified School District attorney, “the district will provide additional assistance to parents who are homeless or have other special problems.” (Jacobs, 2).

Long Beach, the only city in the United States that mandates uniforms in all of its public schools is still searching for a way to provide financial aid. According to state law, the Long Beach district is required to find ways to provide financial aid by finding clothing stores and charity organizations that are willing to offer discounts and even free uniforms to low income and homeless families (Jacobs, 2).

Even with finical aid from private and public organizations, there still won’t be enough money to support every student in America to attend a uniform school. We then would have to turn to additional taxes to help foot the bill.

“if it means that teen-agers will stop killing each other over designer jackets then our public schools should be able to require their students to require school uniforms,” Bill Clinton stated in an article by Alison Mitchell in a February issue of The New York Times (1). If this is true then by all means increase our taxes. If it means we’ll have our children and not lose them to violence and chaos caused by the clothing worn these days then it should definitely be enforced. Many disagree, however.

William Green of Phoenix disagrees with the policy enforced by Phoenix Prep. He believes his 13 year-old son should not be required to wear a special uniform. Green served in the armed forces where he wore a uniform because he had to and he protested when students wore jeans and other inappropriate clothing to high school. Like many others, Green believes this to be a constitutional issue, claiming that students are losing their right to free speech and essentially freedom of expression. His son, Justin, has since changed schools where he is allowed to wear whatever he wants (Jacobs, 1). What Justin doesn’t realize is the value of these uniforms. Unfortunately, many students like Justin don’t care about the values.

A commentary by Kathleen Parker in a February issue of USA Today shows us some interesting facts about the effects of uniforms on students both individually and as a whole. Her primary interest lies within the Long Beach Unified School District, the first school district in the United States to require uniforms at ALL of its public schools. As more and more schools begin to require uniforms there will be a national decrease in problems with personal identities, an overall improvement in exam results, a higher attendance rate, and a better attitude. Some kids welcome the idea. If children are wearing the same clothing, at the same price, from the same source, none of them will know whose parents have more money. None of them will feel ashamed to approach ten groups of kids who have better clothing and live better lifestyles because there won’t be a defined line. If there isn’t a group to join, nobody will want to join it and nobody will be left out (Parker, 1).

As a result, students will get along, reducing the amount of clothing related violence. A disheartening statement is made in a U.S. News & World report article titled “Your Jacket or your life.” The author says, “in cities across the country, kids are wearing clothes to die for.” In Chicago, Calvin Wash died because he wore a starter jacket worth nearly $100. Other kids are dying because of the shoes they wear…shoes that represent major sports stars and usually cost more than the kids could ever afford legally (14). The determining factor behind all of the violence is the clothing. Kids pay way too much attention to clothing, often sacrificing their academic standings.

Many students aren’t interested in hearing about the positive effects of uniforms because most of them are wrapped up in their identities — too caught up trying to be a part of a certain crowd. Some are even alienated because they aren’t meeting the standards of their peers and are usually pushed into situations that aid in developing disciplinary problems. Because someone’s appearance clashes with that of another, a wall of tension is built forcing the child to resort to violence, or simply making him;/her feel like an outcast, damaging their self esteem (LaPoint, Holloman, Alleynek, 32).

A total disregard for the students’ seniors is often the result of select clothing that depicts a negative theme, reflecting on the horrors of life as glamorous, attractive, and cool. Not only that, but students are stereotyped by the clothing they wear, being placed in certain groups by even their teachers, nearly forcing them to lead lives they would otherwise choose not to lead. (LaPoint, Holloman, Alleyne, 32).

Maureen Dowd writes in an article, “School Uniform Blues” in a January 1996 issue of The New York Times about Charles Lewis Marsh, a 17-year-old who died waiting for a rid when he was attacked by two kids who wanted his jacket. In Jet, a monthly publication that targets the African American population, it is made clear that kids across the country are dying because of what they wear. The consequences of wearing expensive jewelry, “team” jackets such as “Raiders,” starter jackets, high tech high top sneakers, and hats embroidered with sports teams are staggering. In fact, they are dying because of these luxuries.

In Detroit, a $135 jacket claimed the life of a student. Another dies while wearing a pair of Nike’s. Old style leather jackets that fighter pilots wore during battle in WWII have driven the deaths of a group of teens in Newark.

The City of Angels found a young girl, age 6, dead from fatal head injuries inflicted by a gang because of her red sweater. Many of the country’s schools are enforcing the idea of a dress code to hinder the violence (Will Changing, 16).

President Clinton, who believes we need to put “discipline and learning back in our schools” ordered literature to be sent to all of the United States’ school systems which contains information for each district on how they can approach the issue of mandatory uniforms. “;If it means that the schoolrooms will be more orderly, more disciplined,’ Mr. Clinton said, ‘and that our young people will learn to evaluate themselves by what they are on the inside instead of what they’re wearing on the outside, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms'” (Mitchell, 1). Not only will the school rooms be more orderly, the streets will become safer because students will gain a higher level of education. The graph below illustrates the improvements in Long Beach from the 1993-94 school year through the 1994-95 year:

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Due to the benefits of wearing uniforms in public schools, financial, disciplinary, and academic, it isn’t fair to say policies that require uniforms are in violation of children’s constitutional rights since a solid education, one that will be had as a result of mandatory uniforms, is far more important than how a student looks, it is only obvious that everyone attending school should wear uniforms.

The foremost important goal in school should be learning. When there is a sense of unity, there is also a sense of pride, and morale is boosted, causing an intense focus on the same tasks, resulting in a better organized and accomplished institution both physically and mentally.

It’s All About Relationships

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My grandmother was born in 1908. This is my father’s mother. She was a musician. She was a songwriter, and she is very beautiful to me.

My grandmother suffers with dementia. She does not know me anymore, nor does she know her two sons, my father, and my uncle. I should rephrase. My grandmother is spared the suffering that life offers because of dementia. She does not remember enough to be upset at any point in time. She always talks about God…that, she does remember.

Her name is Evelyn Griffith. She was married to my grandfather, John Griffith for over 50 years. He died in 1994, the same week that I embarked upon a monumental journey with a multi-media company called Camfel Productions. It was difficult to imagine that I would no longer see him in person. However, one year later to the day that he died, I had a dream while I slept and in that dream I met with him and told him that I love him (certainly not unspoken words while he was alive, I loved him very much, and I said it often.) He said goodbye to me in that dream. It was closure for me whether or not it was supernatural or not.

Evelyn wrote beautiful songs and she was even published. She wrote a song to my grandfather called “Delta Sweetheart of my Dreams.” She also wrote a fight song called “Maroon and White” for a college back east.

Why am I posting this? I hadn’t seen her in over a year. She’s 100 years old, and she doesn’t really remember that I’ve visited, nor does she remember who I am. I have had plenty of time, practically a decade, to deal with these facts, so it’s not as hard as it may sound. Her mental health has deteriorated over the years, but physically and spiritually, she just keeps on truckin. She’s been in full time care for about 8 years now, and last week she was admitted to the hospital with a blood clot in her leg. I visited with my dad and uncle (the three boys as she used to call us) on Saturday after Fuel rehearsal, and I was amazed to see how aged she was. The last photo I have of her was on Christmas day of 2000 and it’s hard to remember exactly what someone looks like when you only see them twice a year, if that.

She will be gone soon. As she lay in her bed, she stared at the wall below the television, seemingly locked in a gaze with something that neither you nor I would be able to see. It was clear that she could see beyond this world. She loves the Lord so much and He has been very merciful to her. Grandad fell asleep and never woke up. Baca Baca will also (that’s what I called her). Watching her eyes focused on the ceiling was comforting as it appeared she was staring straight at God. It will be hard to see her go, and I will grieve deeply.

I will miss her dearly when He takes her home, but I am anxious to see her set free from an expired body and mind.

Grandad was the president of a title company here in Phoenix years ago, and also was the president of Paradise Valley Country Club.  Back in the seventies, they owned a home in Lincoln Hills that overlooks Lincoln road, just to the left of a guard gate.  This is where I spent a great deal of time when mom and dad were off and about.  There are no records that I can find online that have their name on them, and no activity on the property since 2001, but the comparables in the area are in the $1.5 Million mark.

It was built in 1974, and I’d love to find out exactly what they paid for it.  It has been in the possession of the same family since August of 1995.  Perhaps I should write a series of articles about all of the homes that I lived in across the valley.  After all, I have been in the valley my entire life, which began in 1972 and it would make for an interesting study of the value of land and property in Phoenix over 36 years.  I lived in about 18 homes I think.

I digress.  Anyway, these are wonderful memories for me.  Perhaps you also have some memories you’d like to share?  Feel free to comment on this article and tell me about your experience in Phoenix and the relationships that you have had that have been valuable to you.

Following up Getting Around Phoenix

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Steve Belt of Real Phoenix Living recently posted an article about getting around in Phoenix which promted this response:

The bulk of my youth youth (I say that because I’m relatively young to some) was spent on a bicycle and in a car.  On a bike because I delivered newspaper, and in a car because I delivered Pizza, for 3 different companies over time.  I also delivered a USA Today route in my car in 1991.  Addresses are very easy for me to find which is why I’ll typically ask someone for the address and only the address to find my way.  They’ll still explain the “lefts” and the “rights” but it usually goes in one ear and out the other.  I can find my way around anywhere.  Since most of the east/west streets in Phoenix are named rather than numbered, the only bit of research that I need to conduct is how far north or south that street is relative to a major intersection.  Being a native Arizonan makes it fairly easy to know the major streets.  You say between Cactus and Thunderbird and I’ll find it with the address.

Where it gets confusing is where cities overlap.  One example will be Broadway road in Mesa/Tempe.  Tempe follows the same pattern as Phoenix in numbering their addresses, and so does mesa, but there’s a point on an east/west street where the address shifts from east to west or west to east based on the city you’re in, and as a result, the numbers increment in a different direction.  Make sure you know what city you’re in, then you can find anything.

Another observation is that typically any address that ends in 02 is on a northeast corner, and any address that ends in 01 is on a southeast corner.  On Yucca, for example, the address 2702 E. Yucca indicates first that it’s at 27th Street.  We know it’s street because it’s east and there are no streets west of Central, rather Avenues.  The E is a big clue that it’s east of Central.  🙂  Yucca tells you little about how far north and south the street may be, so you’d have to know the area or look it up.  By the time everyone gets around to that, we’ll all have GPS Navigation in our cars.

So, the 27 means 27th street, and the 02 means it’s the first address on the north side of the street just east of 27th, typically a corner.  2701 E. Yucca would be right across the street.  2636 E. Yucca would be on the north side of the street, most likely just west of 27th street on the other corner.

Sometimes an east/west street has no north/south street bisecting it.  Let’s say a northbound 27th Street ended in a “T” at Yucca.  In this case, there would be no northeast corner, but the house straight ahead or just to the right would still be numbered 2702 E. Yucca because Yucca crosses the 27th Street line.  Sometimes there’s not even a “T” and Yucca would have no bisecting north south street…but the addresses are still reset to 01 and 02 where Yucca crosses the north/south street’s line.

Confused yet?  It’s all the same when you’re talking about north/south streets.

There are flaws in the system, however, and they typically show up in areas where a townhome development on the corner of an intersection spans multiple streets.  One area of the development will have a north/south address and the unit just next to you will have an east/west address.  It’s very confusing in this case.  I happen to live in one of those areas :).

I am hoping that your head didn’t just explode.

Realty Executives Referral Network

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Many real estate licensees have chosen not to be active in the marketplace. The costs associated with running your own business can be more than many wish to handle. What if, even though you aren’t actively selling real estate, you were able to collect a referral fee just for bringing business to the table?

Realty Executives has a referral program for the licensee who doesn’t actively sell real estate but wishes to keep their license. If you’re one of these people, and you still want to make a great income without actually working in real estate, give me a call and I can discuss how it works with Realty Executives.

The basic premise is this. When you come across a potential client, you pass them on to me and I’ll take care of them. As long as you’re part of the Realty Executives referral program, you will receive a referral check. Their program allows you to hang your license in such a way that allows you only to participate in referrals, and it’s very inexpensive.

Interested? Give me a call today and I’ll point you in the right direction.