Denver Public Schools will soon try a new plan to maintain a classroom atmosphere conducive to learning: Disruptive students will be sent elsewhere. The idea stems from Senate Bill 133, the "safe schools" law, passed in the most recent legislative session.

Preventing a few unruly students from distracting others seems like a common-sense maneuver, but it’s one that’s become increasingly difficult to perform over the past decades, as the line between behavioral problems and learning disabilities has blurred. Mainstreaming students with moderate disabilities was viewed as a way to ensure that they were educated, rather than just warehoused out of the way. Over those years, another challenge has developed: providing opportunities to students who are capable of moving forward much more quickly than most of their classmates.

Presumably, DPS has not changed its position on students’ right to learn; the school board is just acknowledging that no one has a right to prevent others from learning. Students whose voluntary behavior detracts from the learning environment of a regular classroom will now be assigned to separate areas or separate schools.

If they continue to be disruptive, expulsion is viewed as a last resort, but it’s an obvious option. According to an Associated Press story, schools can provide guidance for parents in home-schooling, finding private or parochial schools, or starting their own "pilot schools." Those options recognize that society does have a vested interest in making sure all our children receive an education, but that their education need not come at the expense of other, more educable, students.

Schools must establish clearly written policies that describe what infractions justify removing a student from a regular classroom, so that the diversion plan is not abused. Procedures must be devised to guarantee that parents have a voice in the process, and appeals must be allowed so that all aspects of a problem are considered. It’s not impossible to believe that a teacher, rather than a student, occasionally might be at fault. There also should be some mechanism for returning students to regular classrooms, so that they’re not forever relegated to alternative educational settings. After all, the basis of our educational system is the belief that children are capable of learning.

With those safeguards in place, a thoughtfully designed program to reserve classroom space for students who value education and respect others’ rights could be a very good thing. It would shift some responsibility in an appropriate direction: to the parents who must raise their children to be functional members of society.