San Diego ( CNN ) -- When the worlds of federal bureaucracies and public schools collide , what results is often a teaching moment for all involved . The Obama administration has unleashed two Cabinet departments to get tough on teachers and other school personnel who -- through so-called `` zero tolerance '' policies -- often refer disciplinary cases to police . What concerns folks at the Justice and Education departments is that African-American and Latino students might be singled out for suspension and other forms of discipline , in ways that could amount to outright racial and ethnic discrimination . Their proposed solution is called the Supportive School Discipline Initiative , which seeks to limit student suspensions and expulsions and provide `` alternative best practices such as restorative justice , peer mediation and positive behavioral supports . '' The initiative was unveiled in 2011 . But last week , the administration went so far as to lay out specific guidelines for states and even individual school districts . The administration will propose $ 50 million in grants to more than 1,000 schools to train teachers and staff in strategies aimed at improving student behavior and improving the climate of schools . Upon hearing all this , memory takes me back to a junior high school in a small , largely Mexican and Mexican-American farming town in Central California , where I found myself , in the years after college , trying to support my writing habit by working as a substitute teacher . I had a long-term assignment , about three months , teaching a `` special education '' course that was being misused as a dumping ground for rowdy and disruptive kids with behavioral problems . Almost all the kids in the class were Hispanic . The regular teacher , a 60-something woman with a kind disposition and white hair , was in poor health and on a prolonged absence . One day , I was looking for a lesson plan in the teacher 's desk and ran across some diary-like notes that the teacher had written -- probably in case she needed them someday . Her problem kid was an angry 13-year-old Hispanic young man named `` Martin . '' They apparently had a running conflict , and , one day , the teacher had scribbled down in her notes : `` Martin called me a white @ # $ % & , and said he was going to hurt me . '' Welcome to the real world of public schools in America , which bears no resemblance to what they teach you at schools of education or university-run teacher credentialing programs . When students such as Martin act up or get out of line , they have to be disciplined . They have to get in trouble , pay a price and be taught that they simply ca n't go through life disrupting their environment and threatening authority figures . We can debate what the punishment should be , but there have to be consequences . No `` if 's , '' `` and 's '' or `` but 's . '' It 's for his own good . Let 's say you give him a pass . What 's going to happen the first time he 's on the street and mouths off to a cop ? Also , note the part about how Martin allegedly called this nice , elderly woman `` a white @ # $ % & . '' From my experience , that 's also very common . We 'll hear advocates for students talk about how teachers sometimes harbor prejudices against students , and there is no doubt that this is true . But we do n't hear much about what happens when the shoe is on the other foot . Go into any inner-city high school in America , and you 'll hear African-American and Hispanic students using racial slurs when talking about teachers and administrators . It goes with the territory . This is n't to say that there is n't any discrimination in the doling out of school discipline , or that this is n't a subject worthy of more study . They might well be , and it certainly is . Yet , this initiative could also backfire on the administration by micromanaging our schools , undermining the authority of teachers and teaching African-American and Latino students to see themselves as victims . Besides , throwing two Cabinet departments at the problem is a serious case of overkill . How is this for a new approach ? If we really want to help students who get in trouble , why do n't we stop meddling in the schools and start dealing with those societal factors -- such as poverty , despair and broken homes -- that help these young people get into trouble in the first place ? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette .
Ruben Navarrette : Obama administration has targeted `` zero tolerance policies '' He says there is evidence that school discipline is meted out in discriminatory way . Putting two Cabinet departments on the issue is overkill , Navarrette says . Navarrette : Micromanaging our schools is a risk and could erode authority of teachers .