Feeling for her...

Here is a story of a disruptive student and an unsupportive administration that would serve to frustrate anybody. Maybe Dennis at From the Trenches of Public Ed. has a point when he says that teachers need to have the power to get rid of "disruptive" students. It might not be politically correct to say, but some students are beyond saving. The only other possible solution that I could come up with is to pass a law stating that the parent of any disruptive or chronically truant student would have to attend class with their child for face jail. I know this would cause loss of income for many parents, but it would definately add some bite and motivation for apathetic parents.

For a related post on motivation/dicipline in the class room see elementaryhistoryteacher's post entitled What is it going to take? in which she lays out seven basic needs that students have.