After a graduating teen decided to "tell it like it is" at her school ceremonies, school officials told her that she could not have her diploma unless she apologized.

Really.

Then they agreed to give it to her, but not before showing anyone who speaks up that he/she will be punished one way or another. Take a look at the story of Booker T. Washington, and the discharge into the street of the special needs young woman at Stuyvesant to see the extent the DOE will go to silence criticism.

Luckily, Mayor Bloomberg stepped in and said, "The young lady should not have been denied a diploma, and we've made a phone call to make arrangements for her to either pick it up, or we'd be happy to send it to her and let's get on with it," Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday. "It was a bonehead thing to do by somebody." ("A Valedictorian Loses, Then Regains, Her Diploma" by Elissa Gootman, NY TIMES,
June 29, 2004)



Diploma for teen
Ed bigs cave after speech

BY VERONIKA BELENKAYA, HELEN PETERSON
and TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS WRITERS, June 27, 2004

The Brooklyn valedictorian denied a diploma for criticizing her high school in a graduation speech is getting her sheepskin after all.
After insisting Tiffany Schley, 17, apologize for her brutal honesty, education officials relented last night and said she can pick up the certificate tomorrow.

"Our position is that while she should have handled the matter differently, she will receive her diploma," Education Department spokesman Stephen Morello said.

"We'll also ask her if she'll come in and meet with regional district officials about our concerns and her concerns about the school."

The reversal came after the Daily News exposed Tiffany's plight, unleashing a flood of phone calls from supporters and lawyers willing to help.

"I got calls from teachers and from some people that I don't even know," the feisty teen said. "They said, 'I support you' and 'Stand your ground.' It made me feel proud."

After hearing of the officials' change of heart, Tiffany said, "It's very nice. I'm grateful for those who stood by me and for the support the Daily News has given me."

Administrators at the High School of Legal Studies in Bushwick were infuriated by Tiffany's address to the senior class, in which she spoke about overcrowding, lack of textbooks and unqualified teachers.

When she went to pick up her diploma on Friday, officials refused to hand it over, threw her out of the building and demanded an apology.

Tiffany said she had originally planned to give a motivational speech, focusing on her struggle to overcome a lisp with the help of her mother, Felicia. But when she realized how many of her fellow classmates were not graduating, "at the last minute, I just started typing," she said.

Before the ceremony, she submitted her speech to an assistant principal, as required, but he rewrote it and gave it back to her on graduation day, she said.

"He typed over it and had me glorifying the school," she said.

She stuck with her first speech, but couldn't finish giving it because the assistant principal cut the microphone - before she got to her positive comments about the school.

Friends and neighbors said they are solidly behind the teen, who is headed to Smith College on a full scholarship.

"I think that she spoke the truth. That is why they are mad," said pal Terri Perry, 16.