school meeting, modeled after the traditional New England town meeting. School Meeting passes, amends and repeals school rules, manages the school's budget, and decides on hiring and firing of staff. Each individual present—including students and staff—has an equal vote, and most decisions are made by simple majority. School rules are normally compiled in a law book, updated repeatedly over time, which forms the school's code of law. Usually, there is a set procedure to handle complaints, and most of the schools follow guidelines that respect the idea of due process of law. There are usually rules requiring an investigation, a hearing, a trial, a sentence, and allowing for an appeal, generally following the philosophy that students face the consequences of their own behavior. Learning The Sudbury pedagogical philosophy may be summarized as the following: Learning is a natural by-product of all human activity. Learning is self-initiated and self-motivated. The educational model states that there are many ways to learn and that learning is a process someone does, not a process that is done to him or her; According to the model the presence and guidance of a teacher is not necessary. The free exchange of ideas and free conversation and interplay between people provides broad exposure to areas that may prove relevant and interesting to students. Students are of all mixed ages. The older students learn from younger students and vice versa. The presence of older students provides role models, both positive and negative, for younger students. The pervasiveness of play has led to a recurring observation by first-time visitors to a Sudbury school that the students appear to be in perpetual "recess". Implicitly and explicitly, students are given responsibility for their own education: The only person designing what a student will learn is the student. Exceptions are when a student asks for a particular class or arranges an apprenticeship. Sudbury schools do not compare or rank students—the school requires no tests, evaluations, or transcripts. Reading is treated the same as any other subject: Students learn to read when they choose, or simply by going about their lives. "Only a few kids seek any help at all when they decide to learn. Each child seems to have their own method. Some learn from being read to, memorizing the stories and then ultimately reading them. Some learn from cereal boxes, others from game instructions, others from street signs. Some teach themselves