zero tolerance is stupid. IF I ever have kids, they will go to the most rural schools I can find to get away as much as possible from all the stupid shit going on in city schools.
Kid draws on a desk? Make them clean that shit off, having them arrested so they have a record isn't going to help them through life, its just going to make shit harder and push them further towards the wrong side of things later on when they can't get a job because of something stupid. If a kid wants to be involved in gang fights or deal drugs then sure, throw them in a cell, but otherwise let kids be kids. I graduated in 01, which wasn't all that long ago, and back then my teacher's turned a blind eye to kids dipping in class, knives clipped to pockets, whatever. I remember a couple kids telling the teacher they needed to go to the bathroom to smoke, and the teacher said "don't get caught." But nobody ever fought, everyone was cool, and if there were any drugs going through that school I certainly didn't know about it. They treated us like people, and we respected them more for it. We had our fun, but weren't overly destructive with it.
You send a kid to a school that has metal detectors, and ID's, and cops with big mean looking drug dogs, and you get ARRESTED for doing anything at all, it's going to feel more like a prison, and the kids are going to start acting more like prisoners.